Do You Know the Story of Stuff?

If not, look here http://www.storyofstuff.com/

It's a twenty minute sermon, but a relevant and mostly factual one. I disagree a little with her take on the role of government. I think there is little a government can or should do to regulate the economy. Americans see corporations as iconic and godlike and offer them the majority of our income as tribute. There is nothing the government can do to dissuade such eager victims--and each ideological side has had eight of the last sixteen years to try.

We have to stop. So, stop, please? Just don't buy stuff. And when you must, buy used items. When buying used is impossible (as with food), buy minimally processed items that you know have been produced in a sustainable manner with fairness toward all people involved. Think about how people worked around a given challenge before it could be fixed by a trip to Stuff Mart. My mop broke, and now I use a floor rag. It's just as fast, just as easy, just as clean, and cheaper. Why did ever think I needed a mop?

Got kids? Rent Madame Blueberry and watch it with them. Talk about it. We can't afford another generation of this--our ecological account is already overdrawn.

There is nothing wrong with this country that can't be cured by self-deprivation and tolerance.