Modern consumption is way out of order, but I do believe that a major part of it is our stupid new habit of transporting stuff around the globe. If we made stuff locally instead, and only transported absolutely necessary stuff to somewhere else, and if we ate mostly regional food we could still live well. Fuel is too cheap, so things are made in one country, packaged in another, sold in a third - the stupidity of this doesn’t even register. Every time I go to my local store and check where the bottled water comes from I get depressed.
A lot of it is the result of what was sold as ‘globalization’ in the 80s by the likes of Reagan and Thatcher. Their neoliberalism paved the way for the shit we have now - production pushed into poor countries where nobody cares about the pollution and misery, while the leaders of the Western world can fly their private jets from climate meeting to climate meeting somewhere nice in the Swiss alps and keep their populations comfy with the spoils of the scam and busy with plenty of bullshit jobs.
I do believe it’s possible going hybrid and wean of the fuel a bit - I drive and travel less, grow my own food, replace machine work with animal work around my small farm and garden. My life quality has improved because it’s more quiet. I eat really well - there’s always some fresh veg, herb, meat, egg, mushroom, foraged stuff that is delicious and would cost a fortune in the shops. I’m still dependent from my bullshit job, because nothing is perfect and there’s a learning curve towards becoming a producer instead of a consumer. I still can’t do without a car because I live rural. But I went from being a heavy consumer of resources (ordering electronics and drone parts from China) to trying to live and consume locally as much as I can, and I would say I’m more content, more relaxed, less stressed. The worst stress of this year were my holidays, where I took a plane for the first time in years to see my family - didn’t feel good anymore. I might have to take the train or bus next time.
Modern consumption is way out of order, but I do believe that a major part of it is our stupid new habit of transporting stuff around the globe. If we made stuff locally instead, and only transported absolutely necessary stuff to somewhere else, and if we ate mostly regional food we could still live well. Fuel is too cheap, so things are made in one country, packaged in another, sold in a third - the stupidity of this doesn’t even register. Every time I go to my local store and check where the bottled water comes from I get depressed.
A lot of it is the result of what was sold as ‘globalization’ in the 80s by the likes of Reagan and Thatcher. Their neoliberalism paved the way for the shit we have now - production pushed into poor countries where nobody cares about the pollution and misery, while the leaders of the Western world can fly their private jets from climate meeting to climate meeting somewhere nice in the Swiss alps and keep their populations comfy with the spoils of the scam and busy with plenty of bullshit jobs.
I do believe it’s possible going hybrid and wean of the fuel a bit - I drive and travel less, grow my own food, replace machine work with animal work around my small farm and garden. My life quality has improved because it’s more quiet. I eat really well - there’s always some fresh veg, herb, meat, egg, mushroom, foraged stuff that is delicious and would cost a fortune in the shops. I’m still dependent from my bullshit job, because nothing is perfect and there’s a learning curve towards becoming a producer instead of a consumer. I still can’t do without a car because I live rural. But I went from being a heavy consumer of resources (ordering electronics and drone parts from China) to trying to live and consume locally as much as I can, and I would say I’m more content, more relaxed, less stressed. The worst stress of this year were my holidays, where I took a plane for the first time in years to see my family - didn’t feel good anymore. I might have to take the train or bus next time.