First off, let's talk about the word "economy" and its definition. I imagine that most people in the modern world when they hear or see the word economy they instantly think that a good economy is a growing economy. Meaning that in a particular geographic region which is producing something from their resources is being consumed more then was consumed from the day before, in turn creating growth in that economy. In the news when you hear the word economy it's typically a report of how the stock markets are doing in reflection of the consumption of goods sold by large corporations. So in the equation of economy in reference to the stock market, the more we as a society consume, the better off the economy is, hence "a growing economy".
Something I found quite interesting, when I Googled the definition of "economy" no two definitions were alike. Here are some examples:
1. Activities related to the production and distribution of goods and services in a particular geographic region.
2. The correct and effective use of available resources.
- investorwords.com
1.
a. Careful, thrifty management of resources, such as money, materials, or labor.
b. An example or result of such management; a saving.
2.
a. The system or range of economic activity in a country, region, or community.
b. A specific type of economic system.
3. An orderly, functional arrangement of parts; an organized system.
4. Efficient, sparing, or conservative use.
5. The least expensive class of accommodations, especially on an airplane.
6. Theology: The method of God's government of and activity within the world.
-The Free Dictionary
1. Thrifty management; frugality in the expenditure or consumption of money, materials, etc.
2. An act or means of thrifty saving; a saving: He achieved a small economy by walking to work instead of taking a bus.
3. The management of the resources of a community, country, etc., especially with a view to its productivity.
4. The prosperity or earnings of a place: Further inflation would endanger the national economy seriously.
5.The disposition or regulation of the parts or functions of any organic whole; an organized system or method.
6. The efficient, sparing, or concise use of something: an economy of effort; an economy of movement.
7. Theology .
a. The divine plan for humanity, from creation through redemption to final beatitude.
b. The method of divine administration, as at a particular time or for a particular race.
-dictionary.reference.com
OK, so as you can see there are similar definitions, but know two are exactly alike leaving room for interpretation.
Now let's take a look at the word "economize".
1.
To practice economy, as by avoiding waste or reducing expenditures.
2.
To make economical use of something.
-The Free Dictionary
1. To practice economy; avoid waste or extravagance.
2. To manage economically; use sparingly or frugally.
-dictionary.reference.com
1. To practice being economical
2. Using things sparingly or in moderation
3. To be frugal
4. Avoiding waste or extravagance
-wiktionary
For the most part these definitions are pretty much the same. "To practice economy means to avoid waste or extravagance." So living on a world where finite resources are limited, wouldn't you think that the governments of our world would want to economize the economy making sure resources will continue to be available for generations to come, especially at a time in history where climate change is evident due to the over consumption. You would think so, but the model of a Wall Street economy does not allow it because to economize, would mean less consumption from the consumer, lowering the numbers on Wall Street effecting the "economy". Now you know why the latest, greatest phone comes out every other month.
"OMG, have you seen the new iphone 10 with the new 9G up-grade? It's so cool and sales start tomorrow at 3am. The line is going to be huge so get there early."
Some people are so conditioned by advertising that their willing to wait in line through all hours of the night to buy that new phone, even if their current one works perfectly. People find these items to be important to own, because it will somehow improve their lives. But if you stop, take a step back and look at the reality. Does it really improve one's well-being? Sure it's cool to own, and in many cases switching to a smart-phone (one that connects to the internet) can be extremely useful. But it's gone way beyond that. Even know that the average cell-phone user holds on to their phone for up to
twenty months, it's now been determined that the majority of people who own cell-phones
own two. In America the average age that someone receives their first cell-phone is at the age of 12, and the average life span of Americans is 78. Most Americans throughout their lifetime will own approximately 66 cell-phones.
Cell-phones and cell-phone chargers contain toxic material such as lead, mercury and cadmium, which can end up in public drinking water and food sources. Cell phones also contain gold, silver, platinum, and copper which will be exhausted in a few years, based on the current rate of extraction. According to the CTIA Wireless Association there are currently 205 million cell-phones users in the US not including the millions of undocumented workers who use cell-phones as well. It's estimated there are currently over a billion unused cell-phones in the US with an additional 100 million added to that number every year. WOW, that's a lot of cell-phones! How many cell-phone repair shops do you know of? Wait, there aren't any because sales would go down, effecting the stock holders, effecting Wall Street, and effecting the "economy".
You hear this all the time, "sales were down this month, having investors worried about the economy". We are conditioned to think that in order to have a good economy or thriving economy we must as a society consume, consume, consume.
"Well, the economy is looking really good today, consumers are out shopping and making bigger purchases, Wall Street is up and if the trend stays how it's going, our economy will the best it's ever been."
From an investor's point of view, sales must consistently grow, meaning that it's important to sell more goods then the day before. From this equation, how long will it be before we run out of resources? If a company is to consistently sell more goods than it did the day before, science and common knowledge tells us that eventually the resources to make that good will run out. But investors don't care about long term consequences, because if companies were to actually make products or goods that lasted for years or could be repaired, sales would Plataea or go down and the "economy" would be in a state of crisis. Or at least that's what they would like you to think, when in reality the only people having a crisis are the wealthy investors who thrive off greed. This train of thought makes me want to puke. It's wool over the eyes people.
We are living in a world where it's been scientifically proven than clement change due to global warming is real. Even Barack Obama during his campaign pledged to spend $150 billion dollars over the next decade on clean energy. While this is without a doubt a positive sign for the future, it's still a long way off to having a sustainable future. It is imposable to have a growing Wall Street economy while working towards a sustainable future. As long as 80% of the world's wealth stays in the hands of the elite who make up 1% of the population, things will never change. The more resources become scarce, the more they'll be worth, and it's these elite who will be in control of whatever is left. Oh shit wait,.. they already are.
