Is Big Business Bad? (A Dialogue)
A while back I entered into a dialogue with Edward about Breathe and the world of big business. We’d sent out a piece from Dave Bookless (A Rocha) which spoke strongly against the mass production of quickly obsolete products, and Edward sent a provocative reply.
Thanks to Edward for these thoughts, but also for agreeing to their being published (in slightly shortened form):
1. Vaccines – Is mass production bad? (Edward to Mark):
I’ve just come back from the vaccination plant that makes millions of vaccinations for children and prevention of some horrible crippling diseases. You will never know who made the mass produced, disposable, obsolete products but they may already have saved your life. Thank goodness for mass production Regards Edward
2. Accelerated obsolescence (Mark to Edward):
Hi Edward,
I think your basic point is a good one: mass production should not be vilified just because of its size; industrial development brings unquestionable benefits for humanity. It is important that any questioning of consumerism take this into account. The poorer nations of the world, I would agree, often need more mass production, not less.
However, just because a system has benefits doesn’t mean that it cannot be improved. Obsolescence is one example of this. I’m not sure that a vaccine qualifies as ‘built to be obsolete’, as I think what Dave had in mind was accelerated obsolescence (can vaccines be continuous-use?).
The Price of Materialism and the Need for a New Dream
This is a great new video from the guys at New American Dream. It features powerful research about the way media exposure and materialistic values affect our life satisfaction and shape us as hyper-consumers.
What about the suggestions the video makes? Can better coping strategies and different economic models save the world? On their own, no. We need a better ‘dream’ than just a renewed american dream. Jesus called it the kingdom of God. But though the kingdom is bigger than the ‘nice’ life of psychological balance and economic sustainability, it certainly includes much of what new american dreamers are striving for. To truly know God is a great antedote to the anxiety that drives our consumer habits, if only we could experience this more in our churches and homes. And the revisioned economics of the kingdom should certainly cause us to question our devotion to current ways of measuring growth.
The kingdom is God’s dream for the world he made and loves. One day it will become reality. Today though, God is still looking for dreamers to join him…
Eco-retailer says ‘buy less’!
Great Christmas email from Nigel’s eco store (Thanks Sarah and Ewan for the link…):
Hi there, Last Saturday was Buy Nothing day. As a retailer, we know the last Saturday in November is one of the peak shopping days of the year. I bumped into Buy Nothing day via an interesting interview with Buy Nothing founder, and the man who started the Wall Street protest, Kalle Lasn, in the Independent a week ago.The thinking behind Buy Nothing day is pretty deep, and very much of the moment.Kalle says: “We are going to try and take back our Christmas season from the commercial forces that have hijacked it,” and suggests other options instead, such as a Buy Local, a Buy Fairer, or a Buy Indie, Christmas, or giving a “gift exemption” card to friends and family (instead of a gift voucher).
I gave Buy Nothing day a go, and bought nothing on Saturday. (See twitter.com/nigelsecostore)
It wasn’t that difficult as I was at home, pulling up the living room floor. But then it hit me that we didn’t have enough nice food for both lunch and dinner, and had to dig through the lentils and barley at the back of the cupboard to find something to eat for lunch. It didn’t take long, and was more healthy anyway. There were a few other purchases that I didn’t make that ordinarily I would have.
Buying nothing made me think about what we buy. (And, by association, where it comes from, what it’s made of, and how much it will be used.) Often we don’t stop and think about it.As a retailer it’s easy to get seduced by the idea that our job is to sell more stuff. And Buy Nothing day is, at first look, an uncomfortable idea for us because of that.But as a resourceful eco retailer, we have to get our priorities right and make sure we’re not adding to the stuff and the tat, and the things we don’t really need. For our Christmas campaign and January sale we’ll make sure they’re focussed around usefulness and resourcefulness and buying less.
We’re not alone in this.Sustainable clothing brand Patagonia are telling consumers to buy less of their new range. They make apparel that costs more, but they want you to buy quality that lasts. And they’ve set up a second-hand shop on their site.
