Consumerism, is it killing us?

Consumerism. What is about these products that have us all brainwashed into buying something we don’t really need, but we really have to own? Some come with flashing lights, pin stripes and dressed up in nice packaging. Sold as “new and improved” but really are the same old tired products and believe it or not, some are more useless than others. We don’t seem to see that as we whip out our credit card to fill our boots our egos and lighten our pocket book. Consumerism by definition is a social economic order that encourages the purchase of goods and services in an ever greater amount. We have become kings of consumption and lemmings to commercialism. What we have become is a people consuming beyond excess of our basic needs. We have peaked as far as new and inventive products are concerned. Sure there have been upgrades in devices and many of them quite useful and many are done methodically to separate you from your hard earned cash. I should say that again. Most are done to separate you from your cash. What we have done as a species, is turn down a much darker road. The road to Capitalism, where the all mighty dollar is put above personal well being, and corporations know this. Hell they are betting on it. One thing we don’t see is the billions of dollars filling someone one else’s boots and pumping their egos while we rack up debt in a disturbing trend that has seen Canadians leverage 495 billion dollars, that’s BILLION with a “B” in debt. Debt not associated to mortgages. We are saving less too. Approximately 4.2% compared to our American counterparts saving at a rate of 5.8%. Due to them not relying on an overly inflated housing market. Something we have yet to deal with. 

Don’t get me wrong. Consumerism has its place but it also has some serious side effects. LIke the ones pharmaceutical companies push on us through paid advertisements. Some of these side effects might include: 

• A market where producers aimed at selling, create and encourage the consumer needs and desires, but never completely or permanently fulfills them. Thus creating a wash and repeat consumeristic process while simultaneously      encouraging you to spend beyond your means.
• A capitalistic market that produces sub par products encouraging you to constantly replace the previous one.
• Consumeristic societies also consume products at a much higher rate, thus having more impact on the environment creating a much larger issue in the unforeseen future.
• Creating a society where money/goods are the greater good. Rather than influencing the less fortunate or helping others.

Consumerism is not a dying trend, in fact it’s growing at an exponential rate. A rate

our debt to income ratio is struggling to keep up with. Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for consumerism. It has been around since ancient rome, ancient egypt, even in babylonian times. In no uncertain terms it has logged hundreds of years and if I dare say it, beat the sands of time. Like all things, consumerism has also become long in the tooth and eventually plays out as it has in previous civilizations. It was thought, at one time attending college was so the student could become a leader, an authority in his or her chosen field. Unfortunately since the 1990s times have changed. School now is mostly attended to allow students to create more money for the purchase of an ever growing need for more stuff. Shifting society away from a learning interest to one of mass consumerism. Unfortunately, this mentality has seen our values swing away from community, spirituality and integrity to one that leans towards something more undesirable, competition. Not the healthy kind but one of a one up man-ship mentality. Materialism, who has more stuff, and an ever growing disconnect towards our fellow man. As our civilization grows, so do the growing pains. We are learning to live and use a technology in a world where walls and distances are no more, at least when it comes to shopping or communicating long distance. But I fear, what we are losing is our neighbors, our communities and ourselves. All for something that really isn’t worth the price we paid.

The cost of green

I must first start out by saying I love our planet. From the mountains that seem to reach for the sky to the oceans that hold treasures known and ones ready to be discovered. We truly are the kings of our planet. I find it awe-inspiring that we are

living and breathing on a ball of rock seamlessly floating through space at roughly 107,300 km/h with an abundance of life on it that would surely last a millennia. We are a unique planet so far as we know it, in our solar system that is and I also believe we are fast destroying it. Turning our once pristine planet into a vast wasteland. 

I think it would be pointless to prolong an argument saying global warming isn’t happening. I also think it pointless to debate who’s at fault. See at one time or another we used to call it pollution. Now the government has us debating ‘global warming’, eating up precious time, money and resources in an effort to play the blame game. Fingers are pointed at anyone and everyone as long as it’s not at themselves. It’s amazing what you can do with something when you rebrand what was once old and tarnished by polishing it off, giving it a new name and charge top dollar all in the name of protecting us from it. The fact is ‘global warming’, warming of the earth or whatever you choose to call is here, that much is fact. The problem is government and industry are getting rich while at the same time killing the very planet they say they are out to protect. It is a team effort by both sides and you’re not on it. To add insult to injury it’s all done at your expense for your best interest of course. See while we sit and watch with awe at all the possibilities that lay before us the government is busy coming up with new and exciting ways to separate you from your hard earned money through new taxes. Aircare, levies and the dreaded carbon offset trading (which by the way is the biggest scam Al Gore and his cronies came up with to lighten the public of that stuff you used to put in your wallet) are all used in the attack to stop ‘global warming’ while you make all the sacrifices and cut backs in your personal lifestyle. 

One example of not such a good idea; fluorescent lighting. It’s been in our homes for as long as I can remember but what I didn’t know then is this. Fluorescent lighting puts out high levels of ultraviolet radiation, enough to damage skin if you sit to close unless the lighting is shielded by a cover. Florescent lighting also emits EMF’s (Electromagnetic fields) which tend to have the strongest influence on people that are already ill such as those with compromised immune systems and those already sensitive to Electromagnetism. EMF’s are damaging to those people suffering from Parkinson's, ALS and MS. The full scope of the damage caused by EMF’s passing through our bodies won’t be known for years to come but we are just starting to get reports on just how harmful EMF’s can be to the human body. It gets worse. Mercury (Hg) on the periodic table is the new ‘Green’. What? Since when did Mercury become ‘Green’? This supposedly “safe” product can leach into our waterways and cause all sorts of ill health effects such as damage to the brain, kidneys and lungs. Not to mention sensory impairment like vision loss, hearing issues and speech problems. Mercury can cause several diseases on its own like acrodynia (pink disease), Hunter Russell syndrome and Minamata disease. But we welcome it into our homes with open arms telling all and ourselves we are saving the planet. But at what cost to us? Basically, we are all guinea pigs created via government regulation and back room deals forcing these new energy efficient, planet saving bulbs down our throats.

