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50 Insightful And Funny Takes On Anti-Consumption, As Shared On This Online Community
When U.S. soldiers returned home after World War II, they found a country quite different from the one they had left. Wartime production had helped pull America's economy out of the depression, and during the late '40s, young adults saw a remarkable rise in their spending power. Jobs were plentiful, wages were higher, and people were eager to spend. Between 1945 and 1949, Americans bought 20 million refrigerators, 21.4 million cars, and 5.5 million stoves, a trend that continued well into the 1950s. The massive growth of suburban populations meant an even bigger demand for automobiles. Families of all income brackets were buying televisions.
Historian Elaine Tyler May thinks that the federal government and the American people saw the new consumerism as a way to de-emphasize class differences while stressing traditional gender roles. Things that defined "the good life" were within their economic reach, so working-class people could achieve the upward mobility they craved.
And we haven't stopped filling our inner void with sparkling things ever since. As Kerryn Higgs, the author of Collision Course: Endless Growth on a Finite Planet said, the capitalist system depends on never-ending growth and it would simply fail if people were content with what they have. Over the course of the 20th century, capitalism preserved its momentum by molding the ordinary person into a consumer with an unquenchable thirst for its "wonderful stuff."
And the subreddit r/AntiConsumption illustrates this notion beautifully. Its 294K members criticize, question, and discuss everything consumerism-related, and provide clear-cut examples of how the system degenerated. What I like about this online community is that it isn't ringing alarm bells, declaring the end of times. Instead, it invites us to take a step back and look at the reality we have created for ourselves.
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Thought This Belonged Here… It Drives Me Nuts How There Is Such A Purchase-Culture Around Fitness And Health
Useless Stuff Indeed
To learn more about r/AntiConsumption, we contacted its moderator, u/NihiloZerowe. "There is a broad range of subject matter that gets discussed in the subreddit," they told Bored Panda. "You often see posts from people who are sick of litter, who are discontent with the dominant economic order, and who dislike excess packaging. There are a fair number of vegans in the sub and many subscribers are concerned about global warming and ecological degradation. Occasionally, someone will promote some sort of boycott or protest. I'd say the sub definitely leans left, but I don't ban people who want to argue about some sort of idealistic capitalist ecotopia. One thing that makes the sub stand out from other similar subs is that we don't have much tolerance for green consumerism. Trying to market your 'eco-groovy' new product in r/AntiConsumption will probably not help your sales very much."
u/NihiloZerowe also tries to avoid moderating the subreddit with a heavy hand. They believe that "even seemingly inane posts can spur discussion, bring in new subscribers, and lead people to other posts discussing more substantial topics." To be honest, I can't remember a Reddit community this big and active with just one person looking after it. But it looks like u/NihiloZerowe is doing one hell of a job.
"Some people don't like memes but if those memes drive traffic... Then I see that as a positive. To the extent that the content gets a bit monotonous (e.g., MY USB STICK CAME IN A BOX THAT COULD HOLD A BUICK!). I encourage people to post the content that they'd prefer to see discussed. If you don't like something in the sub then downvote it, mark it as read, and move on. Or maybe explain why you don't like something. I really like to see debate and discussion in the sub and try not to stand in the way of that. As long as the posted content isn't overtly bigoted or an advertisement in disguise, I'll usually let it stay up so that subscribers can vote and respond to it as they see fit."
Great To See Out Society As A Whole, Progressing
In other countries you can get arrested when getting stuff out of Supermarkt dumbsters.
There Are So Few Spaces Like This Left
So sad but true, I remember community centers that has activities for free, now you gotta pay for certain things
Put The Small Biz Before Big Biz
I absolutely agree but I have one huge concern: If I buy five things on line from five different web sites it means I’ve given my credit card info to five different people I have probably never dealt with before.
