Our society - Consumerism/commercialism - General

What is the united states? Regulated capitalism? Sort of. We've hopped onto another car of the capitalist train known as consumerism. Capitalism is notorious for having 2 classes: The proletariat and the bourgeois. The proletariat being the lower and the bourgeois being the higher. However, that is not the case anymore. The World has evolved from capitalism into consumerism. In capitalism, only the bourgeois was happy and the proletariat was unhappy. Today, we see a blind zombie-like society in which not only does the bourgeois by expensive, useless things, but as does the new working class: the middle class. They are not manual laborers or business owners. Not government officials nor tradesmen. They are those working in offices. Doing to communication between the bourgeois and the proletariat. Why do they do what they do? because it's secure. Their job is secure enough that they don't have to worry about losing it. However they won't do the work of the proletariat because that doesn't make enough money. Why do they want money? so they can buy useless things. They are materialistic and live to buy. They are even more sad than the proletariat. The proletariat are economic slaves, forced to do work to survive. The middle class are mental slaves. they do work in order to fill their undying lust for more. They do not question if they need it or not. Comrades, it is not capitalism that is destroying the world. No, capitalism was very small. Capitalism destroyed so little, because the capital went to so few. Capitalism was not destructive it was oppressive. Consumerism is the plague of the world. While people want more and more, it causes more strain on the world. 3rd world countries being exploited for every resource they have, the O-zone being torn to shreds because China's sweatshops are pouring out smoke as the children inside die of poor work conditions for only 83 cents a day. Cut corners and legal loopholes cause an environmental deadzone in the gulf. Capitalism is not to blame. No, in todays society, the blame doesn't lie with the CEO's of BP. They were just doing what you wanted them to, give you a good product for cheap. You had no problem with paying less, because your money is so precious. So what did they do to keep their product cheap? pay the workers less. Cut corners and disregard regulations. How did it end up? A dead zone in the gulf No, the blame of the worlds problems lies not with the producer, but with the brainless consumer.

People will buy anything. [img]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5479/petrocki.jpg[/img]

This has made me miss Wakka again. It's just not the same without the Forum Communist.

[QUOTE=cheesedelux;22927611]This has made me miss Wakka again. It's just not the same without the Forum Communist.[/QUOTE] What happened to him?

[QUOTE=OvB;22927602]People will buy anything. [IMG]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5479/petrocki.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] How much is that?

[QUOTE=nunu;22927628]What happened to him?[/QUOTE] 'Resigned' from Facepunch. Made a ban-me and was gone.

[QUOTE=ProboardslolV2;22927407]Consumerism/commercialism [/QUOTE] Also called capitalism

THE BOURGEOIS BETTER WATCH OUT FOR ME. All throughout this so called nation!

[QUOTE=ProboardslolV2;22927407] the O-zone being torn to shreds because China's sweatshops are pouring out smoke as the children inside die of poor work conditions for only 83 cents a day. [/QUOTE] So it's the damn [I] Chinese Children[/I] doing it.

[QUOTE=DrLuke;22927736]Also called capitalism[/QUOTE] Didn't read, did you? [quote=Cheesedelux]This has made me miss Wakka again. It's just not the same without the Forum Communist.[/quote] Shit he left? Oh wow. We tried to make a steam marxist group but his problem was that he was actually a stalinist/leninist. He seemed to have a sense of nationalism about his Russian ancestry and romanticized the USSR as a misunderstood benevolent regime.

Says the guy who pays for an internet connection and a computer.

FP has too many communists We need more monarchists. They could win every argument with "fuck you i'm the king".

[QUOTE=OvB;22927602][img]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5479/petrocki.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] I have the biggest urge to buy that.

You lost me at comrades. I am not your comrade. [editline]12:04AM[/editline] [QUOTE=mastermaul;22927859]FP has too many communists We need more monarchists. They could win every argument with "fuck you i'm the king".[/QUOTE] Agreed

[QUOTE=OvB;22927602]People will buy anything. [img]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/5479/petrocki.jpg[/img][/QUOTE] I would buy it.