Think about how many products we buy as consumers that come from china for example, like a simple pair of sunglasses. How much oil is in the plastic of the frames and lenses? How much oil was used by the machines to make the plastic frames and lenses? How much coal was burned to run those machines? How much oil was burned from the truck that transported the glasses to the harbor? What about the oil burned from the huge cranes that move the shipping container onto the ship? The oil burned from the cargo ship crossing the Pacific Ocean, then the oil used from the other crane at the harbor in California, onto an oil burning truck that moves them to a distribution warehouse where oil driven fork lift takes them off the truck and stores them until there ready to be transported again. Then another oil burning forklift takes them back onto another oil burning truck and in many cases on to a oil burning plane, then on to one more oil burning truck to its destination to be sold for 5$-$10 each. Try to think about that the next time you hear an increase of Wall-mart stock.
Sustainability and a growing Wall Street economy will ever work because they contradict each other. How can you have something grow forever and ever and be sustainable at such a rate? You can't, because nothing lasts forever, and at the rate were going it's only a matter of years, where in our lifetime we will see resources run out, and come to a tipping point. Well,... what happens then? The math is simple, the rich will live and the poor will die because the more a resource becomes scares, more valuable it becomes.
Do you drink bottled water? You may not, after you realize that bottled water alone is slowly killing our planet. Worldwide people approximately drink 40.6 billion gallons (154 billion liters) of bottled water every year. Why do companies bottle water? Pure as the water profit! Their selling water from
fossil aquafers which is a non-renewable resource and sell it in cheap plastic! That bottle of Arrow Head spring water cost about 3 cents to produce and they sell it to you for whopping $1.50! You do the math. I also find it funny that they consistently use the word "spring" as if the water is coming from a natural mountain spring. Well it's not. Many companies who bottle water (like Poland Spring), get their water from drilling hundreds of feet down and tapping into fossil water, which just like oil has been there for thousands of years, is non- renewable and once it's gone, it's gone forever. This by itself aside from all the plastic is having a major impact on the environment, creating drought on a global scale. But do you think that Nestle who owns Arrowhead, Calistoga, Deer Park, Ice Mountain, Ozarka, Poland Spring, Zephyrhills, Perrier, S. Pellegrino, Acqua Panna, Contrex and Nestlé Pure Life give two shits about their environmental impact? They do their best to make you think they care by making smaller plastic caps, and putting less plastic in their bottles with a little note saying "This bottle is green", as if you're doing the environment a favor by buying their product. But do they really care? No, because if they did, it would decrease profits, lowering their stock which would have a negative impact on Wall Street effecting our, as they say "economy". Environmental scientist at the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development fears that by the year 2025, as many as one-third of the worlds projected 8.3 billion people will suffer from water shortages. If there is limited water, then food becomes limited which turns into a price increase of basic resources. People with money will live and the others will die. It's that simple. Bottled water alone is a huge contributor for the water shortage our world is experiencing today and is playing a huge role in our demise. Get a good water bottle, filter and drink from the tap.
OK, so now that we have a very small prescriptive on how a growing Wall Street economy will never create sustainable future for our planet, what can we do to help combat our demise through consumption. Well as easy as it sounds, recycle (
everything you can), compost, buy local and consume less,.... much less. The hardest problem people have is deprogramming themselves from all of the propaganda were bombarded with from advertising. Many people go shopping for no reason except to make themselves feel better. Hey, I'm just a guilty as the next person. I love to go out and buy stuff I don't really need. But for me personally, I now notice what it is I'm actually doing and have committed to change. I think about the item I have in my hand, look where it's made and what it's made from, I then can make a conscious decision whether I'm going to buy that product or not. I find myself asking "do I really need this?" Most of the time these days my answer is no, and I find myself consuming much much less.
My household of three takes out the trash once a month, and our recycling twice a month. We recycle twice to three times as much as we through away in the land fill. Even know that's still not enough, it's a start. We use earth friendly products such as household cleaners and washing detergent, made by companies that don't exploit the earth and humanity. They may cost a little more, but what price can you put on the future of humanity. If you have kids, think about the standards they're learning from you? It's the first conscious effort and decision you make that leads to the next, and the next and the next. If we as individuals don't start making conscious decisions on what it is that we really need, what it's made out of and where it comes from, then the elite will win. But is it a matter of winning or losing? Yes, it is. The winners will have control of few resources left on the planet, while everyone else will be like starving mice, scurrying the ground waiting for the scraps to fall from the table, dying of disease and famine.
It's not too late, but that's only if the word spreads fast enough to counteract the reaction that's already taking place. Help me in the fight of taking our planet back and the keeping the power away from the elite. We need to economize the economy by taking away the power from the large corporations and stop consuming the way we have been. The less you consume the more power you take away from the corporation. To create change we together must let everyone we know what can be done to reverse this vicious cycle before it's too late. Recycle everything possible, know exactly what it is you're buying and where it's from, and for Christ sake, don't drink bottled water! Remember that it's consumption that's feeding the fire which the elite define as "economy", it's your dollar and mine, don't make the mistake by giving it to the huge corporations. Obviously that's not an easy task, but do what you can and go from there. There is a beacon of hope, but we MUST acknowledge it, and do whatever we can to make a difference. Help your neighbors, your family, your friends and your co-workers pull their heads out of the sand by spreading the word . These are the real people in our lives, not CEOs and elitist, so why give money to them. We can reverse the way things are, but we all must be aware and do our part. Join a community garden, buy local foods and other things you need, recycle everything, don't shop to feel better, everything counts, it's not just for your self but more the majority.
If you haven't seen
"HOME", watch it. It's a real eye opener!
Attain your mind.
