hilos

one of the intgeresting points the article makes is that there are situations that facilitate our consumption. it does not focus on what we buy more or the places per se. it is more about the conditions that allow us to get more stuff.

example, dysney world has had great succes. according to the article this is becasue it provides fun and entertainment in a safe and clean way. it is a sanitized version of reality which of course does not come cheap. you have to pay for it. this leads to the exclusion of people who can’t afford it or who are not deemed as belonging in that environment.

it’s the brand that is sold. the image. it’s no longer just about the product, but it is a signifier of different things. like having a certain type of watch or purse that may not be that much better then something at a second-hand store but is just really expensive. i never really understood that impulse. 

the article talks about the creation of an atmosphere which results in higher consumption. the creation of malls with fountains and places to sit, places where people are suppose to want to spend their time, is another example. ritzer mentions how malls”are seen as fulfilling people’s need to connect with each other and with nature . . . as well as their need to participate in festivals” (8). but in malls i don’t see people interacting with each other in a way that really furthers their connections with their community. sure it may be a meeting place for people, and there are the interactions you have when you run into someone, but other than that most people in the malls don’t seem to see the other people as people. they are just kind of there. this is one of those places that were tried to be made so they are communal but that does not work by just having people be in the same place. they have to acctually connect.

the transactions with the people who are at the stores are not an example of people interacting with people. i mean maybe there is some small talk but for the most part you can’t take the time to talk because they are working. no conduciveness to community there.

the electronic shopping centers are another way people can consume and separate themselves from other people. you can just be at home or somewhere with a computer and, as long as you have some money, you can go and get whatever. yea you can argue it’s private but in this sense private is just lonely to me.

throughout the article there is a sense that making things ’safer’ and more about getting what you need right away (having things almost at the tip of your fingers), or being able to customize is the type of atmosphere being promoted. for example gated communities have gyms, schools, shopping center etc in them. why would you leave? well, to expereince other things and meet people with new ideas, are some reasons.

it seems to me that we are loosing oursleves in the idea that more privatization is better. shutting us off from the world that is ‘dangerous’ and ‘dirty’. but no. i mean you can’t control everything around you but you can’t just shut yourself in becasue you want to give yourself the illusion of control. that’s a life of predictibilty and boringness. but maybe some people like that kind of stuff. that’s fine. what is not fine is that access is not given to everyone who might want that.

people who’s access to certain resources such as higher education and a well-paying job are seriously hindered by the systems we live and operate in are denied the luxory of being able to choose what they want. they are systematically locked out of a lot of things, including the ‘cathedrals of consumption’ ritzer makes reference to.

i’m not saying that everyone having access to a consumer culture will somehow alleviate the great inequelities that exist in our wolrd and in our societies. i’m just pointing out that people are excluded and that is not fair. i am in no way advocating our consumer culture becasue i do belive that capitalism is what is perpeuating these inequalities.

so i’ll end with this. access to reasources for all!!

and i read this in one of the quotes they have before books begin (in cradle to cradle)

“what you people call your natural resources our people call our relatives”                             -oren lyons, faith keeper of the Onondaga