Sweatshops aren't as bad as people make them out to be. Sure the pay is low, but it's certainly higher than most other jobs available in the poor area. And about the kids working. They are just bringing extra money to the household, it's better than them turning to prostitution, or a drug mule.

I like it.

Everything has a price. Everything.

I don't see any problem with this "consumerism" I like buying random bits and pieces. Also, right wing > left wing

[QUOTE=ProboardslolV2;22927802]Didn't read, did you? Shit he left? Oh wow. We tried to make a steam marxist group but his problem was that he was actually a stalinist/leninist.[/QUOTE] holy shit he means business he was gonna make a steam group

[QUOTE=Second-gear-of-mgear;22930229][b]Sweatshops aren't as bad as people make them out to be[/b]. Sure the pay is low, but it's certainly higher than most other jobs available in the poor area. And about the kids working. They are just bringing extra money to the household, it's better than them turning to prostitution, or a drug mule.[/QUOTE] bad troll, 1/10.

Yes we know infinite wants, limited resources blah blah blah it's all the average joes fault blah blah blah, it's been said a million times.

[QUOTE=DrLuke;22927736]Also called capitalism[/QUOTE] Or "the greatest thing ever conceived by man". [editline]04:10PM[/editline] [QUOTE=ProboardslolV2;22927407]What is the united states? Regulated capitalism? Sort of. We've hopped onto another car of the capitalist train known as consumerism. Capitalism is notorious for having 2 classes: The proletariat and the bourgeois. The proletariat being the lower and the bourgeois being the higher. However, that is not the case anymore. The World has evolved from capitalism into consumerism. In capitalism, only the bourgeois was happy and the proletariat was unhappy. Today, we see a blind zombie-like society in which not only does the bourgeois by expensive, useless things, but as does the new working class: the middle class. They are not manual laborers or business owners. Not government officials nor tradesmen. They are those working in offices. Doing to communication between the bourgeois and the proletariat. Why do they do what they do? because it's secure. Their job is secure enough that they don't have to worry about losing it. However they won't do the work of the proletariat because that doesn't make enough money. Why do they want money? so they can buy useless things. They are materialistic and live to buy. They are even more sad than the proletariat. The proletariat are economic slaves, forced to do work to survive. The middle class are mental slaves. they do work in order to fill their undying lust for more. They do not question if they need it or not. Comrades, it is not capitalism that is destroying the world. No, capitalism was very small. Capitalism destroyed so little, because the capital went to so few. Capitalism was not destructive it was oppressive. Consumerism is the plague of the world. While people want more and more, it causes more strain on the world. 3rd world countries being exploited for every resource they have, the O-zone being torn to shreds because China's sweatshops are pouring out smoke as the children inside die of poor work conditions for only 83 cents a day. Cut corners and legal loopholes cause an environmental deadzone in the gulf. Capitalism is not to blame. No, in todays society, the blame doesn't lie with the CEO's of BP. They were just doing what you wanted them to, give you a good product for cheap. You had no problem with paying less, because your money is so precious. So what did they do to keep their product cheap? pay the workers less. Cut corners and disregard regulations. How did it end up? A dead zone in the gulf No, the blame of the worlds problems lies not with the producer, but with the brainless consumer.[/QUOTE] That's the biggest load of crap i've read in a while. How old are you?. Of course people want more, it's human nature.

[QUOTE=Black Milano;22930731] That's the biggest load of crap i've read in a while. How old are you?.[/QUOTE] maybe if I attempt to shoot down someone's well-thought out point of view with a few cheap insults, people will take me seriously. [editline]08:15PM[/editline] > implying that someone's age really makes a difference in perception of economics also.

