The smell in the air of supermarkets

An important question that Raj Patel raises in the full speech is that to what extent conscious buying can really help solve the problems of global economy, social justice, and the environment.

Related to the clip, see also this story from the LA Times: How businesses coax shoppers into buying
http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-shopping-psychology-20101122,0,1283284,full.story

The article provides a good summary of the tactics that businesses use to coax shoppers into spending. The article also illuminates how the ideology of 'choice' can be illusionary. I may think that I am buying this particular item out of my personal, independent choice, but in reality that choice or preference is conditioned by a number of stimuli, both within the store and from outside (ads, culture, media).

On how consumers are now lured by slogans of "Green" and "Fair Trade", see

The Great Green Swindle
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/oct/23/ethicalbusiness-consumeraffairs

But the question for me is more than just social-justice-environment-conscious consumerism. It's consumerism itself: to not be dependent on consumption to find fulfillment in life. That perhaps is the key to freedom.