The consumer society

The series of posts I am planning to write in the next coming days are mostly inspired in one of the RSA videos called "Enlightened Enterprise", which I have posted before, but I did not make any comments on it.

Matthew Taylor talks in this video of an existent social aspiration gap. So what is this gap about?

If I have understood well,

it refers to a gap between our today's aspirations and the means we use to acquire them, and our tomorrow's aspirations. Apparently, we cannot foresee the future and most of the time we acquire the things we need or want without taking into account the long-term side effects of employing such means.

Perhaps, a very lame example is like going clubbing on a Sunday night with nothing else than your credit card, yeah!! party is good, isn't it?. But wait ... you forgot that you had an important meeting next morning ... so now you are not only indebted and with a terrible hungover, but you have no energy left to do well in that meeting.

(Sorry guys,please refer to recent Mathew's post for a clearer explanation of what this gap is about [link].)

Anyhow, one of Matthew's more concrete examples is: the trade-off point between economic growth and environmental sustainability. He is trying to encourage businesses to become "enlightenment enterprises", which he defines as:

"a business which uses their relationships with customers and wider society to help us live better lives in a better World"

Why do businesses need to help us? According to Matthew Taylor, because:

"In many circumstances human beings are not very good at assessing their own abilities, at predicting their future, knowing what will make them happy ... "

and because:

"Businesses don’t simply respond to demand, they shape it. This can have significant impacts on individual and collective well-being. So companies – whether they like it or not – find themselves becoming more accountable for the way their behaviour impacts upon our behaviour."

The main issue here is that, through my own lenses again ..., as Oren R. Lyons said, our society has become a consumer society [video]:

"Coorporations are the driving force of decision making today, and coorporations are not concern with human rights, they are not concern with human life, they are not eve concern with the proper ways for the people that are working for them ... so what kind of decisions are going to be made on our behalf by these economic power? ... becuase this has become a consumer society, it is driven by economics, it is not driven by common sense, ... "

In simpler words ...

"As Professor Tim Jackson has put it ‘we buy things we don't need with money we haven’t got to make impressions that don’t last on people we don’t care about’." [ Enlighten enterprise, Reality Check]

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So basically, we are like Hansel and Gretel in the famous fairy tale, we live our lives lured by the wicket witch's delicious ginger-bread house. At this point in our own fairy tale, we still are eating those deliciousness, which are preventing us of making fair judgements of what we really need and foresee tomorrow's consequences.

Fortunately in our story, there are some clever people that can see beyond the sweetness and are appealing to the wicked witch to do not give us delicious sweets and do not eat us, but instead feed us with the right stuff, so that we can keep our fairy tale alive: the house, the children and the wicked witch herself.

Would the wicked witch become compassionate? Or would we be able to stop eating and see?

Ideas and actions for a 21st century enlightenment

I used to dislike economics (and politics), so I tried to keep myself out of such topics ... perhaps this kind of attitude has pushed us to the limits ... anyway is not late for change (not yet hopefully).

One of the persons who has put my eyes on economics is Matthew Taylor. People like him have inspired me and have given me the motivation to believe and to care, so I blog. Although my contribution is almost meaningless, I always think that the least I can do for now is to spread the word ...

As probably you have realized already, in many of my posts I make reference to some RSA videos. The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) is:

"an enlightenment organisation committed to finding innovative practical solutions to today’s social challenges",

and Matthew Taylor is their current Chief Executive. They welcome people to participate and collaborate with them in the looking for changes. If you read me, I would highly recommend you visit the RSA website and of course Matthew Taylor's blog ... how did I came across their website? I do not remember exactly, but for sure it was through one of their very creative videos :).

I am thinking of joining the fellowship ...

The round-tripped math: In pro of Personal Sustainability Practices (PSP)

Some time ago when researching how empathy and good leadership are linked, I came across an interview to Adam Werbach (Global CEO of Saatchi and Saatchi) about Sustainability Strategies for Business [video].

Sustainability, according to Adam Werbanch, is a way to meet the needs of current generations without scarifying the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In other words, being sustainable is to try to save today's resources, not exhaust them, so that your children would have a way to survive in this World tomorrow.

Furthermore, he talks of Personal Sustainability Practices (PSP) among corporation's employees, which are simple ways to bring sustainability into our every-day lives, they are simple things we can do that are good for us, good for the Planet and for our community, simple things such as riding a bike instead of using your automobile or an organic meal once in a while :).

By then, I thought (wrongly) how can we understand Sustainability and care of our Planet, when we have not yet fully understood the importance of manage our emotional life and taking care of others. Soon, I realized that all these should be understood altogether, or perhaps, before trying to understand our emotions and others, we first need to guarantee, simply, that we can live ...

So going back to the basics, what we need to live? Sun, water and clean air. For those, who have forgotten, including me, it is an obvious rounded trip, as the elder native American Floyd Red Crow Westerman has put it:

"Over 95% of our bodies is water ... our DNA is made from the same DNA as the tree, the tree breaths what we exhale, when the tree exhales, we need what the tree exhales, so we have a common destiny with the tree ..." [video]


Image taken form [link]


Yes, indeed a common destiny we have. Incredibility, I knew this long time ago, but there were his words which struck directly into my heart and made me realized that most of the time I take our Planet for granted. Despite the equation is very simple and that we, all, have learned it since we were at elementary school, it seems that most of us have forgotten it.

Some one recently told me why to worry and distress for things we cannot change? ... such kind of thinking makes me sometimes disappointed, and some others angry, and some others loose faith:( ... but, but ... lucky me, there is always some light coming on my way :), and it happens that I hear or read of people trying to make a change for a better World to live in. Then, I believe again, I believe that change is possible. So ... to make those extraordinary people's endeavors worthier, I have decided to care more, why not today do some PSP?

[An Escape of Emotion] Diamantine

Aug 6th, 2010, Nomi shi, Ishikawa.

To: Mr. Random

Have you ever seen the beauty of the sky when dresses stars, adorned by a silvery crescent moon?

Tonight, I felt blessed, lucky and thankful at the same time. It was like being under a fake starry cover, like being in a movie scenario, or inside a fairy tale.

For moments darkness frightened me, but as soon as I turned up my head to the sky I forgot my fear; even the tree shadows, before ghastly, gave to the beautiful scenario a special touch, paint-like touch, just like if someone placed them purposely right down the beautiful diamantine cover.

I love my life and I thank God for giving me the opportunity today of remembering, and appreciating the beauty of the night. The night, which has been right there, always, any time, every where, and many of us have forgotten.

Random … you have to see a starry sky … what its beauty can make you feel will astonish you :)

-ec


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The closest photo I found on the net [here] :