In a way, economic anthropologist, author, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Dr. Jason Hickel, agrees with the subreddit. According to him, the great challenge of the 21st century is learning to consume less. "In recent years, scientists have published estimates of the world's total consumption of material stuff, including everything from fish to livestock, minerals to metals, forests to fossil fuels. It comes to more than 80 billion tons of stuff per year. A sustainable level of consumption is about 50 billion tons per year, scientists believe. We are overshooting the mark by 60%," Hickel explained.
"This means we are eating away at the web of life on which we all depend for our survival. This might sound impossibly abstract, but we can see the consequences around us. Fish stocks are collapsing. Pollinators are dying off. Agricultural topsoils are turning to dust. Huge swathes of coastal ocean have become dead zones."
Remember Kids, “Vegan Wool” Is Plastic. And When It Breaks, It’s Decomposition Will Not Be Friendly
They are not wrong. I largely buy second hand, and almost only leather, these things have had a whole life before me, and will have a whole other one after.
My Work Is Required To Have Paper Charts And Maps, But They Expire Every Couple Months. I Take The Expired Charts And Use Them As Wrapping Paper
Old Bag New Life So My Mom Spent The Day Removing The Old Straps From Her Swimming Bag And Replaced Them With What She Had At Home: Some Old Cargo Straps. I Think The Colors Work Really Great With Each Other! Please Give Her A Thumbs Up!
From everything they've seen on the sub, u/NihiloZero expects that society will consume less in the not-so-distant future. But with that being said, the moderator doesn't think it'll be caused by some sort of positive cultural shift.
"Rather, I believe that resource scarcity, environmental degradation, and political instability around the world will break down the modern system of consumerism as we know it. I believe the hiccups in the supply chain that we're seeing right now as a result of the pandemic are small potatoes compared to what's coming. It would be nice if we could make a smooth transition to smaller self-sufficient and sustainable communities, and I won't try to stop you if that's what you're trying for, but I really don't expect such a transition to be smooth, if it ever happens at all," they explained their thoughts.
What Up Water Homies
But sadly a lot of people don't have access to healthy tapwater for various reasons, ranging from incompetent authorities not able to set up a functioning water supply system to incompetent authorities wilfully poisoning their citizens with lead.
Our Economy Thrives Off Insecurities
Just Came Across This And I Just Wanted To Share It
u/NihiloZero said the community of the subreddit "can be a bit holier-than-thou sometimes."
"You see a fair bit of gatekeeping and fingers pointed at those who are deemed to be conspicuous consumers. The anti-capitalists don't like the capitalists. The vegans don't like animal eaters. The pedestrians don't like the filthy motorists. We probably get a relatively high number of luddites commenting in the sub. Related to all the "anti-" positions... we also get a fair number of trolls who like to push the buttons of the true believers. But, really, I think the sub is mostly comprised of people who are sick of the violence, destruction, and waste in the modern world. Sometimes we can laugh about it, sometimes we can't. Sometimes we're serious and sometimes we're not," the moderator explained.
🙄
Hematite is fragile. It breaks if you look at it sideways. It's wonderful in jewelry, but not as part of the structure.
I invented this phone with scam protection. If too many scammers call you, the phone breaks.
Would be better if you could make the scammers break though. ;-)
Load More Replies...Hematite rings are a bad idea in general - you're basically wearing a ring made of stone. It's thin and it's brittle. Did the "negative energy" involve, you know, daily life?
I went through so many of these stupid rings in college. They look so pretty but hematite is the WORST material to make jewelry out of. A light breeze will snap it in half.
Hematite breaks regardless of the energy in it. The rings I ever owned broke cos I was stupid and wore them to work.
If you "hit" a hematite ring on anything harder than it's MOHS scale, it has a highly likelihood to break. Which basically means anything harder than some glass can make it break. And then again, all you have to do is non-aggressively slap your hand down and it might break since it's made of compressed hematite.....js
Hematite in ring form is quite fragile, so just buy a ring with enduring quality instead of wasting money on nonsense.
poor Rakil, poor girl... it's only a big scam! how can you be so silly to believe in a thing like "absorbing negative energy"? it's broken for it's scarce quality! please, grow up!
