December 24, 2003
Happy Consumption Season
The greatest holiday to honor cosmic dimension consumptions is here. This is the time of the year we are encouraged, even coerced into maxing out our credit card limits and spend every penny we may have saved on largely junk items, none of us really needs or uses to begin with. To further complicate the matter, we are somehow led to believe this is all in tribute to a great prophet who was actually born in January but we celebrate his birth in December. So, to remember a man who reportedly had nothing and what he had he shared with the less fortunate, we shall all buy stuff for those who need it least and spread the religion of consumption to our children by suggesting a saint would bring them the latest Hasbro or Fisher-Price thingamabob. Well, I hope you are all done with your shopping if you live as part of this enormous machine and enjoy sharing the following data with the other slaves you may know;
"Our enormously productive economy ... demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption ... We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing rate." Victor Lebow, Journal of Retailing, 1955Percentage of American teenage girls who report store-hopping as favorite activity: 93%
In 1987 the number of shopping centers (32,563) in the US surpassed the number of high schools.
By graduation from high school, the typical American teenager has been exposed to 360,000 advertisements.
Proportion of housewares bought to replace worn-out items: 1981: 66-75%, 1987: less than 50%
In the US packaging (cans, bottles, cartons, wrappings, etc.) uses approximately:
50% of all paper, 75% of all glass
40% of all aluminum, 30% of all plasticsThe US throws away more aluminum in the form of cans than all but seven other countries use for all purposes.
Worldwide, more than 200 billion bottles, cans, cartons and paper and plastic cups are thrown away each year.
In 1989 one company made 54 billion paper-foil-plastic disposable drink boxes!
Americans can choose from: over 25,000 supermarket items, 200 kinds of cereal
Kellogg's spends $32 million each year advertising Frosted Flakes.
On average, a pound of food in the US travels 1,200 miles.
It takes 3 times more energy to ship a head of lettuce from California to New York than it does to grow it.
Over their lifetime the average American uses:
540 tons of construction materials
3,375 barrels of oil
18 tons of paper (~ 650 trees)
23 tons of wood
16 tons of metals
32 tons of organic chemicals
and produces 52 tons of garbageThe World's Rich (the consumer class) are 20% of the world's people, but consume:
80% of the world's paper, iron and steel
75% of the world's timber and energy
60% of the world's meat and fertilizer
50% of the world's fish and grain
40% of the world's fresh waterThe World's Rich (the consumer class)
Emit 23% of all carbon dioxide
Emit 34% of sulfur and nitrogen oxides
Generate 96% of radioactive waste
Release 90% of the ChlorofluorocarbonsRise in per capita consumption in the US in the last 20 years: 45%
Median size of new house in the US
1949: 1,100 sq ft
1993: 2,060 sq ft10 million Americans have 2 or more homes
6% of Americans earning more than $50,000 say they have achieved the American Dream
Decrease in Index of Social Health since 1970: 51%
More than 300,000 Americans are homeless.
5% of Americans earning less than $15,000 say they have achieved the American Dream
Parents spend 40% less time with kids than they did in 1965.
Source, Thanks to PA. Posted by Pedram at December 24, 2003 06:15 PM
Merry Christmas, Pedram!
Posted by: Chris at December 24, 2003 07:25 PMHow horrible that people use the holidays as an excuse to buy their kids the toys that they love to play with. To buy a spouse that gift that will remind them how much you still love them. To buy your parents the little things that remind them how much you appreciate them. To buy your friends the things that remind them you still remember. What horrible slavery indeed.
How horrible that there are now so many shopping centers, so that people could quickly find the things that they need without having to walk or drive very long distances.
How funny that you lead a campaign to get Google to start displaying adds on your blog again, and then quote with sarcasm the number of adds that the average person sees by age 18.
How horrible that people can now afford to replace something broken quickly, as opposed to paying for expenesive repairs or just throwing them away as they did in the past.
Too bad that we use so much paper and plastic to make products more pleasing, to allow food to last longer without spoiling, and to display information that consumers find useful.
Damn Americans, they just use too much aluminum. I am sure that if the rest of the world could afford it, they wouldnt throw away their cans.
It really does suck to see all that people can afford to throw away. We should go back to the old days, when you couldnt afford to buy a drink to begin with, yet along throw away the container it came in.
God, all of those poor kids, who can now take juices, milk and other nutritional drinks that their parents want them to drink in paper-foil containers. If only they would all agree to just carry heavy and burdensome thermoses that they would lose once a week.
If only there were only 3 different kinds of cereals. How terrible that there is so much choice and selection.
Who the hell does Kellogs think it is, spending so much money to proudly promote a product that millions of people buy.
And all of that energy spent to transport lettuce. How horrible, even though the lettuce is transported because its so much cheaper that way, and because its cheaper more people could buy it and benefit from it. And you know whats even worst? Because it so much cheaper, lots of energy is spent transporting corn from Iowa to China. If only those damn starving Chinese people would buy more of the expensive Chinese-grown corn, then we can conserve all of that energy. Damn globalization.
And again with those stupid Americans, consuming all of those products while driving the worlds richest economy, the one that produces over 200 million jobs at home and hundreds of millions across the globe, the one that drives development in technology, medicine, food production and all of the other things people find beneficial. If only they would use less tons of materials and stay poor.
And even worst, those damn rich people. The ones that run the billion dollar evil pharmecutical corporations that produce the drugs that extend life. The ones that own shares in companies like Cisco that allow for the existence of the internet and this blog. Those damn fools with all of the materials they consume, the materials in those giant mansions that creat jobs for 100 blue collar workers while being built, all of that damn radiation given off while producing the electricity that brings the gift of light to millions, and all of the energy they consume while working, inventing, innovating and advancing human development. Oh if only they would consume less, do less.
And that god damn rise in per-capita consumption. We should all go back to the days when 99% of all people where struggling farmers who couldnt even afford warm clothes, yet along all of the other things most people can afford today. Damn it, if only we could go back to the days when there was no boiler to be bought for heat, no medicine to be bought for the sick, no phones to keep in touch with our loved ones, no cars to get us where we need to go, if only we went back to our days of suffering, then we wouldnt consume so much.
And dont even get me started on how the median size of a new house has gone up. If only everyone would live in a mud shack...
And then there are the parents who mathematically spend so much less time with their kids. The bulk of the decresase comes from the fact that all mothers have stopped being housewives, and many now have jobs, careers and dreams. If only women would go back to being slaves who cooked and cleaned all day, then they would be at home and by definition, spending such valuable time with their kids.
Thank you so much for enlightening us slaves with this post. Otherwise, one may make the gross mistake of thinking that if people actually buy the things they need or enjoy, than its a good thing.
Posted by: Omid at December 25, 2003 10:39 PMThe Spanish Speaking world is big on Crhistmas also, some people calling it by a name which refers to the Three Wise Men that gave gifts to Christ. (BTW there is a good chance these wise men were from Persia)
Also, Christ was born in January? Who knows this for certain?
Posted by: A.H. at December 26, 2003 03:52 AMSurprise, surprise! Our Eyeranian found something snotty to say about Christmas and American materialism.
I can't wait to see what he comes up with for Easter.
Posted by: Person of Choler at December 26, 2003 10:15 AMahhh Pedram. You hurt their feelings just as they were getting warm and cozy about this fake celebration. How nice of you!
Posted by: NoBody at December 26, 2003 10:36 AMFake Celebration? geeeez! If your celebrating, how can it be a fake celebrartion? Why don't you just say that everything Americans do is bad.
Posted by: a.h. at January 1, 2004 03:46 AM