The Issue With Consumerism And The Linear System

Around the world people are constantly consuming and manufacturing products with one thing in mind, money. We are taught from a young age that being different and innovative will make us successful, and although some may disagree most of us thrive for success in order to achieve wealth and to be at the top of the system. Yet what value would money have when we run out of resources? Our resources rule the world, they allow capitalism to work. Many do not realise we are extremely dependant on our resources and that we're constantly taking them for granted. This has caused the capitalist market society to today become a linear system that manipulates the middle class and millennials, is not obligated to end poverty, does not benefit the middle class and is not bound to work forever. 

We’ve all probably experienced receiving an email about sale or offer in the mail that just seems perfect for your needs, or maybe you have been drawn into a shop by a big sign saying “SALE’. Whether it is through social media, sale signs, newspapers, emails, the post and most of our entertainment, we are constantly under manipulation by major and minor companies who want us to endorse in their product. A decade ago, Target begun “Pattern analysis to explain human behaviour”. This allows them to create a consumerism cycle that they can keep on adding too and is never ending. Charles Duhigg explains in ‘Habits’, “Every year, millions of shoppers walked into Targets 1,147 stores and handed over terabytes of information about themselves. They used their customer loyalty cards, redeemed coupons they had received in the mail, or used a credit card, unaware that target could link their purchases to an individualized demographic profile”. Target hired people to analyze data on their consumers so they knew exactly what news and offers to send to them to draw them back into their shops. This is a method used by many associations today, and although some may find this convenient, this cycle also motivates us to purchase more than we need only to benefit the higher class while exploiting the lower class. This is just one form of manipulation, there is a whole other world on the internet with a system set to manipulate millennials. 

Millennials are at their spending peak, they rely on reviews and research to find out what products to endorse in. Millennials review and recommend products over social media. What they endorse in is majorly impacted by social media influencers. These people are celebrities who are role models for many millennials and teenagers. 18-year-old internet sensation Essena O’Neill had been making thousands of dollars secretly, modeling on Instagram and sharing her pictures with 580,000 followers. On one of her instagram posts she writes “I know of many online brands that pay up to $2000 per post. This photo had no substance, it was not of ethical manufacturing. Be aware of what people promote, ask yourself, what’s their intention behind their photo”. This form of unethical target marketing lets companies focus on a target market that can be easily influenced and manipulated. 93% of marketers use social media for business and 70% of marketers have used facebook to successfully gain new customers. The companies and the social influencers benefit from this, while we are manipulated to believe that social media is a platform created for us to use for entertainment while it has turned into just another way for major businesses to manipulate us. This also occurs in holidays such as christmas (70% from a survey by mccrindle research think christmas has become too commercial) or valentine's day and even birthdays. Crucial things that make us human are manipulated for one ‘important’ reason, money. 

Why is it that money has today become the most valuable resource of all? Is there a price to how much our lives are worth or how much our environment or whole ecosystem is worth? In a documentary by curiosity it is mentioned that “The core indicator of a country's health is the GDP, it’s the total market value of goods and services produced in a single year. Social impact is not considered, the environment is not relevant, the health, happiness and fulfillment of its citizens does’nt matter. Financial metrics are all that count”. This is relevant because the fact that money has become such an important thing to people around the world is extremely depressing. The fact that the core indicator of a country’s health is the GDP is bitter as it should matter more if we are healthy, happy, living well yet still playing our part in society. At the end of the day we are human, and although we have progressed through innovation and medication, what makes us human today is a lot less meaningful than what made us human in the past. 