There’s also signs that we’re all buying less. The UK reached ‘peak stuff’ this year and that makes me optimistic. If it’s true, ‘peak stuff’ means “it’s highly likely that we are now using fewer materials than at any time on record”.So this Christmas, buy secondhand (Ebay), buy handmade (Etsy), buy something resourceful like Sugru that allows your friends and family to hack, customise, make better, fix, and improve the stuff they already have. If you haven’t already, have a Buy Nothing day before Christmas.A friend of mine has suggested that next year we close the site down for the day to make the point….Nigel
PS we wrote a guide to Christmas a couple of years ago. It’s been popular and if anyone wants a copy it’s available for free as a pdf: Click Here
Treasure in the field: spiritual capital and sustainable living
Treasure in the Fields is a conference run by our friends at Christian Ecology Link, and Breathe is contributing a worshop on ‘consumer detox’. Here are some details, with more on the CEL website here:
Treasure in the Field: Spiritual capital, sustainable living
CEL Conference, Saturday 10 March, with Jonathon Porritt and Tim Gorringe,
Stoke Gifford (near Bristol Parkway station).
Workshops led by Tim Gorringe, Chris Sunderland (EarthAbbey), Jeremy Williams (Breathe), Mark Letcher (Climate Works) and Jonathan Essex (Greenhouse think-tank).
£15 (£10 early-bird price before end January). £5 for young people under 25.
Details and booking form: www.christian-ecology.org.uk/treasure
The real meaning of Advent
Surprisingly spiritually helpful…
Don’t Text Gok
“Thanks. It used to be my sister’s”.
This is my regular retort, so overused and worn that I ought to have it printed on a t-shirt, or perhaps tattoo it on my forehead. Here’s the pattern: my sister gives me her reject clothes, I wear them, people compliment me, and I have no choice but to come clean. After all, I can hardly take the credit for clothes I neither chose or paid for. Other than these donations, I tend to wear clothes I’ve owned for far-too-many years, clothes from charity shops and more recently, castoffs from my daughter’s friends… and she’s only thirteen! So this is me. No sense of fashion. No one ever says: Annie, I saw this and just had to buy it for you… it’s so your style. Never. Because I have zero style.
But before you text Gok, pleading with him to ‘sort me’ by taking me clothes shopping and parading me semi-naked on a shopping centre cat-walk… please hear me out. What I’m after is a new look. I’ve recently started my teaching training. Forget potato-printing and nativity plays though, it’s only those aged sixteen and above that I’ll be attempting to enlighten. And herein lies part of the problem: I’m almost thirty-seven, but unfortunately look considerably younger. A month or two ago I got asked for ID in ASDA, when attempting to buy wine (Fair Trade, of course). Yes, I ought not to be complaining, but when I finally qualify I want to be able to ooze authority and ‘teachery-ness’. I don’t want it to be assumed that I’m only a couple of years older than those I’m teaching. Thus, I want a ‘teacher’ look. Not too frumpy, not too daring, not too ‘young’… not too much to ask for, is it?
So when I finally have the money, inclination, motivation and time to purchase this new wardrobe, in which direction shall I head? Charity shops? Maybe, but whereas tops usually work out quite well, I’ve often found that it’s bordering on the impossible to buy charity shop trousers/skirts that fit me properly.
My ‘living simply/ethically’ ethos directs me next to fairly-traded clothes. The main suppliers are generally via catalogues or online. This is a pain as I then can’t try on clothes before buying them (which is never wise). Also, they cost a fortune. I don’t have a fortune to spend – not even half a fortune. I’m not a teacher yet, remember.
Marks ‘n’ Sparks? Perhaps. They do stock some fairly-traded clothes, but not enough that I’d be able to select several complete outfits, especially so if you consider footwear. Also, I’m not sure I’m affluent enough to ‘Per Una’ myself (M&S’s trendier women’s range, in case you weren’t aware).
