Consumption and Happiness

Marjorie Snyder

 Consumption and Happiness

It starts in the early years of life, we as children are given toys and treats as rewards for good behaivor. We grow up believing "stuff", can bring us pleasure. The newest clothes, toys, music, are always sought after. Brands can define us, who we are, what resources we have, our tastes. Consumption is a deep rooted problem in our society. It is engrained in our culture. We consume to stay present and connected with others. It has become a dangerous cycle of never having enough. This cycle has to end, our worlds resources cannot with stand the constant need for more. A new kind of happiness without consumption has to be recognized in order to end the need to consume. 

People consume most when they feel a void. That space in our chest that needs to be filled with something that can bring us happiness. Whether its a new shirt that will finally make us the style icon we've always wanted. Or its the new car that will attract the people we've always desired to be friends with. It is always the next thing. But it is so fleeting. Once we finally obtain that desired item, we move on. Then its the next thing that we've always dreamed of. It is this vicious cycle that leaves us feeling hollow and ready to consume more. This need and desire within ourselves is what must be addressed. Why do we feel the need for more? 

If instead of seeking an object, we sought an experience, we would be getting closer to the solution. If Instead of wanting that shirt that makes me stylish, I sought an experience with the people who are in fashion, or I put myself in a situation where I would meet those types of people, I would likely fulfill my needs much more than just simply purchasing a garment that I would likely move past. I could also attempt to learn to make the garment, or if it truly is the garment I desire, then I should wait a long time and give myself a chance to reflect on why I need to purchase it. Thoughtfulness in our purchasing can make all the differences.

There are so many different ways to approach the things we want. It is through logical thought and reasoning that we can hash out what we actually need, and what we just desire. If as a society, we began to place more value in our thoughts and experiences than on physical objects, our consumption would decrease rapidly. Consumption is a societal problem, it is a flaw within ourselves. We do not need to consume the way we do, we consume because we believe it brings us happiness. It instead brings us the opposite, and only the need to consume more. To end this vicious cycle of consumption, we must address the problem of happiness. Happiness can come from experience, relationships, and many other things. However, I think it is rare that an object can carry with it true happiness. To end our consumption we must realize, consuming more does not make us happier. 

Paradigm Change

 

Crossroads is a movie investigating the current challenges of mankind in all sorts of different facets, as well on a very fundamental level, which is to speak about a worldview and how this is the root of so many problems. Choosing a rather personally empirically founded point of view, I am going to reflect upon worldview as a concept, its practical consequences and the possibility of transformation to the better.

In my eyes talking about a worldview can be misleading because it suggests this view could be universally and unambiguously described. On the contrary there is an infinite and ungraspable amount of different perspectives, which cannot even be individually isolated but have to be understood as embedded in a context of an inseparable system, constituted by both subject and object. The term is in this sense highly problematic but nevertheless very useful if understood as something describing characteristic features of a given society at a given time.

For these reasons I prefer talking about a paradigm which might have a stronger connotation towards a state of mind that is not consciously decided but refers to our glasses through which everything is perceived. A paradigm is usually anchored very deep and consequently influences and determines our actions without the necessity of our awareness. It is thus a crucial force maybe most relevant on a larger scale of time and people, which is characteristic for our contemporary global problems.

A favoured transformation of our current paradigm(s) would undeniably alter our behaviour towards our environment. The causal relation is obvious and verified through history but the crucial point for me remains how such a transformation can be triggered and directed towards a desired direction?

A paradigm change cannot merely be set on a political agenda but it is a transition process that takes time and cannot be planned in all details. Nevertheless, I believe we can influence this process by our political, economical and societal framework. Noticing things that go bad is a start, living better alternatives a required second step into the desired direction. Long-term change will be made up of many consecutive steps, taken on all levels of society. “The system” has to transform but this requires a vision to what it could possibly transform to. I believe it is possible to influence this process.