Imagine everyone else in the world had a million dollars, including you. At first you may think, ‘yes, equality and yay we are all rich. Unfortunately, with our capitalist system in place this would simply not work. Who would be doing the unpleasant labour the lower class are currently doing, no one would want to do this, as everyone has money now. Therefore, no one would be manufacturing products for you to buy, including things essential for people to live. The capitalist market society is not obligated to end poverty, yet we still have a great deal of charities in place and fight for equality, while we do not realise that companies we endorse in are exploiting the lower class. Mark Trotzuk (boardroom of eco apparel) says quote “When you go and manufacture something and you import it, they add in a duty rate. In countries like Bangladesh there is no duty rate, because of that you can save a lot of money, so what companies do is manufacture in a lot of these countries”. The major companies exploit the lower classes and their countries into bad and cheap labour conditions all in order to save money and manufacture as quickly as possible. So not only is the lower class exploited off, most of them are also fastened in poverty for as long as the system will exist. 

Not only are we unaware that we are manipulated by almost all major and minor companies, we are also unaware that there are laws in the market established that is rather harmful to us. Ever wonder how it is that the ice cream cone from mcdonalds only costs 80 cents? The answer is simply the caveat emptor. The standard of the caveat emptor is part of all purchase transactions. Under this idea, a businesses’ only responsibility is to provide a product or service at a fair price. It is the responsibility of the consumer to research products and look out for their own interests. Due to the caveat emptor companies like mcdonald's are able to sell such awful and unhealthy foods if they sell it for a cheap price, no matter how poor the quality is. So next time you enjoy some $4 chicken mcnuggets, ask yourself what they must contain in order to be so cheap. 

The capitalist market society has today become a linear system. This linear system is made up of consumerism and manufacturing. The system begins with a design, then resources are used to manufacture the product, then we endorse in the product, after a while we throw away the product and endorse in something new and because the product was not recyclable it becomes waste. This linear system is not bound to work forever as eventually we will run out of resources to manufacture with. The term ‘sustainable society’ is becoming more and more attractive to people. The simplified Brundtland definition of a sustainable society is “A sustainable society is a society that meets the needs of the present generation, that does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In which each human being has the opportunity to itself in freedom within a well-balanced society and in harmony with its surroundings”. Although some may argue that the current system allows easy innovation with the use of unsustainable resources, a sustainable society would still allow the intended effects of capitalism to work such as innovation and the market society, this is supported by the 1997 Coomer definition on sustainable societies, “The sustainable society is one that lives within the self-perpetuating limits of its environment. That society is not a “no growth” society. It is rather, a society that recognizes the limits of growth [and] looks for alternative ways of growing”. The only thing stopping us from transforming into a sustainable society is the load of time it will take to make the change and the upper class not being ready to give up their extreme wealth, therefore we must demand for change. 

As consumers we play a crucial role in allowing the capitalist system to work. Most of us want our products fast, whatever the quality, we do not acknowledge or are not aware of the consequences. While we should not aim to end and wipe out capitalism, we should end the linear system. We begin by demanding for sustainable products and manufacturing in order to save our ecosystem and improve billions of lives around the world. Many may fear that if they take the risk of becoming a sustainable individual they lose their chance for success. However we do not have to diminish or stop our progression and if we do not create a sustainable crib to crib system the beautiful and capable human kind will not be on this earth for a countless amount of years. A sustainable community will benefit us by allowing us to live life to the fullest and enjoy our short time on earth. It will take a very long time nevertheless, we can transform the capitalist linear society into a sustainable capitalist system that is not manipulative, is obligated to end poverty, benefits every social class, the environment and i bound to work for ever. 

Around the world people are constantly consuming and manufacturing products with one thing in mind, money. We are taught from a young age that being different and innovative will make us successful, and although some may disagree most of us thrive for success in order to achieve wealth and to be at the top of the system. Yet what value would money have when we run out of resources? Our resources rule the world, they allow capitalism to work. Many do not realise we are extremely dependant on our resources and that we're constantly taking them for granted. This has caused the capitalist market society to today become a linear system that manipulates the middle class and millennials, is not obligated to end poverty, does not benefit the middle class and is not bound to work forever.