[QUOTE=TropicalV2;22930800]maybe if I attempt to shoot down someone's well-thought out point of view with a few cheap insults, people will take me seriously.[/QUOTE] Blaming the consumer and expecting the consumer to regulate their own economics in society is as stupid as expecting a dog to not eat meat placed in front of it. Someone will always want more and others cant just sit back and let that one guy take advantage of society while the rest just regulate their purchases and earnings. Honestly, OP's view that everything is the consumers fault is astronomically stupid, and the anti-capitalism/"consumerism" bandwagon isn't new in the world of teen computer nerds who would like nothing more than to be able to play video games and post on forums whenever they want without having to worry about the real world where wealth is earned rather than evenly distributed. [QUOTE=TropicalV2;22930800]> implying that someone's age really makes a difference in perception of economics also.[/quote] That's because it does :downs:

In an apatow world, resources would be distributed equally. No, wait, scratch that, because that's not how the real world works at all. Dependent of where you are in the world - your culture, belief, religion, upbringing, geography, climate, geology, tectonic setting, altitude, humidity, physical attributes, age, year of birth, population density - all factors in massively to your quality of life. Economically developed countries are lucky to have all their industrialized, colonial histories - the times in which they flourished and grew from what we would now consider poverty (living in the dark ages/medieval ages) to what we have now; financial security and modern convenience. The one thing that can be guaranteed will be accepted into any community that wants to expand and communicate with the rest of the world, is [b]money.[/b] It's an ambiguous resource that supplements the need to trade - because what can an economically developed country offer a newly industrialized one? The latter wants expensive electronics, the former wants raw materials. It wouldn't work the other way 'round. So when people make out capitalism/commercialism/whatever to be the root of all evil, and that human nature is to CONSUME EVERYTHING (said in a really evil voice), it [b]grinds my shit.[/b] And you don't want that. Because money isn't inherently evil. Sure, it funds arms deals, it funds wars, but it also funds WaterAid, Cancer Research, Honda Robotics, NASA, it funds the social awareness campaigns used by Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Save Darfur, it funds the making of first aid kits, and vaccines, and the internet. It funds deep-sea exploration, and seismic monitoring, to save people from volcanoes and earthquakes. It's essential to global trade, which we need: you can't build or use a defibrillator if you haven't sourced the materials (conductive metals and plastics) from different places around the world. Money, used the right way - in a global economy, brings out the best in people, I reckon. I suppose that makes me a socio-capitalist, by the way. I'm saying all this because I don't think we're going INTO a bout of commercialism - I think in the 70's and 80's (especially the 80's), we did - when the message ad campaigns gave out was "live for today", when cigarette ads were everywhere and gas-guzzling cars were plastered over television. We've come out of that hedonism with all these 'green' companies that try to give out a good message - fairtrade industry, recycling, worker's rights/unions, we seem to be moving more and more towards sustainable living. Sustainability is a complete BITCH to try to achieve 100%, by the way.

It's funny how a lot of the posts here are from pre-08'ers.

[QUOTE=TropicalV2;22930476]bad troll, 1/10.[/QUOTE] Here you go: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjsshqyAFh8[/media]

[QUOTE=cheesedelux;22927611]This has made me miss Wakka again. It's just not the same without the Forum Communist.[/QUOTE] I am quite glad he is gone. I fail to see your point OP, what are you saying we should reeducate people and entirely reform the world's method of trade?

[QUOTE=TropicalV2;22930800]maybe if I attempt to shoot down someone's well-thought out point of view with a few cheap insults, people will take me seriously. [editline]08:15PM[/editline] > implying that someone's age really makes a difference in perception of economics also.[/QUOTE] It does, most people don't know shit about them until they enter college. People tend to think of economics as a trivial social discussion "thing", and not realize that they're a fully fledged, deeply mathematical science where the main point isn't giving answers to problems, but try to model society's behavior. The whole "How do we repair this mess?" topic is more of a political discussion than a science problem. What I'm trying to say here is that unless you've studied at least some raw economics you really [B]don't have a clue[/B] of how society works. This is personal experience.