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Our Changing Climate
The Real Trap of Consumerism
The Real Trap of Consumerism
Our Changing Climate
·
20:55 · May 31, 2024
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with
every
passing
moment
a
chance
to
buy
something
is
at
your
fingertips
Translating…
Turn on Record to capture your voice and get scored
Smart
Karaoke
Original
Line
1
/485
0:00
with every passing moment a chance to buy something is at your fingertips
0:04
that new pair of pants you just saw on Instagram
0:06
the latest gaming PC that your favorite streamer uses or the newest line of
0:09
Teslas to make you feel like you're saving the planet all bombard
0:13
you with visions of what you could be in the Imperial core
0:17
buying things has become
0:18
the stuff of life
0:20
to feel good you shop
0:21
if you're bored you browse things to buy if you want to be ethical
0:25
you don't stop buying
0:26
you just need to find the right brand to buy from seemingly
0:30
our whole lives are wrapped up in the Vicious Cycle of working
0:33
all day and then spending
0:35
all of our money to fill the void in our lives
0:38
consumerism is a problem that runs rampant
0:41
in imperialist countries like the United States
0:44
it's right up in our faces at every
0:46
moment it can be easy to see this conspicuous
0:49
spending and claim that overc consumption
0:51
is the source of many of our environmental
0:54
problems consumers are after all
0:57
the ones making the choices
0:58
at the checkout counter
1:00
they're the ones voting
1:01
with their dollars but today we're going to dive into this mistaken
1:04
World viiew consumerism is not the property
1:07
it's a trap it's a symptom of much larger and more Insidious
1:11
problem of capitalism that lurks
1:13
in the shadows today we look at the real problem with consumerism
1:18
and how we really combat
1:19
the outof control waste and accumulation
1:22
of stuff this video is made possible by my amazing viewers who support me
1:26
on patreon over the last 2 years my revenue from ads and sponsorships
1:29
have have dropped substantially
1:31
so much so that if this trend continues
1:33
making videos like these will become less and less financially
1:36
viable which is why I need you our changing climate will always be free
1:40
for everyone regardless of how much I make
1:43
but OCC is a oneperson operation
1:45
and it would be nice to earn enough to pay for rent in my
1:48
health insurance both of which seem to grow yearly
1:51
so if you've been a longtime viewer or just stumbled across this channel
1:54
thank you so much for watching and please consider supporting our changing climate on
1:58
patreon with a link in the description
1:59
or on screen right now just $1
2:02
a month from a small portion of my audience would be huge for the
2:05
channel and to be
2:08
me spend enough time on the internet and you're bound to buy something
2:12
how could you not when Amazon offers free shipping and an option to click
2:16
just one button to speed you through the checkout
2:19
process or when the new Online Marketplace
2:22
Teemu offers rock bottom prices
2:25
for basically any good you could ever want
2:27
consumerism in the US has risen precipitous
2:30
ly with total retail sales more than doubling
2:32
since 2013 indeed the percentage of households
2:35
with two or more cars
2:37
has increased dramatically from 22%
2:39
in 1960 to 59%
2:41
in 2020 while the average home size expanded by
2:45
149% from 1,595 Ft to
2:50
2383 ft in 2022
2:53
and when families run out of space to put all their stuff
2:56
they've turned to storage units
2:58
in the United States an estimated
3:00
14.6 million households rent additional
3:03
storage to keep all of their additional
3:05
stuff this generates the Self Storage
3:07
industry $29 billion in Revenue
3:11
every year and all this growth hasn't been to accommodate larger families
3:15
because the average family size has actually decreased
3:18
by 16% from 1980
3:20
and this expansion of consumption
3:23
has had disastrous effects
3:25
on the environment despite being home to just 5%
3:28
of the world's population
3:29
the United States 15.7%
3:32
of the world's total fossil fuel energy
3:35
in the United States between 30 to 40%
3:38
of food gets wasted through a combination of on-farm
3:41
loss Transportation store overstocking
3:44
and lack of atome planning
3:45
the average American emits
3:48
14.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide
3:50
equivalent every year which is more than triple
3:53
that of the global average
3:55
of 4.7 yet despite
3:57
unprecedented consumption rates and a glove
3:59
of almost every Gadget and Appliance
4:02
imaginable flooding the market people in the United States aren't that happy according to
4:06