We’ve all probably experienced receiving an email about sale or offer in the mail that just seems perfect for your needs, or maybe you have been drawn into a shop by a big sign saying “SALE’. Whether it is through social media, sale signs, newspapers, emails, the post and most of our entertainment, we are constantly under manipulation by major and minor companies who want us to endorse in their product. A decade ago, Target begun “Pattern analysis to explain human behaviour”. This allows them to create a consumerism cycle that they can keep on adding too and is never ending. Charles Duhigg explains in ‘Habits’, “Every year, millions of shoppers walked into Targets 1,147 stores and handed over terabytes of information about themselves. They used their customer loyalty cards, redeemed coupons they had received in the mail, or used a credit card, unaware that target could link their purchases to an individualized demographic profile”. Target hired people to analyze data on their consumers so they knew exactly what news and offers to send to them to draw them back into their shops. This is a method used by many associations today, and although some may find this convenient, this cycle also motivates us to purchase more than we need only to benefit the higher class while exploiting the lower class. This is just one form of manipulation, there is a whole other world on the internet with a system set to manipulate millennials.

Millennials are at their spending peak, they rely on reviews and research to find out what products to endorse in. Millennials review and recommend products over social media. What they endorse in is majorly impacted by social media influencers. These people are celebrities who are role models for many millennials and teenagers. 18-year-old internet sensation Essena O’Neill had been making thousands of dollars secretly, modeling on Instagram and sharing her pictures with 580,000 followers. On one of her instagram posts she writes “I know of many online brands that pay up to $2000 per post. This photo had no substance, it was not of ethical manufacturing. Be aware of what people promote, ask yourself, what’s their intention behind their photo”. This form of unethical target marketing lets companies focus on a target market that can be easily influenced and manipulated. 93% of marketers use social media for business and 70% of marketers have used facebook to successfully gain new customers. The companies and the social influencers benefit from this, while we are manipulated to believe that social media is a platform created for us to use for entertainment while it has turned into just another way for major businesses to manipulate us. This also occurs in holidays such as christmas (70% from a survey by mccrindle research think christmas has become too commercial) or valentine's day and even birthdays. Crucial things that make us human are manipulated for one ‘important’ reason, money. 

Why is it that money has today become the most valuable resource of all? Is there a price to how much our lives are worth or how much our environment or whole ecosystem is worth? In a documentary by curiosity it is mentioned that “The core indicator of a country's health is the GDP, it’s the total market value of goods and services produced in a single year. Social impact is not considered, the environment is not relevant, the health, happiness and fulfillment of its citizens does’nt matter. Financial metrics are all that count”. This is relevant because the fact that money has become such an important thing to people around the world is extremely depressing. The fact that the core indicator of a country’s health is the GDP is bitter as it should matter more if we are healthy, happy, living well yet still playing our part in society. At the end of the day we are human, and although we have progressed through innovation and medication, what makes us human today is a lot less meaningful than what made us human in the past.

Imagine everyone else in the world had a million dollars, including you. At first you may think, ‘yes, equality and yay we are all rich. Unfortunately, with our capitalist system in place this would simply not work. Who would be doing the unpleasant labour the lower class are currently doing, no one would want to do this, as everyone has money now. Therefore, no one would be manufacturing products for you to buy, including things essential for people to live. The capitalist market society is not obligated to end poverty, yet we still have a great deal of charities in place and fight for equality, while we do not realise that companies we endorse in are exploiting the lower class. Mark Trotzuk (boardroom of eco apparel) says quote “When you go and manufacture something and you import it, they add in a duty rate. In countries like Bangladesh there is no duty rate, because of that you can save a lot of money, so what companies do is manufacture in a lot of these countries”. The major companies exploit the lower classes and their countries into bad and cheap labour conditions all in order to save money and manufacture as quickly as possible. So not only is the lower class exploited off, most of them are also fastened in poverty for as long as the system will exist.

