Subverting the Consumer Paradigm
"Security comes not from belongings, but belonging." -author unknown
Magic Mama recently gave a presentation for the Eau Claire area chapter of the Holistic Moms Network. The topic? "Fighting Consumerism". Rather than fighting, I like to think of my actions as non-violent and joyfully subversive.
In a circle of about twenty mom's, at least five were breast feeding their infants at some point during the presentation. I promised to reiterate some of the evening's discussion, add live links and list some resources so all the moms with their hands (and heads) full of other things can find the information again.
As a single mother of two who is also home-schooling and trying to develop and run a business, my time is in high demand. I would love to elaborate on my Cosmic Cash journey, redefining relationships with wealth and abundance; that story will have to wait for a moment when I can devote my attention more fully. Moms at the meeting heard a brief synopsis, received a blank Cosmic Cash and were invited to print their own symbols of gratitude, wealth and abundance. Stay tuned for the Cosmic Cash blog entry!
For at least ten years now, I have been deeply involved in the process of paradigm shift; both internal and external. Here in the USA, we are immersed in a market economy that has become so pervasive that we seem to have forgotton that it is NOT the only way! We have been aculturated by corporations, media tells us we are of no value unless we purchase such-and-such, government has become a tool of the corporate economy.
The marketplace used to be a public social event, a time when people came together to do much more than simply purchase stuff. We now spend so much time working to pay for our stuff that we have replaced our in-person interactions with tools such as facebook and text messaging to help fill the social void.
Watch This: The Story of Stuff narrated by Anne Leonard
It's time for us, the "consumers" to use our purchasing power wisely; VOTE with our dollars! Every penny you spend is a "yes" vote, consider all the externalized costs involved in making a product available to you. Redefine your "needs" and simplify. Buy locally made goods from locally owned businesses. (For every dollar spent at a local business, 45 cents in reinvested locally. For every dollar spent at a corporate chain, only 15 cents is reinvested locally. Food grown and purchased locally travels an average of 56 miles while food purchased from a chain grocery store travels an average of 1,500 miles!)
There is so much stuff already in our communities, we have all the clothes we could ever need, all the kitchen gadgets, all the home decor, all the tools, appliances, furniture, automobiles, on and on. Isn't the health and well being of the earth and our own bodies more important than the "bottom line"? And who's lines are we talking about? There are many more economies operating under the radar than we tend to acknowledge. Moms know first hand about the importance of the Household Economy. We also know how it feels to be devalued despite all the work it takes to maintain a household and raise healthy children. The household economy has been rendered invisible yet the Market Economy is dependent upon us. There are also Gift Economies alive and kicking everywhere (volunteer fire departments, food banks, ride shares, free sales) along with Barter Economies (clothing swaps, trading goods and services, time based local currencies). We have Gathering Economies (harvesting wild edibles, gleaning, salvaging from the waste stream); Cooperative Economies (based on common ownership/control of resources); Community Market Economies (networks of exchange between small businesses that are acountable to their communities).
As we engage more fully in the kinds of economies that place human and ecological relationships at their centers, we are defunding the system of competition, exploitation and "profit first" that has caused the deteriorization of our true wealth.
Here are some resources to help you break the chains:
Freecycle: www.freecycle.org
Craig's List: www.craigslist.org
Local Harvest: www.localharvest.org
Pick Your Own: www.pickyourown.org
BALLE Network: www.livingeconomies.org/marketplace
Berkeley's Zero Waste Motto: "If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled, or com-posted, then it should be restricted, redesigned, or removed from production."
Cultivate an attitude of "enoughness" and gratitude! To be continued....
Magic Mama recently gave a presentation for the Eau Claire area chapter of the Holistic Moms Network. The topic? "Fighting Consumerism". Rather than fighting, I like to think of my actions as non-violent and joyfully subversive.
In a circle of about twenty mom's, at least five were breast feeding their infants at some point during the presentation. I promised to reiterate some of the evening's discussion, add live links and list some resources so all the moms with their hands (and heads) full of other things can find the information again.
As a single mother of two who is also home-schooling and trying to develop and run a business, my time is in high demand. I would love to elaborate on my Cosmic Cash journey, redefining relationships with wealth and abundance; that story will have to wait for a moment when I can devote my attention more fully. Moms at the meeting heard a brief synopsis, received a blank Cosmic Cash and were invited to print their own symbols of gratitude, wealth and abundance. Stay tuned for the Cosmic Cash blog entry!
For at least ten years now, I have been deeply involved in the process of paradigm shift; both internal and external. Here in the USA, we are immersed in a market economy that has become so pervasive that we seem to have forgotton that it is NOT the only way! We have been aculturated by corporations, media tells us we are of no value unless we purchase such-and-such, government has become a tool of the corporate economy.
The marketplace used to be a public social event, a time when people came together to do much more than simply purchase stuff. We now spend so much time working to pay for our stuff that we have replaced our in-person interactions with tools such as facebook and text messaging to help fill the social void.
Watch This: The Story of Stuff narrated by Anne Leonard
It's time for us, the "consumers" to use our purchasing power wisely; VOTE with our dollars! Every penny you spend is a "yes" vote, consider all the externalized costs involved in making a product available to you. Redefine your "needs" and simplify. Buy locally made goods from locally owned businesses. (For every dollar spent at a local business, 45 cents in reinvested locally. For every dollar spent at a corporate chain, only 15 cents is reinvested locally. Food grown and purchased locally travels an average of 56 miles while food purchased from a chain grocery store travels an average of 1,500 miles!)
There is so much stuff already in our communities, we have all the clothes we could ever need, all the kitchen gadgets, all the home decor, all the tools, appliances, furniture, automobiles, on and on. Isn't the health and well being of the earth and our own bodies more important than the "bottom line"? And who's lines are we talking about? There are many more economies operating under the radar than we tend to acknowledge. Moms know first hand about the importance of the Household Economy. We also know how it feels to be devalued despite all the work it takes to maintain a household and raise healthy children. The household economy has been rendered invisible yet the Market Economy is dependent upon us. There are also Gift Economies alive and kicking everywhere (volunteer fire departments, food banks, ride shares, free sales) along with Barter Economies (clothing swaps, trading goods and services, time based local currencies). We have Gathering Economies (harvesting wild edibles, gleaning, salvaging from the waste stream); Cooperative Economies (based on common ownership/control of resources); Community Market Economies (networks of exchange between small businesses that are acountable to their communities).
As we engage more fully in the kinds of economies that place human and ecological relationships at their centers, we are defunding the system of competition, exploitation and "profit first" that has caused the deteriorization of our true wealth.
Here are some resources to help you break the chains:
Freecycle: www.freecycle.org
Craig's List: www.craigslist.org
Local Harvest: www.localharvest.org
Pick Your Own: www.pickyourown.org
BALLE Network: www.livingeconomies.org/marketplace
Berkeley's Zero Waste Motto: "If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled, or com-posted, then it should be restricted, redesigned, or removed from production."
Cultivate an attitude of "enoughness" and gratitude! To be continued....
