Comments on: Being Consumed - A Review

By: DavidD

DavidD — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:27:49 +0000

I claim no authority on the status of overseas factory employment. It would be impossible to characterize it all the same way. The point C was making is that the situation is hardly ‘free’ when cooperations can shop around globally for the cheapest labour while the labourer’s themselves have little freedom within the relationship.

By: ChristianR

ChristianR — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:13:39 +0000

“But where capitalism exists the poor are often at least fed; where comsumerism is void the poor starve and die.”

Actually, I think any objective look at economic history and modern sociology would show that the exact opposite is actually true.

I thought the description of the ephemeral nature of the supposed freedoms of the “free market” was brilliant.

Pure laissez-faire capitalism creates an illusion of freedom while in reality it just disguises oppression by the wealthy as freedom.

By: somasoul

somasoul — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:36:25 +0000

“Infinite promises are made on behalf products and yet the result is poor labour wage, increased homogeneous expressions, and detachment from people and products. And ultimately dissatisfaction.”

I agree with all of this except for “poor labor wage”. No doubt, some products are made by very, very poor people. But where capitalism exists the poor are often at least fed; where comsumerism is void the poor starve and die.

The “poor labor wage”, if this be the case, is actually wealth to those with an empty belly.

By: DavidD

DavidD — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:30:32 +0000

Thanks for the feedback but I think there was a misunderstanding in how I accounted for Cavanaugh’s notion of a ‘free’ market. I abbreviated his argument to the point of losing some of the nuance. C advocates for a ‘free’ market which is still based on capital and private property he just doesn’t assume that the current expression is as ‘free’ as it is claimed to be.
The ‘unfreedom’ that I referred to is the common result of the current market system. Infinite promises are made on behalf products and yet the result is poor labour wage, increased homogeneous expressions, and detachment from people and products. And ultimately dissatisfaction.

By: somasoul

somasoul — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 02:18:28 +0000

I agree heartily with the last sentence. If we look toward consuming items or services to placate a true desire to be with God we are missing the mark.

But I disagree with the notion that free markets are not really free and that they need, uh, unfreedom to be truely free. That’s some Stalin-like newspeak if I ever saw it.

I also agree with the idea that we don’t hoard, we discard. I think we do both but I also think that if I read the book I’d understand this better. We live in an era when it is cheaper and more staisfying to buy something new than to repair the old. Buying the new thing and discarding the old seems to make us feel some twinge of happiness.

I’ve often said, and I truely believe it, that we are not a happy society, we are an amused society.

The “happiness” that we feel when going to the movies or buying a new pair of shoes or going to a theme park, watching TV………this is not happiness, it is temporary and therefore amusement.

The thing is that we can afford to amuse ourselves constantly. So our lives have gone from seeking happiness and fulfillment to seeking amusement. Why work on your marriage, or relationships, or something wrong you’ve done when you can lay down twenty bucks and go to Fridays?