This video with Annie Leonard was pretty depressing to watch after a weekend full of Christmas shop, shop, shopping. There is no doubt in my mind that we are a nation of consumers. Shopping for my loved ones to find them the perfect gifts makes me feel great. Consumption has become a ritual, and not just during the holidays. New stuff never fails to cheer me up. Leonard discusses the intentional introduction of planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence during the 1950's, which she researched in industrial design journals. What worked for our economy in the past isn't working anymore, for us or for anybody else. And recycling isn't going to be enough to get to the root of the problem. She ended on a positive note about the already changing ideas about consumption. Our "field of vision" is expanding to take extraction and production and disposal into account. But even Leonard's distinction between the "old way" of thinking and a new way of thinking reinforces the idea that newer is better. That's the way we think now, but it hasn't always been that way. And the growing concerns about limited natural resources are likely to bring about another period of valuing frugality and thrift.
I've really worked at keeping Damali Ayo's five easy steps to ending racism in the back of my mind, which is something that I know I can continue to do long after this semester is over. Even though I always considered myself open minded about race, I've become much more comfortable with the fact that there are SO many things I am not aware of because I am white. And even more things I am not aware of because I'm not disabled. I'm more attuned to the way that people speak about each other and treat each other, and quick to keep my assumptions at bay. I'd easily go to any meeting of any cultural group on campus now, and the weirder I'd feel for being the only white kid, the better. Along those same lines, my next nametag would have to be "Hello, I love to shop". We have a hard time thinking any lifestyle other than one that is centered around shopping because that is what we know so well. But if you just admit that it's there, instead of trying to ignore it, then it's easier to start unpacking that invisible knapsack of consumption like Leonard is trying to do.
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3 comments:
I really liked your connection with the “white privilege: unpacking the invisible knapsack” with the Leonard consumption video. I definitely agree that many Americans have the “invisible knapsack of consumption” and that it makes sense to recognize this fact as opposed to ignoring it. Like racism, consumerism is constructed by our society and who better to deconstruct the consumerism but the consumers.
The interesting part comes in when considering the disadvantage that our consumerism puts certain people and this is what the video takes into account. The connection also makes sense that more people need to recognize this consumer dominance. The next step is the part that gets tricky though and something that we have addressed in class is what we are actually willing to do about it. McIntosh’s article focuses on the knowledge and visibility of the knapsack and this makes sense for consumerism as well, though there are obviously going to be differences. McIntosh also mentions the ability to reconstruct power so that privilege does not exist in the same way, but it is not as clear how to reconstruct the consumerism foundation. This is something that, although we may consider as “new” and preferred, is not discussed in the same progressive fashion. That’s why videos like Leonard’s are so important and should be part of growing awareness campaigns.
I also thought your comparison between the consumerism of Leonard’s video and the inherent privileges of white males was great. However, I do not think that acknowledging American’s dependence on consumer products is enough to overcome the gargantuan problem that has arisen due to consumerism. The first step may be to admitting that a material good can make a person happy, but I think the next step is to ask why a material good makes a person happy. With this knowledge in hand, we can begin to break down a system that causes such great inequalities. Acknowledging that we have an invisible (designer) knapsack (in multiple colors) is not enough; it does not alter the inherent advantage that well off Americans have be given. The circumstances are too severe, and one must be willing to reject the invisible knapsack in order to achieve equality.
I too am shocked by our nation's consumption rates. It's amazing that our nation, which only contains 5% of the world's population, consumes 1/3 of the world's resources.
Interestingly enough, I have recently been taking part in the holiday shopping due to the popular belief that it will improve our economy. When flipping through the channels and reading the newspaper, I am constantly seeing media alerts explaining how well the economy is doing due to shoppers. At the same time, the media is not informing the public of all those shoppers who are going into debt in order to buy their gifts. Unfortunately, I myself and many other Americans do not realize the the impact the production of our gifts have on the world. As we have discussed in class on numerous occasions, most of the waste produced by factories is dumped in low-socioeconomic, minority neighborhoods.
I believe this movie clip was an excellent wake up call. While I knew about most of the issues discussed, I learned specific facts and figures. The clip was also simple enough for younger students to understand but still interesting enough to catch the attention of adults. I believe this clip should be shown in schools across the nation in order to bring more awareness to these important issues.
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