Not only are we unaware that we are manipulated by almost all major and minor companies, we are also unaware that there are laws in the market established that is rather harmful to us. Ever wonder how it is that the ice cream cone from mcdonalds only costs 80 cents? The answer is simply the caveat emptor. The standard of the caveat emptor is part of all purchase transactions. Under this idea, a businesses’ only responsibility is to provide a product or service at a fair price. It is the responsibility of the consumer to research products and look out for their own interests. Due to the caveat emptor companies like mcdonald's are able to sell such awful and unhealthy foods if they sell it for a cheap price, no matter how poor the quality is. So next time you enjoy some $4 chicken mcnuggets, ask yourself what they must contain in order to be so cheap. 

The capitalist market society has today become a linear system. This linear system is made up of consumerism and manufacturing. The system begins with a design, then resources are used to manufacture the product, then we endorse in the product, after a while we throw away the product and endorse in something new and because the product was not recyclable it becomes waste. This linear system is not bound to work forever as eventually we will run out of resources to manufacture with. The term ‘sustainable society’ is becoming more and more attractive to people. The simplified Brundtland definition of a sustainable society is “A sustainable society is a society that meets the needs of the present generation, that does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In which each human being has the opportunity to itself in freedom within a well-balanced society and in harmony with its surroundings”. Although some may argue that the current system allows easy innovation with the use of unsustainable resources, a sustainable society would still allow the intended effects of capitalism to work such as innovation and the market society, this is supported by the 1997 Coomer definition on sustainable societies, “The sustainable society is one that lives within the self-perpetuating limits of its environment. That society is not a “no growth” society. It is rather, a society that recognizes the limits of growth [and] looks for alternative ways of growing”. The only thing stopping us from transforming into a sustainable society is the load of time it will take to make the change and the upper class not being ready to give up their extreme wealth, therefore we must demand for change.

As consumers we play a crucial role in allowing the capitalist system to work. Most of us want our products fast, whatever the quality, we do not acknowledge or are not aware of the consequences. While we should not aim to end and wipe out capitalism, we should end the linear system. We begin by demanding for sustainable products and manufacturing in order to save our ecosystem and improve billions of lives around the world. Many may fear that if they take the risk of becoming a sustainable individual they lose their chance for success. However we do not have to diminish or stop our progression and if we do not create a sustainable crib to crib system the beautiful and capable human kind will not be on this earth for a countless amount of years. A sustainable community will benefit us by allowing us to live life to the fullest and enjoy our short time on earth. It will take a very long time nevertheless, we can transform the capitalist linear society into a sustainable capitalist system that is not manipulative, is obligated to end poverty, benefits every social class, the environment and i bound to work for ever.

Our Society and Slavery

In the First World, we think of slavery as dead. Over. Gone. We think of it as an historic aberration, a blemish on the past, but certainly not something that still exists in modern times. Yet over 27 million people are still enslaved today, and that number isn’t decreasing. Slavery is not dead at all, we just don’t notice it, and our failure to acknowledge its existence,it allows it to continue unchecked. To truly abolish slavery we must take down a system that is already in place, and has been in existence for thousands of years. Slavery is deeply ingrained into many sections of society, and to eradicate it we must change society.

The most challenging part of stopping slavery is giving up our reliance on it. Unseen slavery powers many parts of the world economy, and so we all rely upon it, knowingly or unknowingly. The list of major companies that use slave labor is long, and shockingly includes many iconic brands such as Nike, Apple and Disney. The fact that we in the First World allow anyone, especially such high profile, successful companies, to get away with exploiting people is truly atrocious and shameful, and most of us are shocked to learn about it. So how does it come about? What is modern slavery?

Slavery relies on systems of bondage, discrimination and exploitation that have been in place for thousands of years and have continued to grow and evolve throughout history. Modern slavery is also fueled by globalisation. The movement of people, money, and information throughout the world, and the spread of production, supply, and distribution chains has allowed modern slavery to grow, and enabled it to stay out of the grasp of authorities. Of course Nike, Apple and Disney don’t directly enslave people, but their suppliers do, which makes them, the companies and us, their customers, ultimately responsible for the exploitation of slave labor.