Primark? Much easier on the wallet, it has to be said. But such cheap clothes freak me out somewhat. Just glancing at them makes me see children in sweat-shops. No purchase is worth supporting unfair-trade, especially something as non-essential as new outfits. However, since Primark was ‘trashed’ via various TV documentaries a couple of years ago, it has pulled its socks up. It doesn’t claim that its socks, or any of its wares, carry the fair trade logo, but it does purport to be an ethical trader (http://www.primark-ethicaltrading.co.uk/).
High profile companies (such as Primark and McDonalds) boasting such cheap goods, have come under so much pressure to change, they could hardly fail to respond. I wonder if it’s the ‘middle-market’ stores that we ought to be avoiding – ones that lack strict ethical standards, but which aren’t so cheap that they’ve come under enough scrutiny as to be exposed, and forced to change. Or is this simply self-delusion? Attempting to convince myself that it’s acceptable to shop at Primark, just because I can get more for my money?
Who knows? Well, I expect God knows, to be fair. My best bet is probably to pray before I finally set out on my image-altering shopping expedition, and to take it from there. That, or just to hope that my sister buys herself several new ‘teachery’ outfits in the near future, and soon tires of them.
(Annie, who hangs out here: www.annieporthouse.com )
Just the sixteen of us
I worked with a Baptist pastor’s wife, a few years back. We were both secondary school teachers and good friends. One Monday morning, slouched in the staffroom and bracing ourselves for another week at the chalkface, she sighed and said, “What a weekend. People have been knocking on our front door all weekend.”
I thought a moment, then said, “They’ve been knocking on our bedroom door all weekend.”
I exaggerated. On the whole, “they” let my wife and I sleep between the hours of twelve and eight. I was making an ironic reference to our communal lifestyle. You see, my wife and I and our three small kids live in an intentional Christian community with eleven other people (“intentional” is the buzz phrase for such communities; I think it means we don’t live there by accident.)
White Stone House and those who live in it
It’s a thirteen bedroom house. We live with two other married couples, neither with any kids – yet; seven single people (four of whom are celibate, committed to lifelong singleness); a highly independent cat; and a tank full of tropical fish. (The fish find community okay, except when they bite and fight each other. The humans are much the same.)
We share most of our stuff and all of our money via a common bank account. And lots of other people – church members, friends, neighbours, lads off the street – come round lots.
Our house in Coventry, White Stone House, is part of a Christian community movement called the New Creation Christian Community, which in turn is part of a UK-wide church called the Jesus Army.
Earlier this year I had the delight of meeting and interviewing Mark Powley of the “Breathe” network. You can read the thought-provoking stuff he said to me that day here. In the course of our chat that day, he said he’d love some “Breathe” posts to be written by someone who lives in an intentional community. Perhaps from that day I was a marked man (if you’ve met Mark, you may know what I mean). Anyway, now my voice has been added to the “Breathe” chorus. I’m honoured; I hope that some of my everyday accounts of a somewhat un-everyday lifestyle will mean something to “Breathe” readers.
I’ll share stories from community, thoughts from community, the chaos of community, and the beauty of community. Some posts may originate from my personal blog, man-with-the-mop.blogspot.com, some, like this one, will be written specially for “Breathe”.
Earlier I mentioned “lots of people coming round lots”. This coming weekend that is especially true: we have a “community weekend” during which we’re deliberately inviting several friends to stay with us.
The reason we’re doing this is because, for us, community has to be outward-looking. It has to be about a wider community, a big circle of people, all being drawn towards a common centre – the God who is love. If that sounds mystical, that’s because it is. But it’s the kind of mystical reality that comes via group games, via homemade curry and chapattis, via walks in the woods, via lots of washing up (there’s an endless supply of washing up in community), via laughter, and sometimes via tears.
I’ll let you know how it goes. Hopefully it’ll be great fun.
And if they knock on our bedroom door, we’ll cope. For this weekend anyway.