the General Social Survey
4:08
only 25% of Americans
4:10
are satisfied with their life a percentage that's slowly declined
4:14
since the 1970s and plummeted
4:16
during the pandemic in part this is due to the vast inequalities
4:19
that cleav the United States
4:21
as some fill up their oversized
4:23
homes and storage units with stuff
4:26
many struggle to survive
4:28
over 42 2 million people rely on food stamps to put food on the
4:33
table while More Than 650,000
4:35
People experience homelessness across
4:38
the country as the famous quote from Economist William Gibson
4:42
goes the future is already
4:44
here it's just not evenly
4:46
distributed even for those who do enjoy
4:49
excessive and conspicuous consumption
4:51
of the newest Tesla
4:53
or Apple's $3,500 Vision Pro
4:56
more consumption and more income
4:59
don't NE necessarily lead to more happiness
5:01
a phenomenon that has been deemed
5:03
the easterland Paradox a concept that claims that after basic needs are met
5:07
economic growth and higher incomes
5:10
don't necessarily lead to Greater happiness
5:13
with all this in mind it's clear that the capitalist
5:15
Hub of the world is on a dangerous
5:17
path a path that is not only leaving us overworked
5:20
in debt and unhappy
5:22
but is also driving us headlong
5:23
into a ruinous Collision
5:25
Point paraphrasing scholar Timothy Jackson
5:28
Diana Stewart and fellow re archers write in a paper that considering
5:31
the biophysical limitations of the earth
5:34
extreme resource and material consumption
5:36
on a finite Planet
5:38
means it is not a matter of if the economy will contract
5:41
but when in short the Imperial
5:43
core is consuming far more than is sustainable
5:46
for human well-being and the plant but is consumerism
5:50
really the problem are the consumption
5:53
habits of the masses
5:54
really the driving force
5:55
between our environmental and social ALS
5:59
these are are the crucial questions
6:00
ones that hand us the keys to what KL Marx calls
6:04
the hidden Abode of
6:07
production behind every dollar spent on that butter melter you saw on Tik Tok
6:12
or that automatic pot stir you saw on Instagram
6:14
lies a corporation a company eager to offload its product into your hands to
6:19
generate profit the core engine of capitalism
6:22
is its constant demand for capital accumulation
6:25
capitalists must incessantly expand
6:27
their productive capacities through new Technologies
6:30
and decreasing labor costs to create the most commodities
6:33
for the lowest prices
6:35
if they fail to do so they get eaten alive by other more capable
6:39
owners who've managed to create more products
6:41
at cheaper prices this process of constant
6:44
accumulation and expansion creates
6:47
over production production that generates
6:49
piles of Commodities that must be sold to the masses
6:52
to continue the cycle of capital accumulation
6:55
because exchanging products for even more money is essential to complete the last leg
6:59
of the money invested into Commodities
7:01
and sold for even more money cycle
7:03
also known as MCM
7:05
in a sense consumption
7:06
is a release valve
7:07
of production it expands
7:09
and contracts but never creates
7:12
the flow of goods
7:13
as scholar Alan schneberg
7:15
notes consumption cannot be the leading factor in the expansion of production
7:19
increased consumption May permit expanded
7:22
production but it does not generally
7:24
cause it unrestrained capitalist
7:26
production then is the root cause of what we see
7:29
as the alses of consumerism
7:31
according to the average person living in the capitalist stronghold of the United States
7:35
and indeed most economists
7:37
however corporations are merely
7:39
responding to Consumer demand
7:41
this is a skewed
7:42
view of reality the true culprits
7:44
of all the stuff in our houses
7:46
and our landfills and in our atmosphere
7:49
is over production companies
7:51
like Best Buy for example
7:52
Supply a false Freedom
7:54
when you walk into their store the range of Brands and products on their
7:57
shelves might make you feel like you freedom of choice
8:00
but in reality you are only served
8:03
cameras laptops or phones that generate
8:05
profit or allow corporations
8:07
to stay competitive factors that are often determined
8:10
much more by labor costs raw materials
8:12
and transportation Logistics than consumer demand
8:16
in the housing market for example
8:17
most people want affordable
8:19
comfortable living spaces yet the buildings
8:21
developers construct are often
8:23
luxury condos or TurnKey
8:25
Mansions dwellings that are unaffordable
8:28
for the majority but break in extensive
8:30
profit for real estate companies
8:32
so capitalists produce Goods based on factors
8:35
outside of the realm of consumerism