Who’s getting rich you ask? 

Governments and corporations of course. It is because of that piece of cleverly written legislation that you are now forced to buy these ‘green’ planet saving bulbs at your expense and more importantly at the expense of your health with little or no alternative on the market. Although with that said, L.E.D (Light emitting diode) have made some progress over the years. Cost efficient L.E.D’s are still some years away from ridding us of the mercury filled lighting we are forced to use that will soon fill our landfills and seep into our waterways by the tons. 

So the bigger question has to be asked. Where does personal choice fit in? Who gets the final say deciding what is good for you and your families health and welfare?  As Ken Peters would note, “The governments track record is not that good. Our government is still paying reparations and making apologies to a race they abused in the past”. I think the facts unanimously point towards the government’s inability to make the right choices when it comes to intelligent, non-biased decision making that doesn’t seem to lighten our wallets and corrupt our way of life any more than is already happening. You can thank ‘global warming’ for that. If you’re not being green enough don’t you worry. Those in charge will find newer and imaginative ways to make you spend more to become “greener” but the colour on your face may not be from the loss of money in your wallet, it might literally be from the toxic garbage they regulate for use in your home. So I ask again, where was the choice? Smart meter anyone?

Dear Mrs. Premier

March 1, 2012                              (Dear Miss Premier)

The other day after a few weeks of procrastination I wrote our provincial premier as well as the health minister a letter to which you can read below. I wanted to share my opinion regarding my concerns with our system and the lack of direction that has been taken. The world economy and the state of affairs is nothing new and yet as years slip by it is "politics as usual". It is sad state of affairs when speaking about the lack of direction this government and for that matter the world's government have taken. There is a lot of face saving and Political posturing with no real movement in any one direction and the clock is ticking. 

Below is the letter that I penned to the pre

mier of BC. If you can call her that. I also CC'd it to the health minister as well for all the use that it did. 

 Dear Miss. Clark (Premier) and Mike De Jong (Health minister)

I am a current resident of BC and concerned voter. I have been watching with a careful eye the ongoing out of control spending of this government and those of past. You claim to be families first which is great when you say it aloud but what it really amounts to is rhetoric nonsense when it is spoken and not applied. 

Recently it was announced the MSP premiums are rising yet again amongst other rate hikes that have already arrived or are arriving in the not to distant future. Such as the useless and harmful Carbon tax that just hurts the average British Columbians bottom line. Lets not mention the debacle over BC Hydro. This too will hurt everyones bottom line. The list goes on and on. Think about all the families that are currently struggling right now in this once beautiful province this very minute. Then you go and add yet another increase to our cost of living. I thought Healthcare was free? Meaning it's included in our taxes like Alberta and other provinces. Why am I paying a premium for this in the first place? Health care in Canada is far from being "free". You then cut taxes just to take them else where in fees, tolls or levies. This doesn't sound like families first to me, does it?

In these tough economical times I see no government big or small learning anything of the past let alone living in the present. It is a cold hard fact and one you have yet to come to terms with. While everyone else is tightening their respective belts, gov't does more of the same. There is less money to throw around and that is a fact, so cutting expenses and reigning in spending should be top priority. Tough times calls for tough cuts. Instead it is business as usual with spending habits keeping pace with a run away locomotive than that of a gov't reusing an old belt instead of buying a new one. 

Does the world economy not show you anything of how wasteful we are and how by throwing more money at a  broken system we've created a monster. No matter how much money you throw at the problems you are throwing good money after bad in a repetitive cyclical manner resolving nothing. You have compounded debt with more of the same and yet governments have grown? 

I am deeply concerned with the direction of this government, locally, provincially and abroad. Your inability to take a hard-line and reign in spending sets a dangerous precedent for future generations that will ultimately hurt the very families you claim to stand for. It is becoming increasingly difficult to hide behind closed doors and make poor decisions. Those days are numbered and not a moment to soon. This is already happening via Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and any new technology that comes forth and allows those to speak out, myself included.  

No one likes to make hard cuts as initially they hurt a few in short term but in the long run they will save much more than what is lost. It is apparent you are more concerned with popularity and vote counts in upcoming elections than actually leading. This part of the system should be re-thought out with one, four year term. This would allow the voted-in to concentrate solely on the task at hand. Ask yourself this; When running a business do you think a CEO thinks about his popularity when the chips are down? The simple answer is of course not. Any smart business owner knows that hard cuts have to be made in order to keep things afloat. If the CEO didn't make the cuts needed today there would be no business left to support the rest of the employees tomorrow thus hurting even more families. Government is no different in this respect. 

It will be a sad state of affairs when man and woman alike turn on their respective "leaders" and seek justice via rope and a lamp pole. Should it come to this for you to listen? I hope not for all those at stake. 

There's an old saying "You can't get blood from a stone".
The stone has run dry Miss. Premier. 

People are tapped out. If you can't trim the fat in your own gov't then what good are you in the long run?

Best regards;

The reply was a substandard common reply from a no name person inside the premiers office. Disappointing but not surprising in the least. 

These are my thoughts. Your thoughts can to lead to change, if you choose to act...