But I disagree with some voices of the movie crossroads (e.g. “there is no problem, there is only a transition”), that make it sound as if it was only a question of time until we transform to the better. A “better world” can only be understood using concepts of mankind introducing values to the world. It is in this sense not fundamental and independent of mankind. While I have a strong belief into some kind of unity that is underlying everything we have to realize that we are the ones defining ideals that we live up to. A problem is then derived as something that is in conflict with a given ideal. It is our problem and our desire to make it a better world.

Let us live our vision. Individually and collectively.

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Get Involved

In the last class we watched a film called "Crossroads", a film that discussed what the creators thought were the reasons behind the current social and environmental crises that our world is experiencing. The major shortfall of the movie was that the creators neglected to provide any ample solutions to the crises that they were describing. The movie was successful in drawing attention to our problems but that was all.
In order create a sustainable future and a more environmentally responsible populace we must begin with the people who have the most power. In the United States these parties would be big corporations and politicians. These people have the power to influence everything that our society is based on and yet a staggering amount refuse to acknowledge or even flat out deny that climate change is an ongoing and dangerous reality. Donald Trump, who is currently leading in republican polls has been quoted saying that he "believes that weather changes" and was unconvinced that climate change is happening and would be until someone proved him otherwise. This type of ignorance is staggering at this day and age and should not be coming from somebody who has this type of power and influence, and much less from somebody who has the possibility of becoming president. The other side to this coin is the big corporations who are either in the business of or are heavily invested in the business of fossil fuels. They have made themselves comfortable in their positions and quite understandably do not want to relinquish their position at the top of the food chain so they will do anything that they can in order to dig their heels in as much as possible. Which means endorsing and contributing to the campaigns of candidates who support them. According to OpenSecrets.com, in 2012 Oil & Gas companies donated over $70 million to federal candidates. These candidates then will go on to create and maintain legislature that protects the fossil fuel companies interests and continue spewing nonsense rhetoric to the public that we needn't worry about climate change because good old mother earth is just going through a phase.
We as a country need to become more engaged in the political process. We need to examine our politicians platforms more carefully and work towards electing candidates who care about our worlds future and won't bow to the loaded palms of the fossil fuel industry or the corporations who are involved with them. By electing more informed candidates we can expect to see more discussions and media spotlights on climate change which will lead to reforms on climate policy. We need to work from the top down because waiting around for a technological fix or a nationwide change in consumption is a waste of time.

"Cooperation"

"Crossroads". This film provokes so many thoughts for so many different topics going on currently in our international society. Every person has their own different perspective on life and the world we live in because each person has seen and experienced different things. This film showed many different perspectives and left my brain swirling with the need for answers. But their are no specific answers. My knowledge and answers are not going to change the world. What will change the world is everyone's knowledge coming together. The world is a puzzle. Every piece is the economic, environmental, geopolitical, social, and technological knowledge between the billions of people in the world, and when we can cooperate, brainstorm, and make changes together, that is how the world puzzle will be completed.

Just like what was talked about during the film, a person's perspective depends on the perspective of others. We are dependent on group environments. "We are happy in groups, sad in groups. We get fat in groups, we quit smoking in groups. We are what our environment is." So if this is true, why are we constantly competing with each other? Why do we have the "Have more - Be more" attitude? People have become more greedy always wanting to be at the top. But yet nobody will ever be to the top because there will always be somebody with more. What is the value of one puzzle piece? Without the rest of the puzzle it is unvaluable. My favorite quote out of the film is "...it is more beneficial to feed your enemy instead of fight them." We all need to work together, we all need to cooperate, we all need to put our piece into the puzzle, because once the puzzle is finished, its beautiful. Once the mess of all the pieces and colors are put together, many questions will be answered. The purpose, the result, the teamwork, will all pay off to create a beautiful place for everyone.

Be unique. Find what you can do and do it. Hug trees. Be your own independent piece of the puzzle. Cooperate. Work together. Educate every person you meet. Educate our young people who are hidden behind video games and television screens. Educate yourself.  In order to finish the puzzle, in order to change the world, we will need every single piece.