8:38
that being said they still need people to buy their stuff
8:41
to complete that cycle of money commodity
8:43
more money capitalists must sell their products on the market to the masses
8:48
regardless of whether their products
8:50
have actual use or not so instead of focusing on producing
8:53
things that are actually useful
8:55
and necessary capitalism has built a massive
8:58
apparatus that Manu manufacturers
9:00
false needs and desires
9:02
here lies the true trap of consumerism
9:04
to assure the continued
9:06
success of their businesses
9:08
capitalist manufacture desires and needs
9:11
we believe that it is wholly
9:13
inherent wants needs and desires
9:15
that are driving our consumption
9:17
that it is human nature
9:18
when in fact corporate forces
9:20
are constantly whispering in our ear
9:23
consume consume consume in 1919
9:29
hry Ford and his fellow capitalists
9:31
were scared a rising insurgence
9:33
of anarchist and socialist movements
9:35
seized the hearts and minds of Americans
9:37
across the country labor strikes walkouts and protests
9:40
seeking a better workplace
9:42
threaten to disrupt The Profit making machines
9:44
of Ford's car making factories
9:46
then Ford had an idea a double-edged sword wielded
9:50
against the worker to maintain
9:51
the status quo Ford
9:53
and his fellow industry leaders
9:55
as onean paper describes
9:56
decided to reduce the chances of a worker
9:59
reion by giving workers
10:00
increased wages Bank credit and more Leisure Time all for the purpose of encouraging
10:05
increased rates of consumption
10:08
as we've already seen
10:09
producers required the endless
10:11
consumption of their Commodities
10:13
to stay competitive and profitable
10:15
within a capitalist market system
10:17
capitalist must keep consumers on an endless treadmill
10:20
of consumption to reap maximum
10:22
profit and continue accumulating
10:25
Capital this leads to the real trap of consumerism
10:28
the manufacturing of what Marxist scholar Herbert maruse
10:31
deemed false needs to offload
10:34
all the useless gadgets
10:35
new iterations of the same Tech and just general junk onto the masses
10:39
capitalists have to make us believe that we actually need the latest iPhone
10:43
or the Slap Chop or that latest Tik Tok Trend
10:46
rather than just want it this is where the vast apparatus
10:50
of advertising comes into play with ads like this
10:53
sadly he isn't meat but if he stopped using lady scented body wash and
10:57
switched to Old Spice he could smell like he's meat
10:59
and this making New
11:02
Traditions going going sharing old
11:05
stories that's my recipe
11:08
for magic companies assign
11:10
emotional value and meaning to objects whose actual value stems from the labor and
11:15
raw material costs needed to make that product
11:18
this process not only obscures
11:20
exploitative practices employed during production
11:23
but also allows companies to set higher prices
11:26
because the commodity is now imbued
11:28
with certain politics and values
11:30
Tesla has been extremely
11:32
effective at this task its brand imbus
11:34
its cars with ideal of luxury
11:36
clean and sustainable futurism
11:39
these values in turn mask the exploitative
11:41
practices throughout Tesla's supply chain fellow YouTuber yabn
11:45
cheeky describes this process of value formation
11:48
through the example of a chocolate bar advertisers
11:51
consciously understand that purchasing
11:53
patterns directly correlate to personal
11:56
values therefore the chocolate bar
11:59
becomes a locally grown eco-friendly
12:01
soy infused chocolate bar with a hipster biodegradable
12:04
wrapper and from whose every purchase 2 cents go to starving
12:08
Sri Lankan children now what's the actual difference between
12:12
this world saving chocolate bar
12:14
and just a chocolate bar
12:16
almost none made in the same Factory with the same ingredients
12:19
and for the same profit motive in short the advertising
12:22
industry Works tirelessly to wrap products in values like happiness
12:27
power connection or sustainability
12:29
because they know it's much easier to sell a product to someone based on
12:33
appeals to their principles
12:34
rather than just describing
12:36
the utility of the commodity
12:38
this value generation apparatus
12:40
otherwise known as the advertising
12:42
industry has become an essential
12:44
lever in the capitalist
12:45
machine advertising Revenue has nearly doubled
12:48
since 2012 with spending on digital display advertising
12:52
in just the us alone
12:53
reaching $ 63.5 billion
12:56
in 2022 but in the age of social
12:59
media it's not just advertisements
13:01
directly from companies that are pushing us to buy to boost our happiness
13:05
or save the planet
13:06
