A Capitalist Apocalypse

I loathe adverts, distrust globalization and believe consumerism corrupts the mind. I go kicking and screaming when I have to enter a Walmart and sit restlessly watching a Pepsi or Coke commercial before a movie starts. Intrusive advertisting permeates our culture, our economy and our egocentric philosophical system. From communication mediums to transportation hubs like roadways, buses and now even airplane tray tables, I know I'm sounding like Karl Marx here but desire and abundance in this country is out of control!

On Sunday evening this viewpoint was re-enforced when 60 Minutes reran a story that originally aired in November, 2005. At that time, I was aboard the M/V Explorer shooting a documentary with several hundred students. We had just left a one room, thatched-roofed mud hut occupied by India's lowest class, The Untouchables or Dalits. They were remembered fondly as I sat in disgust watching the Joneses of America spend upwards of 2, 3, and 4 million dollars on bigger homes. Here's a condensed excerpt from the piece:

"It’s not just their fancy vacations and designer clothes, their swimming pools and their growling SUV’s. It’s the house. The size of the average new house in this country has grown almost 50 percent in the last 30 years, while the average family has shrunk. As reported last fall, houses are growing from sea to shining sea, like some alien weed. Across the country, thousands of perfectly sound and cozy houses are being torn down. The empty lots then get filled up with huge houses. "I just don't know why people need that much space because it's not as though everybody has a lot of children. Coming in here are two people". The Joneses are everywhere, in old communities and new developments, building Galacticas or McMansions and starter castles." more...