Idea of Do NOT consume

I did it. I have alluded to the greatest possible crime against "the Economy". I have created a facebook page entitled "do not consume" on which I post a prohibition sign with the picture of a consumer item. It is intended to be a repetitive, mind-numbing message in exactly the same way the big advertising industry is bombarding us with pro-consumption commercials. It targets the subconscious mind of the viewer, it hopes to deliver the antidote to consumerism at the subliminal level.

Some have told me they think the message is not subtle enough. They said I should find a more sophisticated way to get the message across. I should talk about responsible consumer choices and lifestyle choices. I should stress the fact that we are not forcing anybody to consume even one drop less of anything. I should also offer alternatives: instead of X, use Y, silently assuming that Y is not one iota less "convenient" in delivering what we ultimately seek: pleasure.

But I think there is something not quite right with this view. When I say "do not consume" why is it not perceived in the same way as "do consume an iPhone 5", the subliminal message that our children are exposed to everyday, yes they are forcefully exposed to it. And when we create one little campaign saying the opposite in exactly the same manner, we would be limiting their freedom of choice?

True freedom of choice has to evolve the real, socially acceptable, option of NOT choosing anything, but remaining where you are, who you are, without following the imperative of evermore consumption. True freedom is NOT a choice between Apple or Samsung, Republicans or Democrats. That is not freedom, that is slavery in disguise, and everybody who looks back on recent history would see this: We have human beings cut off from their natural way of being, the way they've evolved over many millennia, anxious creatures on prozac living empty individualist lives in anonymous cities, and on top of that a thin film of "choice" between a handful of different corporations, politicians, or jobs.

With few (important) exceptions, we don't have rich human communities where people have real choices and true democracy is invigorated every day, where the hallmark of choice-freedom is that there is always a real and socially accepted option to remain things as they are. If a corporation comes to such a community and tell them they could buy a dirty gasoline car or a cheap electric car, they can retort "we are fine with our bicycles, horses, or pre-owned cars."
[note: the electric car over its lifetime uses a lot more energy than a gasoline car. Think about the fossil fuels needed for the extremely energy-intensive process of rare earth mineral mining]

Everything short of NOT consuming will give the corporations the opportunity to lure us into yet another trap. And there have been many traps, biofuels being the most appalling one. Make no mistake. If you buy a "green" fridge that has energy category A, you are still buying a device that is created with planned obsolescence in mind, a device that only increases your ecological footprint.

We are not forcing anyone. But physical reality will very soon force consumption down to minimal levels, but then it will be too late. Make no mistake. The decline of this system will be even more rapid than its ascent. There is a crop failure in the US the mainstream media is not talking about. A similar crop failure in Russia 3 years ago had severe consequences. There is the war in Iran - when the strait of Hormuz would be blocked even for a relatively short period of time, it will cause huge economic turmoil.

It is your choice. Either you do nothing, or you do everything. And everything includes protesting, doing everything within your might to convince others, and NOT consuming the products of the destructive corporations.

February 13. Damn you so much, consumerism.

There are still moments that we can have revelations. Seldom do they occur but all the more meaningful is the trace they leave behind in our minds. It is so powerful because of it makes us feel related to the very essence of being more than anything else, albeit in a negative way. The kind of revelations I so vaguely refer to here are the hypercriticisms of modern life, stating that at its very core is falsehood. These hypercriticisms allow us to demonize the entire social structure that embeds us from the perspective of a u-topia that is created in the process.

February 6. The Virtual Foodchain of Value Creation

This is a tricky one. Have you just read the title of this post? It has been designed to captivate your attention and hence to captivate some of your time, some of your thoughts, some of your being. It has its own minute place in what it denotes: the foodchain of value creation. Now what do I mean by that (adding an introductory sentence like a puff of cool air) I want to say it raw uncompromised, like the hundreds of thousands of thousands of protesters on the Tahrir square as romanticologic analysts love to understand them. Raw.

March 2. The Largest Shopping Mall.

We are off to the mall again. Now you may ask WHY? Isn't this guy supposed to do charity? Well, actually it's hard to find the Philippine consulate, and we have some writing to do, and seeing Dubai is interesting. We have some nice food at a street stand, obviously for the local working class that construct all those magnanamous buildings.
If you are born in Dubai it means you are rich and you won't have to accept any job paying less than say 6000 dollars a month. The desert enclave is ruled by a few large families that have given attractive deals to banks and media houses, bringing a lot of them to the Emirates.
The largest shopping mall in the world. Consumerism in its purest form, Prada Gucci Dior for the sheiks that come here in their big black cars. More money is spent here daily in any of those shops than the entire budget of our Charity Travel, you could think, for example. Why couldn't Dior just produce responsibly in some cheap labour country and donate the profit for all those handbags to charity? Secretly, of course, because the buyers will find it uncool.

We have dinner with Donia at a nice urban oasis, it is a beautiful evening.

February 9. Consumerism.

We spend a lazy day writing our memoirs in Beira and take in some of the refreshing sea breeze of the long Mocambiquean coast. Such days, spent in the spirit of happy absent-mindedness commonly known as relaxing, give me the strength to go on and on. The Africa part of Charity Travel is nearing its end and I know now that this journey will be a success. Sure, there is a lot of work to be done, a lot of people to be convinced of this concept, of the illusion that is is an outstanding, flashy, brilliant concept. And I will have to address the issue of rewardingness.