Consume me harder daddy

Is consumerism actually bad?

View this email in your browser Listen: thing 1 thing 2 thing infinity Estimated reading time: 3 minutes October topic: consumerism This week's module: 1. READ | 2. LISTEN | 3. ACT | 4. REFLECT Welcome back to Changeletter by Soapbox Project. I'm the author, Nivi Achanta, and I make it easy for you to fight climate change in 3 minutes every week.   What's up this week I think I'm putting out some sort of positive energy into the world because this week (and honestly month) has been AMAZING. We've been doing in-person hangs in a few locations with our Soapbox membership community and we finally did our first group volunteering event! (Miss you in the pic, Jason)   We painted an office room for Weld — they provide housing and job pathways for formerly incarcerated people in Seattle, reducing the recidivism (re-arrest) rate from the national average at 77% to less than 3% for their members.   If you're interested in these types of events but aren't yet ready to grab a spot in our community, I hope to see you in 2 weeks for our letter-writing to incarcerated people Action Hour! If we get 4 more RSVPs, we'll have written to 100 people in prisons, sending some brightness their way. No experience needed whatsoever.   Ok now for today's main content: we'll watch a video about the history of consumerism, since most of us know we're in a wack situation but not why we're in it.   Reply to this email and tell me what your biggest struggles are OR share your biggest wins with the stuff you buy (or don't buy). Huge props to Gabrielle who's gotten 3+ people in her life to completely rethink their relationship with online shopping!   From the Soapbox   Oct 13, 5pm PST | Soapbox Project Community Gathering, Spooktober edition (Members only)   Oct 27, 5pm PST | Letter-writing to incarcerated people, holiday cheer edition | Sign up by the end of TODAY so we can send you all the supplies you need. All you have to do is show up; we'll have half an hour of Q&A with Adelaida, a formerly incarcerated Soapbox member, followed by half an hour of letter-writing. You'll write 5 letters each, 5xing your impact! Save your spot here. Join our community to get all our weekly events for free, make new friends, find sustainable product discounts, look for jobs, and more.   Your bite-sized actions I went back and forth for over an hour deciding if this was the right vid to share with you. My absolute favorite on consumerism is The Story of Stuff, but I've shared it waaay too many times over the past year. Instead, we're going to watch a 10-min video on the history of consumerism because I had NO idea how we got here. Were we always this way? (Spoiler: no). Why is consumerism a thing now (get it, haha)? Is it all bad or can consumerism actually be good?  Key takeaways are below the video as always. History of Ideas - Consumerism So here's what's going on:   Economic growth didn't used to be a thing. Humans have been around for a while but global GDP didn't grow year-to-year ...between the beginning of time and 1800.   We had a consumer revolution. Starting in the early 18th century, economies began to expand, and middle-class families could now afford small luxuries, causing businesses to grow, wages to rise more, etc (and the cycle continues). This led to new industries popping up like furniture and more -- suddenly, Things were a big part of society.   An economist called Mandeville messed things up. (Oh, Man.) Basically, he said there was a choice as Things became more prevalent: countries could either be virtuous and poor, or consumeristic and rich. The only way, according to Mandeville, to generate wealth was through high demand for absurd/unnecessary things (12-inch wigs, anyone?). That money could then contribute to infrastructure like hospitals. Or else, have fun staying poor!   Maybe we do need consumerism, but it has to look different. Consumerism itself may not be inherently bad - buying stuff CAN help us finance the way we meet people's needs. Adam Smith (yes, that Adam Smith), asked: what if instead of purchasing useless things to stimulate the economy, we fulfilled our higher needs, buying things like books and investing in beautiful cities? Ok I gotta log off now and think deeply about my long-held view that Consumerism Is Bad. I'm curious to know what questions came up for you while watching this video — my head is buzzing. What's your idea of a better future? How can we change our definitions of being a consumer? Upcoming  With the holiday season coming up, I'm going to prepare you for low-waste gifting + everyday tips to make conscious consumption (/less consumption) a bigger part of your life. Hope to see you at our October letter-writing event! Copyright © 2021 Soapbox Project, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up for our free action plans via social media, Tech Ethics Coalition, a meeting with Nivi, or our website! Our mailing address is: Soapbox Project 415 Mission St. San Francisco, California 94105 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.