Mine broke when I banged my hand against a window to scare off a cat!
yeah, that is stupid! My hubby and I have tungsten rings as wedding bands. Together they cost $13.00 we have had them for 6+ years and they are great. Cheap doesn't always mean crappy, but in this case it does!
It's not a metal. It's a hard oxide mineral that can be quite brittle when made into a thin shape like a ring.
Shoot, this didn't go where I wanted it to do. Panda really needs to make it so you can edit or delete your messages.
Load More Replies...I saw an online ad for a very special, lucky bracelet, sure to bring you exceedingly good luck,. . .like Trudy Throckmorton, who wore the bracelet only one day before she won $8 million dollars..." The bracelets were 38 bucks. I noticed it because I had bought the same bracelet a few weeks before for 78 cents. At the time, I figured no one would be buying the "lucky bracelet". Then I read this post, and now I'm not so sure.
hematite is a stone. It is rigid and will break. That's why they are usually set in silver. Silver does not break.
It is like watching documentary about Third reich. It is horrible, but also it is kind of fascinating.
This can happen through temperature differences, many minerals can not compensate quick temperature differences well and break. So better not to touch a hot cup and then get something out of a freezer. Minerals are not very flexible and fragile and therefore rather poorly suited for rings, I think we should stick to metal and wood for rings.
My wedding ring is titanium vs the white gold band my wife bears because even the titanium one takes tiny bits of damage in my line of work
You mean roam around the seven levels of hell looking for mischief? Ok now I'm curious. Share your daytime profession?
Load More Replies...Me Everytime There Is A Discussion About Straws
Living In The 20's
Since /r/AntiConsumption is about to hit 300,000 subscribers, u/NihiloZero wanted to use the opportunity and encourage everyone who enjoys its content to become a member.
"Please don't let me dissuade you from working on sustainable projects or promoting them in the sub," they added. "We've got a lot of subscribers who are into that sort of thing and would likely give you feedback. Some of it might be positive, and some of it might be negative, but you're likely to get feedback either way!"
Found On Fb
My Sister’s Gender Reveal “Party”. Her Doctor Wrote The Baby’s Gender On A Piece Of Paper. At The End Of The Day The Whole Family Joined A Video Call Where She Unfolded The Paper! That Was It!
This
To Keep Prices High
Consumption Is Most Ravenous At The Top Of Society, Consuming Small-Businesses Too
This "Low Plastic" Pen Is A Perfect Metaphor For Environmentalism Under Capitalism
Not Perfect Anti Consumption, But I Used Black Takeout Containers And Old Greeting Cards To Give Out Homemade Cookies This Year
We Need A Different Economy
Restaurant Ask Customers To Stop Wasting Buffet Food
Not Sure What They're Expecting
the space between no ads and paying your artists well while keeping the app free is very small... i dunno how i feel about this because the reason why spotify and youtube are basically free is ads, and the reason why premium paid versions exist is so the artists are still paid
Did You Know That You Can Rewear Clothes? This Changes Everything
The True Cost Of Stuff
I hate Black Friday, and how religious holidays has become commercialized , yes the day after thanksgiving is Black Friday, the start of the holiday season ( Xmas for me) I know that Black Friday isn’t a religious holiday, didn’t mention that
Makes Sense
What A Beautiful Billboard
It's a joy you can experience yourself, without any cost! You can buy my e-book here!!!
You Are Enough
Problem Solved
I don’t mind trucks because I take the bus and don’t own a car. Does that count?
Croatian Company Made Their Toilet Paper Package With A Cool Dual Purpose
knowing Croatian plumbing the bag is for putting used toilet paper into
Some Decent Tips I Think
My Sister Asked Me To Buy These 2 Products For Her Birthday. This Is The Packaging For 10 Ml Of Product
This Really Hit Home For Me To See Today!
Permanent Permaculture
Gardens are a lot of upkeep. A lot of people don’t have time for them. Plus there’s the issue of finding something that will grow where you live.
