Anticonsumerism

Why I Got Rid of Adsense

2006-01-12T13:41:00.000-06:00

I had a Google ad on this blog for a couple weeks, but no more. Why? Well, my original thought was that even though I'm anticonsumerist, I'm not anti-commerce. And besides, I could use a little extra trickle of money for my time. It turned out that the ads popping up on my site were more funny than anything. I have an article about the foolishness of renting rims, for example. The Google ad that popped up was a link to a place where you can rent rims 24 hours a day. Nice. I should have left it up just for the irony.

And I would have, but I decided that it really goes against the philosophy of this blog to advertise for things I'm lambasting. Plus, nobody is going to actually click on those ads, anyway. At least, nobody who reads anticonsumerist websites.

So, goodbye, Adsense. I think you're a good idea for some, but I'm not going to sell any rims on my site. And readers, if you like what you see, please just link me into your sites and tell others. It's not all about the Benjamins, after all.

Understanding Christmas Consumerism

2006-01-02T12:28:00.000-06:00

Today's entry should serve as a bit of a confession from this die-hard anticonsumerist. Christmas had me spouting off my usual rants as I shopped at Target for gifts (for my niece and nephews - and only educational gifts).

Somehow I found myself running toward the back of the store. I wasn't sure where my legs were taking me but they ended up in front of an XBOX 360 kiosk. There was some WW2 game playing itself out on a screen. Suddenly I felt the old Christmas magic. I don't even *play* video games. I have a PS2 that my wife and I use for watching DVDs because we're too cheap to buy a real DVD player with a remote. And I own exactly two games for it. Yet I was enraptured with this new technology.

No, folks. I did not buy one. I'm not even sure they were available that day. But I must confess that if one had magically arrived under the tree on Christmas morning, I would have stopped my rants about consumerism for long enough to play some games. Even now when I walk by the display, I hold my nose up in snooty indifference. Yet, I am drooling on the inside.

Renting Rims: The Decline of Western Civilization

2005-11-08T14:00:00.000-06:00

At first I had a hard time figuring out how such economically challenged parents were able to afford such fancy rims on their cars. I watched the school parking lot of a poor school with very poor students as parents pulled up rolling on thousands of dollars worth of wheels. "That's where the money goes," I thought. I happen to know that some of these students don't have computers or even books at home. But their daddy has blingy wheels. Nice.

Check this out, folks: Rent-A-Wheel. You don't need credit. Just a job. Care to take a guess where they place these stores in the cities in which they franchise? Care to guess what the interest rates are? Am I blaming this company for something? Nope. Read my last entry about McDonald's. They're just filling a need brought on by a lack of good priorities in a part of our culture. We'd all be better off with fewer flashy rented rims and more books.

And we only have ourselves to blame.

Pound Another Big Mac Down Your Gullet

2005-11-02T11:23:00.000-06:00

Oh, you know you want to, and so does McDonald's. According to a report by the National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity:

It costs 8 cents more to purchase a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese, small French fries, and small Coke (890 calories) separately than to buy the Quarter Pounder with Cheese large Extra Value Meal, which comes with a large fries and large Coke (1,380 calories). "McDonald's actually charges customers more to buy a smaller, lower-calorie meal," Wootan said.

This is admittedly an odd case, but you can see through to the heart of the problem (clogged with fat, though it may be): Americans believe that more is better, and damn the consequences. McDonald's should not be blamed. If they didn't offer more calories for the dollar, the joint next door would. Quit asking for it and they'll stop giving it to you.

Life is not about consuming the most consumables for the cheapest price! How about quality, healthiness, diversity, and moderation?

If you're reading this you probably already agree. However, if you found this blog while searching for food to fill your never-ending hunger, head to the nearest McDonald's and pound another Big Mac down your gullet. The fat will leave a nice waxy coating over your nagging sense of needfulness.

Buying the Whole Hobby Kit

2005-10-23T12:18:00.000-05:00

Whatever happened to good old fashioned hobbies? I've got a new hobby myself - cycling. I remember when I used to cycle as a child. I found some old 10-speed, wrenched on it for awhile, and then rode it. The hobby consisted of riding the bike and occasionally fixing it. I was satisfied! What was missing?

Well, there weren't enough consumer moments. Luckily, this has been fixed. Today's budding cyclist must buy the whole kit. You're told right up front that if you "ever get serious" about this hobby, you'll want to "move up" with your equipment. Ah, there it is again.. The "move up". You're supposed to show how serious you are with your wallet.

The kit also contains the following indispensable items: (and don't think that these just count for cycling.. They can apply to scuba, running, hiking, scrapbooking, etc.)

Lots of specialized incidental equipment. This is made for (bikes, scuba, scrapbooking) only, so don't even THINK about adapting something cheaper for the purpose. For example, don't buy regular sunglasses when you could buy cycling sunglasses.
Magazine subscriptions. You'll have almost as much fun reading about your new hobby as you do doing it. Maybe more. Magazines also provide consumer opportunities on every page. EVERY SINGLE PAGE. Check out Bicycling Magazine sometime.
Clothing. Ok, for scuba I understand this. But must every other hobby have a uniform that you can buy right off the shelf at REI?
Websites - like I said, you're going to want to spend more time reading about your hobby than doing it, so start bookmarking. Besides, how else will you endlessly research the benefits of titanium shifter components for your bike, and compare prices?

Oh, I could rant on. Please, people. Get out there and do your hobbies. Have fun. Stop reading about them for a minute, stop buying accoutrements, and just ENJOY.

The first post

2005-10-20T11:58:00.000-05:00

So, what is this blog about? The title says it all. Anticonsumerism. For too long we have been trained, encouraged, and peer-pressured into being good little consumers. You got it from Saturday morning television as children. You get it as adults from even your closest friends and coworkers. Back then it was a brand of toy, now it's Corian countertops.

Let's say you buy a new Honda. You drive it to work and the first question you get is, "So you'll be looking to move up into an Acura in a couple years, right?" This actually happened to me. It's all about the move-up, right? If you're not upgrading the "crap" you had last year, you're not making progress as an American.

Well, I've had enough. I've got a lot more to say and I'll be publishing it shortly. My next article will be about hobbies. You remember hobbies? Well, wait until you see what they've become.