The Story of Stuff

Several years back a few sociology friends asked me how I felt about consumption. In retrospect, they were clearly expecting a theoretical response analyzing it in the abstract–its relation to labor, the production of commodities, etc. But I couldn’t get past the concrete ways consumption plays out in American consumerism: the colonial-style oppression of the developing world for its resources, the destruction of the environment, the PR industry’s production of “needs,” the moral bankruptcy of a culture defined by it, and on and on. In short, one big seemingly neverending nightmare. Reeling at all this, I finally responded, emphatically, “Consumption disgusts me.” My friends burst out laughing at my harsh nonsequitur. It was like saying labor or some other natural part of society’s functioning disgusts me — guess it’s good I’m not going into sociology!

Anyway, to conflate the two again for a moment: if you’ve ever been disgusted by the consumption that is American consumerism, here’s a site for you: The Story of Stuff.

The full video is about 20 minutes and does a good job of laying things out. It doesn’t go into the ways in which consumption has been exploited by big business and government in order to maintain the status quo and control the populace, etc. But it’s a great overview for mainstream America to start to come to terms with itself. And Annie (its creator) helpfully points out many ways to get involved and make a difference. Pass it on.