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.

Choose freedom - Consume Less

Freedom from the rat race for bigger, better, faster, more. Freedom from big corporations telling you and determining for you what you should have, what you should wear, how you should look, feel, walk, talk, and interact with others. How: By consuming less, by adopting modesty and simplicity, prioritizing relationships over possessions, genuinely caring for humanity, changing standards of 'success', 'fulfillment', and 'beauty', and bringing spirituality in life. They can be truly liberating and expose one to things and experiences that are 'real' and substantially much more 'meaningful'. The concern here is more than just becoming better environment-n-social-justice conscious consumers. It's consumerism itself: to not be dependent on consuming things to find fulfillment in life. In the clip, I especially liked how sight, sound, and smell are contrasted to project the difference between the 'real' and 'artificial'.

On TV: TV can have both good and bad uses. The technology is not in question here. The concern would be the content (what is shown on it?). The concern is also how we regard material possessions (have they become the most fundamental preoccupation in our lives? does having them make any difference in how we measure our 'success' and 'self-worth'?). The concern is also excessive indulgence: I don't think it's very constructive if for someone TV becomes the only or primary form of entertainment or pass-time, and the person ignores (or never discovers) the 'real' experience and joy of being close to nature, in good people's company, helping people in need, etc.

[Credits: Courtesy docminho on youtube. Production team: Bijoy George, Caro Liu, Dago Schelin, Daniel Yanik, Jan Pieniak, Maria Helena Toscano, Rogério Nishizawa, Simon Schulz. Supervised by Professor Cristoph Althaus.]