Reflections

            In our last class we watched the short documentary “Crossroads” and discussed what we thought were the major themes and some of its flaws as well. We decided the biggest hole in the film was that there was no proposed solution or alternatives to what we are doing currently. Without this vital piece of the puzzle, how are we supposed to move from ideals to reality? It’s easy to protest which makes everyone a rebel, but protesting without proposed solutions is more along the lines of whining (even if its whining for a good cause). Rebels without a cause are just attention seekers in my opinion. If we want to evoke real change we must come together and plan incremental, practical steps that will work with the current system to make small pivotal change and ease our way into a more environmentally friendly future.

            It is easy to play the blame game when trying to pinpoint what the root cause of our environmental problems is. Is it the bi-partisan political system, big corporations that pollute, the media that ignores big problems or even our own materialistic culture? I believe it’s a combination of all these that turns the next wheel in all consuming machine we’ve created. The part that is most disturbing is that I don’t think it was any group’s malicious intentions that got us here. It may have been the pursuit of the “American dream” that got out of hand as people wanted more and more or could be attributed to the way competition works normally in nature, the difference being that we now have the power to affect the future of the planet. So for me, the blame game is redundant, it is a defense mechanism people use to point out others flaws while not willing to correct their own.

            I believe one of biggest flaws in our education system is that we focus on studying how objective subjects interact with the world not how our own actions affect the world. Is intelligence having mastered all the arts and sciences or having complete knowledge of how each of your actions effects the world and the people in it? My first proposed solution is to supplement our education system with reflections on our lives. I strongly believe we would not act a certain way if we saw the negative side affects. It is this blindness that has gotten out of hand. In the film, one of the contributors said that when we pretend, we become. So what we if we practiced intensive reflection from a very early age? Wouldn’t that shape and completely change how we identify as humans? That’s not for me to answer, but I believe the outcome would be a beneficial one. Other obvious solutions are mere lifestyle changes, eating food from organic and sustainable farms, using products that don’t pollute our water and soil, buying clothes from sustainable/responsible companies, riding bikes/driving electric cars, composting, reusing, recycling and the list goes on and on. I’m a firm believer however, that big change will come from complete structural changes. The way our political system works, how companies operate and  how our society  perceives the world will only change from the top. Many liberal activists remain on the bottom and protest these big abstract organizations (industry, political realm), some even run and live on sustainable farms or communities while the machine is still working away at depleting our world little by little. So do we run or do we abide by the system? Do we disguise ourselves as something to get inside and make changes from the top? When the tools are given to us to make the real changes, the changes that will change our lifestyles for ever, are we prepared to use them?

The image I've used is a an eerie metaphor for how without reflecting on our actions, the outcome of what we do can have repercussions we don't even see. The man is looking away, while his reflection doesn't follow. 

Interdependence

             

                
                 "Crossroads", a documentary, expository type film presents the viewer with many different views and commentaries on our environmental and social worlds current crises. The films main theme is that of the "interdependence" of our worlds problems. We are shown the many different social, psychological, and environmental problems we face today, and how one cannot exist without the other. There is no source or one main thing to blame for our current state or crisis. This film manages to incorporate almost all realms of study. However, with this in mind, the film gives such a broad view of our problems and predicaments that it leaves the viewer feeling a little lost. While covering so many topics, it leaves out the most important one. What can we do? The message of this film is positive and remains true. But, in order to move forward we must educate and create involvement with communities and our environment. As well as create a change in our governments policies. The understanding of the relation of all these factors is a key to success in environmental health. 

I believe that we can better our planet through education of our youth as well as with programs that engage people with the environment. Programs that can engage people who are trapped in inner cities and bring them to the outdoors have proven effective in making people more conscious and interested in environmental health. People are more likely to care for their planet if they are able to access the outdoors. We also need inspired people and communities who wish to better the planet with small steps such as community gardens, recycling and composting. These little actions help not only the community directly, but also create bigger steps in the movement towards a greener future. Finally, in the United States alone, the military budget is at a staggeringly high rate. The United States government has a surplus of spending. If more than a fraction of this was put into research for greener alternatives to fossil fuels as well as land protection and conservation, we could experience  significant change. Understanding the interdependence of our problems can help us realize the interdependence in our solutions.