The story of Stuff!

(I personally think the animation isnt serious enough,in comparison with the subject.Its like "how it all works-for dummies",but I understand theyr trying to make it as understandable as possible...)

We only have total control over our own body,and our own money,so its up to ourselves to "use less stuff". I am way past the "depression"-caused by knowing in what kinda society we live in,and Im trying to accept the fact that we live in this time,in this world. I personally like verry much to be as less materialistic as possible. But for me its more about a freedom thing;let me explain;-By being not too materialistic,you need less money,when you need less money you need to work less,and the lesser you work ,the more freedom you have. And if you like to be creativ (in my case in music and graphix) then thats for me,the ideal way of living. And if you got more time for creativity,that means you got more chance to evolve into an artist that creates interesting,quality art ,an that could provide you some money,the few money you/I need.(so there its falling back a bit) I only need money for food,rent,internet,....I have pc,laptop,mp3 and digital camera,but those things are fundamental in the process of creativity. And they last long...not like drugs.I dont smoke,dont take drugs and dont party much,and Im verry happy with that....I also have no car but a bike,so i am happy i dont have to pay repairs,taxes,insurance and gas for a car(in my case i dont nescesairely need one,i have my driver license though)...for me it all goes down to creativity.

That thing about the PC is a bit over the top I think,common. Haha,at 16:20- Im glad Im not into that!

Good initiative,but I would be much clearer on the solutions part. To explain the problem is a good start.

I found it to be rather confronting to find out that I too am "pushed" into buying new stuff for wrong reasons. Like this example: When I started to live alone with my Girl, we didn't buy a tv, cause it's an expense we couldn't make anyway and cause we'd like to use our time for other stuf then watching TV. People reacted real strange about us having no tv. (See, it's like being morally pushed to buy one) After a few years I got this old monster TV (with wooden framen and antenna) from someome who didn't use it anymore. I now use it to watch the News and play my old xbox from time to time. But boy, the comments I get from people, cause its got this spiked antenna and its not flatscreen LCD, not even stereo etc... So i started lokking at teh new tvs in the mediamarkt to see what they cost... But actually, I don't need a new one!!! The one I got does the things I wanted a tv for in the firstplace!!!! Again I found myself (indirectly) pushed to consuming...

Realysing that you are falling into a seller's trap and that you are that "onderhevig" to the general flow of people around you sucks big time!

The more, I care about the envirement, so all these goods meant to last only a few years really piss me off! My brand new phone (not even 1 year old) just broke down... you can't even replace parts, it's already out of production. you have to get a new one... sad dude if they can't even make a phone last 1 year... those ugly white 80ies things that turned yellow with the years still do the job u know... but yeah, they look so old fashionned.... sigh

....sigh indeed.... So you dont have that old wood-framed-with a big antenna thing? I would be proud of that;showing people you dont need better,you know? I think you have to know better what you really need. Its a certain richness to me to not having to buy new stuff all the time. I watch lesser and lesser (juust canvas en bbc,zulke dingen) Old XBOX? Hell,I still got my old nintendo 8-bit connected.Why not.

You think you "need" something new ,when you see it in an advertisement,so dont watch too much tv,or just...be aware of the whole "vicious circle" thing. And you'll be fine.

Originally posted by : Skip

So you dont have that old wood-framed-with a big antenna thing?

Still use the wood-framed TV! still the only tv around in our house... tho my girlfriend beggs me to put it out of sight on the attick and play my games there. :) I always state that it is "a vintage item, and that vintage is totally IN nowadays!" :)

yeah man they're producing the cellphones in a rate that every person that has a cellphone has to change it every 3 months!!! i myself have a really old nokia i got from a friend who's a big consumer (got the last model etc) and i'm really happy with it...i can text message and receive calls. and did you know that allmost all the new laptops that come out now have windows vista and you can't even put windows xp on them? that's pretty scary...

i'm trying to consume as little as possible too (well i have my addictions...beer and cigarettes) but most of the people are so lost that they don't have any other interest than shopping and watching tv...that animation part was so true...

like my sister too she watches tv sees the publicity and then just goes to the shop and buy all that crap...she has so much beauty crap that she doesn't even use cause there is a new crap on the market... i say the best thing to do is to try to be as much autonome as possible...if you smoke weed just grow it...and there are many other things we can do if we just think a bit but most of the people don't wanna think coz it's so much easier to just absorb the info without questioning and do as you're told u can even see that in schools...they just do the exams so the parents are happy and they can get stuff

stuff stuff stufff

thanx for that little animation 

ah yeah and did ytou notice how they invent new problems and new needs for us? like example the cellulitis thingie...everyone has it but nobody really cared before they started to invent all those creams and stuff... and there are so much more examples 

She forgot the profits made by transportation. Transport is very profitable. Even recycling industry works like this. Did you know our country is one of the biggest exporters of recyclable trash. a lot of our plastic gets transported to italy to make new packages out of it, to get transported back and thrown away again. Same for aluminium cans etc. 

what i find sick is they 'build it in' into children. They're the ideal victims. if they see a flashy commercial, they'll go to their parents to ask for it. If they don't get it they make the parents feel guilty: everybody has it and i don't, they misbehave when they go shopping: crying and shouting on the floor (other people will think: "wow these are bad parents" and there are a bunch of other of these "children strategies". ( that's why you see 10 year olds with cellphones)

When i have children i'll never give them commercial studio 100 etc... stuff. They won't get this K3 cd. Instead i'll give them something interesesting to listen to and i think they will be thankfull for it when they grow up. I wont buy every toy they ask for, i'll teach them or force them to play outside as my perants did. send them to the scouts to learn them they can have a great time without much confort and expensive (crappy, plastic, boring) toys. 

and about the addiction thing: i'm a smoker and a heavy drinker. 'Brave New World effect' i think. :)

Originally posted by : TheThreatOfDawn My brand new phone (not even 1 year old) just broke down... you can't even replace parts, it's already out of production.

they design capacitors that break down after a specified period so you would buy a new cell phone. same with washing machines, they could make 'em to last forever but they choose to make machines that last 10 years or so, that way you want to buy the same brand 'cause it lasted so long. 

indeed, same with cars and stuff ( stuff ;) ).... we live in a mass consumption world, a world where we produce tons and tons of garbage. U don't use your phone anymore, instead of giving it away, we just throw it out with the garbage... You use the same pc for 6 months? Throw it away please, because your next-door neighbour just got a new one and hey, you don't wanna miss out !

I have no cable ( for years now ), and it eases my mind... If you look at the rate they throw commercials in your face , it's not surprising that some people get lost completely....

You feel depressed? Go out and buy... You feel good? Go out and buy... You want to reward yourself for something you achieved? Go out and buy....

Now, when i want new music gear for instance, i sell some of my older stuff and with that money i buy something else, or i trade it...

I guess if we all put in some effort ( not too much ) we can slow this tendency down a bit, we'll never be able to stop it, but maybe slow it down...

... sigh...

Hehe, I'm glad that I teach cultural science at high school. This is exactly the stuff some of my lessons are about and I can tell you lots of the kids are aware of it and do mind the huge amounts of commercials. Them too (16-18 year olds) think "WTF" & "Why the hell?" when they see epileptic ringtone commercials about "het meisje met de prei" and crazyfrog.  So don't worry, it's not that we're the last generation that's aware, cautious & critical.