I enjoyed the segment, "A day in your life." It spoke to the disconnection between us (the consumers) and them (the corporate megamachine), and that because we are so estranged, the externalities that these companies produce largely go unseen and are below our collective radars. Americans will eat a Big Mac, and think of what they think are "American Values" and a certain comforting feeling will sweep over the consumer. It is almost as if corporations are copyrighting our most innate, visceral emotions (such as childhood comfort) and capitalizing off of them at our expense. Something that has really stuck with me from this class is that the stories, the feelings, the way we think , is no longer shaped by friends and close kin; rather, it is produced by the images we watch 5 hours a day on television, told through billboards that make us feel self conscious, and in turn, products like Coke and McDonalds bring about a certain "good" feeling. We are too zombified and desensitized from thinking abstractly about the environmental, social, and health implications that supporting these Multi-National Corporations' goods. Furthermore, the prevailing message being fed is to stop thinking about that stuff. The cultural opinion (shaped by MNCs) is that it is passe to talk about the way that these companies treat their workers, or the environmental destruction that they cause. In fact, it seems the most healthy working fixture in our economic model is a gluttonous, televsion-addicted zombie who puts all of his/her faith in material goods. The system is just pure evil.

I also found the segment discussing the differences between neo-classical economics and ecological economics provocative. It seems to me that these number-crunching economists are too far into their own worlds (where everything is numbers and growth is the only measure of global health) to be taken seriously at all. Since when is life all about numbers and dollars? Do these economists ever step outside of their office? Do they ever walk around cities and think, "hey I wish there were more green areas, that would make me happy." Or, are their jobs so specialized that they are taught not to think of anything besides growth and dollars. Ecological economics needs to move further into our policies. We need to assign value to shared public needs such as amounts of green space, or a healthy living, ecological world. I think anyone who is well-educated and is being intellectually true to themselves, wouldn't argue against ecological economics, because it starts with the place that we live, and from there assigns real values to real things that people really care about.

Page 95: "For an enormous number of poeple, the idea that they should set limits on themselves i unthinkable: 'Why should I cut back? This is my paycheck, this is my life."

This line struck a chord in me. It is so true that this a prevailing cultural attitude of Americans. Me, Me, Me. The land of the free and home of the brave. Drill, baby, drill. More more more!

This attitude is disgusting. It makes me ashamed to be a part of this country. It is the worst kind of ignorance: selfish ignorance. People are always quick to talk about their rights and freedoms as AMERICANS, but what about your duty or your civic responsibilities? We are playing into this terribly backwards system by letting massive consumer culture be our mantra. People need to start finding themselves. It is all too often that people ignore their concerns and conform to the norm. "Oh, who cares about your environmentalism, dude. Just shut up. The game is on."


I liked his portion about the roots of Culture jamming. I found the part when he sits and is forced to meditate for days with a Zen master really interesting. It is in these moments of hardship, when you have to test you will against the world, that realizations start to flow. America today is torturously comfortable. Things come too easy to us privileged folks. Unhappiness is rampant, but quick and easy "fixes" are right around the corner. "Oh, I'm feeling down today, let me remedy that with a McCafe double latte and have some "me" time" Breaking the easy routine, for me, was my first of many epiphanies that lead me on the path that I am on. Stepping outside of my comfort zone and going on long wilderness trips caused me to experience a different life, one devoid of quick fixes and easy-way-outs. I had to face my adversity and think deeply about how my life has come to be. This is why I am a strong advocate of outdoor education and its myriad benefits on the human soul, particularly the American soul which has been taken from us and resold as comfortable fixes.

I liked Lasn's ideas of altering the memes that pervade society. It is within the memes that people think that its okay to consume mindlessly and to continually take without reciprocating. These memes are terrifyingly destructive and must be changed. Memes stigmatize outlyers of consumer culture such as, "environmentalists are hippy tree-huggers," and feminists are "crazy stuck up bitches." It all needs to change. I think Lasn is right when he says that "cool" needs to become enmeshed with passion, truth, and intelligence, rather than apathy, ignorance, and consumption.

My question to Mr. Lasn would be: How can we gain more power and get the word out to more people, to actually create changes in memes? He outlines what he has tried to do, but it seems as if many of his attempts have been futile. If this is so strongly believed, why can't we begin convincing more people of it? Is it too hard to get through the media airwaves or too complex or are people simply not hearing it?