Modern slavery exists in many forms, the most common of which is debt bondage. Debt bondage occurs when people are encouraged to borrow money, often on the promise of a better job, or a better life elsewhere. The debt they are subsequently forced to pay back is massively inflated by interest and other charges, so these people end up working for years with no reward, in short as slaves. Sexual slavery, where people, usually women and children, are forced to work in the sex industry is also flourishing in modern times. As is domestic servitude, where the normal and legal practice of live in help is used to cover the exploitation and control of another person, and contract slavery, where people are deceived into slavery by a false employment contract. So you can see that while the traditional chattel slavery, where a person is legally owned by another, may be virtually extinct, slavery itself is alive and well.

How is it that this abhorrent and illegal practice is so widespread today? Put simply, it is because we aren’t doing enough to stop it. Kevin Bales, president of Free The Slaves, says that the fact slavery is still thriving comes down principally to ignorance about the institution and lack of resources directed at eradicating it. This is particularly true in first world countries where we are often not aware that slavery is not exclusively a thirld world problem. Many people in first world countries believe that slavery is nothing to do with them and that they are powerless to prevent it. Nothing could be further from the truth. We all benefit from the slave trade, only the slaves themselves do not.

Slavery may be illegal in every country in the world, but that does not mean it doesn’t exist. Between 14,000 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year. Most are forced into the sex trade, domestic servitude, or agricultural labor. At any one time, between 52,000 and 87,000 are in bondage. We don’t notice these people because we don’t realise what they are, we simply don’t perceive them as slaves. David Batstone, the author of ‘Not For Sale’ describes how he had, unknowingly, been dining at a restaurant staffed by slaves. “That’s the paradox: slavery is in reality not invisible, Except in rare circumstances, slaves toil in the public eye. The truth is that we do not expect to find it in “respectable” settings.” he writes.

We may prefer to think of slavery as a thing of the past, but in doing so we turn a blind eye to the crime of slave trading and we fail to acknowledge the suffering of the slave. David Batstone also writes that

“Many people bristle to hear the word slavery used to describe the modern practice of exploitation. Deeply ingrained in the collective psyche of Western culture is the notion that slavery ended in the nineteenth century. It is not unusual to read a newspaper account of “slavelike conditions” in a copper mine in, say, Bolivia. The laborers were kidnapped, coerced to work without pay and prohibited from leaving the mine. So why would the writer ferfer to the laborer’s conditions as “slavelike”? Because the writer buys into the cultural myth that “real slavery” was vanquished long ago.”
If we continue to deny the suffering of these millions of people, nothing will change.

Slavery will only be eradicated if we all take responsibility for its existence. All sections of society must acknowledge their reliance on slavery and take active steps to cease this unhealthy dependency. It is no good pleading ignorance and shifting the blame onto others. We must all stand up to be counted and reject slavery in its entirety. We must boycott products and services produced by slave labour, even if this means paying higher prices. We must lobby our governments to enforce anti slavery legislation, to end human trafficking and to help other nations tackle the endemic poverty, corruption and violence which allows slavery to flourish. We must provide better opportunities for those at risk of exploitation and we must work to overturn cultural norms which encourage and condone the exploitation of others. Slavery is a scourge on humanity and it is the responsibility of all humankind to work towards its abolition.

The Conversation

On Monday the 4th of October a man had a very unusual experience on his way to work. The man went over and sat next to a old man with a frown on his face.

The two began to get into a conversation however it quickly escalated when the overweight man began talking about how he had lost everything due to a sickness him and his wife were diagnosed with.

He then said he lived with his daughter but was abused as he was believed to be bad luck due to his sickness. He said “I am only fed rice, and my daughter makes me sleep on the balcony”. He also showed the other man his empty wallet saying he was on his way for treatment. The other man seemed to be listening with empathy and when it was time for him to get off the bus he kindly handed the man twenty dollars.

However the poor man did seem incredulous as it also did not make sense that if he was only fed rice he could be overweight. It is unclear if the man was tricking the businessman or not however with the countless number of cheaters there are, he may very well be one.

By Kimia