Great Idea Stolen From Facebook
Bernie Showing Us All The Way
Just Ewww
Less Ads More Content Follow
Brands Aren't Your Friends
It Do Be Like That
You Know When You Can't Figure Out If Something Is Satire?
Sometimes That's Hard To Forget With All The Advertisements For Sustainable Clothing Brands
Women's clothing is less quality than man's. In my experience, my shirts get ripped and overstretched in less than a year. Boyfriend has the same damn s**t without any tiny holes in since like 2015 (the cost was the same)
This Would Be Very Depressing
“Hello? Yes, I’ve changed my mind, and I’d like to take the blue pill please.”
Bruh
I See This Every Year. Over 60,000 New iPhone & Samsung Cases Are Dumped Because They Won’t Fit The New Models
Right
And that leotard will be up her butt crack and wedged in her hooha fast than you can say downward dog, how uncomfortable and impractical. I hate the consumerism that sits behind climate change, and how so few see that this is adding to the problem.
Plastic Straws And Sandwich Cutters Aren’t The Devil
Absolutely Disgusting
Note: this post originally had 78 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
I've come to the conclusion that I must be some weird subspecies of human. I'm (hopefully) about to get a better paying job and I was thinking just yesterday that I should buy myself something nice out of my first paycheck. But for the life of me, I can't think of a single 'thing' I want or need.
Well you bought this self-congratulatory post, and that's something.
Load More Replies...Consumerism depends on peer pressure. Fighting it isn’t about congratulating yourself for not buying stuff you don’t need: it’s about accepting others who show up with stuff that could be nicer.
There is also those who tear down perfectly fine houses to build their "dream" house or because they have nothing better to do with their time and money
One sad thing about COVID lockdowns are that people are buying more stuff online… and that this stuff mainly comes from multinational giants (like Amazon) whereas charity/second hand shops can’t operate until restrictions are lifted :-(
People need to teach their children about spending, manipulation consumerism, fads which are really wasteful.
One thing I learned about this article is people care way to much was a person does with there OWN money
the point of the article has gone way over your head hasn't it
Load More Replies...I feel guilty of buying useless items.. Although I don't throw it away but it just lies unused in my wardrobes.
Honestly I have no idea where this obsession to spend come from. I'm still very much the same as I was decades ago when I was a poor kid growing up. Hell I don't even have a spare business suit.
Generation X are the only ones who see through most of this BS.
Load More Replies...Currently spending money on garden stuff, mostly 2nd hand, and saving for a hand made musical instrument
I've come to the conclusion that I must be some weird subspecies of human. I'm (hopefully) about to get a better paying job and I was thinking just yesterday that I should buy myself something nice out of my first paycheck. But for the life of me, I can't think of a single 'thing' I want or need.
Well you bought this self-congratulatory post, and that's something.
Load More Replies...Consumerism depends on peer pressure. Fighting it isn’t about congratulating yourself for not buying stuff you don’t need: it’s about accepting others who show up with stuff that could be nicer.
There is also those who tear down perfectly fine houses to build their "dream" house or because they have nothing better to do with their time and money
One sad thing about COVID lockdowns are that people are buying more stuff online… and that this stuff mainly comes from multinational giants (like Amazon) whereas charity/second hand shops can’t operate until restrictions are lifted :-(
People need to teach their children about spending, manipulation consumerism, fads which are really wasteful.
One thing I learned about this article is people care way to much was a person does with there OWN money
the point of the article has gone way over your head hasn't it
Load More Replies...I feel guilty of buying useless items.. Although I don't throw it away but it just lies unused in my wardrobes.
Honestly I have no idea where this obsession to spend come from. I'm still very much the same as I was decades ago when I was a poor kid growing up. Hell I don't even have a spare business suit.
Generation X are the only ones who see through most of this BS.
Load More Replies...Currently spending money on garden stuff, mostly 2nd hand, and saving for a hand made musical instrument