your favorite streamer or Instagram star is constantly
13:09
influencing you to buy stuff
13:12
regardless of whether they're paid to or not even I support myself through ad
13:17
Revenue which I'll get to later on in the video this has disastrous
13:20
consequences for our mental health as we constantly
13:23
strive to fulfill those false needs generated
13:26
for us especially as corporations
13:28
wield algorithms and data collection to hone in on what product will best seduce
13:32
you into buying in essence
13:34
every day a social media advertisement
13:36
is placed in front of you with a product that you never even thought
13:40
about buying but because of Data Tracking and algorithmic
13:43
decisions that product now Wiggles
13:45
its way into your head like an earworm
13:47
and you can't stop thinking about how your life would be better
13:51
with those slippers or that new watch
13:54
as a result the good life becomes synonymous
13:56
with consuming things happiness is equated
13:59
with having products even streaming
14:02
services keep you hooked and numb with features
14:05
like the autoplay button
14:06
it allows you to constantly
14:08
consume content and search for that next dopamine
14:11
hit giving you a short-term
14:12
high but in the process we stay up way too late which leaves us
14:16
tired and burnt out in fact in 2017
14:19
Netflix's CEO very bluntly
14:21
claimed that their biggest
14:23
competitor was sleep all of this advertising
14:26
leads us to believe that the current system
14:29
we live in actually
14:30
benefits us that keeping up with the Joneses
14:33
going deep into debt to buy a new car or going on a shopping
14:36
spree is the answer to our loneliness
14:39
alienation and disconnection from the people and places
14:42
around us as Diana Stewart
14:44
and her co-author right the ruling
14:46
class benefiting from the labor of others
14:48
perpetuates ideas that mystify
14:50
elude and deceive workers into falsely
14:53
believing that they benefit from the current system can move up in the system
14:57
and have freedom in the system as as well as that no other system
15:01
is possible this is especially
15:03
Insidious in the realm of politics
15:05
many of us have become so distant from the cogs of capitalist
15:08
production and so entrenched
15:10
in this advertising ideology
15:12
that often political activism
15:15
has been boiled down to voting with your dollars
15:18
this narrative is exactly
15:19
what the fossil fuel industry
15:21
has been hard at work creating
15:23
for over 40 years through its popularization
15:25
of carbon Footprints Recycling
15:27
and individualization of action
15:30
when we as worker consumers
15:32
are plated into believing that the most effective
15:35
means of change is to transfer
15:37
our money from one capitalist
15:39
to another the owners
15:41
of production have won
15:43
they've distracted us from what's actually a threat to them Collective organizing
15:47
labor agitation Union power walkouts
15:50
and Strikes activities that directly disrupt
15:52
the cycle of capital
15:54
accumulation as scholar Douglas Kelner writes
15:57
capitalists wield image and spectacle
15:59
to manipulate people into social Conformity
16:02
and into behaving in ways
16:03
functional for the reproduction
16:05
of capitalism in essence
16:07
consuming not only perpetuates
16:09
the endless cycle of production
16:11
and capital accumulation but it also pacifies
16:14
the masses by narrowing
16:15
the possibilities of a good life to the purchasing
16:18
having and watching of more
16:20
stuff so if we know the root causes
16:23
of consumerism how then do we escape
16:27
it we already have have the means and capacity
16:30
to fulfill everyone's basic needs
16:32
worldwide let that sink in we already produce enough food to feed everyone
16:37
globally but we're wasting
16:38
nearly a third of it we already have the technology
16:41
to create renewable energy for everyone on the planet
16:44
but we're nowhere near that level
16:46
we can build a world where everyone lives a good meaningful
16:50
and environmentally ethical life but that world
16:53
will mean an end to shopping
16:55
at timu or Shen
16:57
it means no Amazon
16:58
oneclick purchases it means
17:00
an end to incessant
17:02
advertising and here is where I struggle
17:05
I am complicit in that manufacturing
17:07
of consumer desire my channel is run on the manufacturing
17:11
of false needs my livelihood
17:13
is based on getting you to become a nebula member or signing up for
17:17
ground news does it make it better if I actually like those services
17:21
and use them or that nebula is adree and based on membership
17:24
Revenue I tell myself
17:25
yes because I live under this massive apparatus that is capitalism
17:29
