WR prompt #6: Lasn’s take on CONSUMERISM…

Lasn seems to be talking about many different sub issues to an overarching dilemma: That the consumerist, capitalist, materialist tendencies of "American" culture are unhealthy.

What do you think he means by unhealthy?

Given that he wrote this in 1999, choose at least one point/example of his that you think is relevant to 2009 and explain why. Then choose at least one point/ example which is not accurate/ too generalized/ or irrelevant to 2009 society and of course explain why.

Include examples/ observations from your own lives concerning his theme and indicate whether or not you've been able to observe a change in the past 10 years or not.

World Changing Response_1

Lauren Korany

Abrams (35-39)

There is a difference between consuming and consuming responsibly. In the chapter of World Changing titled “Consuming Responsibly”, Abrams refers to the different comparisons we can make between the products we buy. The first example is of clothing. The category is broken down into sub-categories that he discusses in detail and addresses facts that consumers (such as myself) may have been unaware of. Sweatshop labor is seen around the world and sadly, many of our clothing materials are made from poorly paid sweatshop workers. However, sweatshop labor happens even in the United States (35). Just because our clothing has a tag that reads “U.S.A” doesn’t mean that the work is fair and according to regulated practices. This tied back into lecture when we were shown “organic” labels on foods that barely made it under the minimum for organic practices. This shows that we need to be apprehensive about believing the labels we’re shown.

This not only applies to clothing. Later in the chapter, Abrams introduces the term “greenwashing”. The term Greenwasher applies to companies who claim to be eco-friendly and green, but are really using phrases to sell a product. Vague phrases and one’s without backup information on a product are the one’s you should be apprehensive towards purchasing. A green is Method Home. They create products without toxins, and are biodegradable. The great thing about the eco-friendly products is that they are available to the consumer in the comfort of the super-market.

One thing that I found shocking was 1) that bamboo wood is used in our socks, sweaters and sweatpants (37) and that 2) the brand name cotton t-shirts we see on TV have one-third of a pound of pesticides and chemicals in them (36). Every ad that I’ve seen has made me believe that the brand is eco-friendly, even if the message was subursive. Fruit-of-the-Loom has a logo of natural organic foods. Even if this logo has no correlation to the material, I assumed that they follow natural practices. I found it interesting that the clothes that I presumed to follow the cleanest practices ended up being full of toxins.