Political rant

Another reason to do this:

I have been flicking through the channels, I seem to have an inordinate amount of shopping channels, channels that I don't want, selling things I don't need.


Yesterday I was chatting to one of my partners about consumer culture and the fact that we have far more than we need, he said he will try to buy less new clothes this year, I said I wanted to make my own, it is worth it, in a situation where you DO have the freedom, to indulge that freedom to dress how you want and present how you want, how often do we truly get that chance?

Finally today we had a VAT rise, it means almost everything we buy will now cost more. I wasn't entirely bothered by this at first but what really made my blood boil was hearing this 'this country relies more on consumer spending (ie shopping) for its economic wealth than any other country in Europe....'

Wow....so, you mean we have destroyed our industry to such a degree in this country that we need to constantly be buying to encourage economic heath?  No wonder we are constantly being told by the media that 'we love to shop' no wonder we are always being sold something, no wonder when we buy our things just don't last that long.  Everything has a built in lifespan so we have to buy again.  It saddens me that so many of my compatriots buy into it as well.  I told my mother that there was something wrong with my phone (a minor issue) and she said 'why don't you upgrade'?  She saw my Stove and asked my why I hadn't brought a new one yet?  (the old one works perfectly, it just has a cosmetic problem).  We are constantly told what we should want, the newest, bestest shiniest thing EVAH!!!   And we fall for it, not always realising that it is a ploy by the government to spend more to boost the nations coffers...how desperately cynical is that?

I turned off the news when the chancellor repeated the same phrase to the journalist for the third time in a short time frame, desperate to toe the party line and looking like a deer caught in the headlights.  I have very little patience for that tactic, it drives me loopy and it just makes the interviewee look moronic and since these are the people running the country I would rather not think along those lines.

So, the upshot of this rant is.....I think I am along the right track, I don't WANT to be a mindless consumer.  Do you remember when they started using consumerist language almost everywhere?  You were no longer a patient, a visitor, an interviewee. No, you were a customer or a client, even our most rudimentary interactions were transformed with consumerist actions, so we no longer acted in a personal way but we are there to engage in the act of business. Whether you are selling a service or a product.  I am not there to interact with you as a person but to interact with you as a supplier of something I need.

Are we constantly being reminded of how 'fun' spending money is?  Aren't all those people on the advertisements smiling and laughing....".look this is fun this new gadget, or look how more attractive I am to the opposite sex now that I wear this......Look, I brought this incredibly expensive sofa and I got two cushions for FREE!!!  Yay me...result!!!!"

It is enough to make you weep.