but that doesn't feel
17:31
good to me perhaps I could end YouTube ads if there was more patreon
17:35
support but at this moment it's not financially feasible
17:38
at the end of the day I have no good answer to how to
17:41
live under capitalism while also struggling
17:44
against it in a sense
17:45
this is capitalism at work it insidiously
17:48
corrupts the very messages
17:50
of those working to dismantle
17:51
it blaming those who must live within it for living
17:55
within it but even if I did cancel all ads
17:58
my action would only be like spooning a small drop of water out of
18:02
a vast ocean this is why we need more than just individual
18:05
vote with your money approaches
18:07
ideally a mass Revolution
18:09
would upend our current capitalist
18:11
system and the adoption of full worker
18:13
control of all companies and production would take root
18:16
Democratic planning through worker
18:18
consumer and Community councils
18:20
would mean an emphasis
18:22
on producing for actual planetary
18:24
and personal needs rather than manufacturing
18:27
false needs for profit
18:29
of course this kind of worker-led
18:30
socialist economy could be a ways off in the future we will need to
18:34
build mass power globally
18:36
if we are to see it come to fruition
18:38
this is why we need to employ non- reformist
18:40
reforms like restricting and regulating
18:42
advertising on the road to building
18:45
that power to beat back the manufacturing
18:47
of false needs we need to restrict
18:49
the reach of corporations
18:51
in our everyday lives
18:52
this could start as simply reinstating
18:54
child advertising laws that were Stripped Away under the Reagan Administration
18:58
or tamping down on social media and influencer
19:01
marketing we cannot sit by and simply hope that encouraging
19:05
everyone to buy ethical
19:07
green or just less stuff
19:09
will somehow work to solve the multiple
19:11
crises in front of us especially
19:13
as mass marketing and over production
19:15
Peck at individual consumers
19:17
to buy buy buy
19:19
to truly escape the Trap of consumerism
19:21
we must approach the problem from the route we must erode
19:25
power through regulation and non- reformist
19:27
reforms and then event
19:29
dismantle and reimagine the factories and offices of production that manufacturer
19:33
our desires and on their Rubble
19:36
build a world based on useful
19:38
Goods a world where the stuff we make facilitates
19:41
rather than alienates our connection
19:43
to people and the planet
19:45
in an effort to depend less and less on YouTube ads and in video
19:49
sponsorships I need your help recently
19:51
my Revenue has been slipping because of a combination of demonetization
19:55
and fewer sponsorship conversions
19:57
my wonderful patreon supporters
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however have been keeping this Channel and myself AF flat my patreon supporters have
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given me Financial consistency
20:04
over the last 7 years
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so I can pay my rent and my ever increasing
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healthc care premiums so I'm turning to you the wonderful people who watch my
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videos monthin month out if you have the means please consider supporting the channel
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on patreon using the link in the description
20:19
just pledging a dollar a month is huge for the channel
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and when you become a patreon supporter
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you'll get early access to all my videos
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ad free bonus content
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like a guided meditation from yours truly to calm your climate anxiety
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or even the occasional full length interview with authors
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or Scholars but if you aren't able to become a channel Patron
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please don't worry just by watching this video to the end
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you've done your part
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so thank you and thank you so much to those who already support me
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on patreon you're the reason I'm able to make videos
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like this thanks again
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and I'll see you next month
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