Mar 04 2008
Cutting Back?
By way of Unclutterer, another fascinating attempt by American media to buzz-ify what they don’t actually understand:
Consumers cut back on small pleasures.
The first thing the observant will notice is that the title says "pleasures"… but the URL says "luxuries". Two very different words, dontcha think?
And then the article goes on to talk about things like coffee, bottled water, snackbars, and fast food.
All it says to me, yet again, is that it’s gotten really, really surreal out there.
Since when is our economy based on Starbucks purchases? Since when is eating McDonald’s three times a week anything but a bizarre form of self-abuse? Here I was, expecting to see an article about stuff like long car trips, visits to the theater, and that sort of thing. But no. Americans are cutting back on bottled water. Oooooooooooh. All the way through this thing, all I could think was, "no wonder health care in America is so overburdened; we do nothing but try to kill ourselves".
I swear, sometimes, I wonder how the rest of the world stands us. People, you know, who *talk* to each other for entertainment, because that’s what they can afford. People who eat what they can get, because that’s what there is. People who actually stop everything to watch the sunset, because it’s beautiful. Come on, America: "Small cost item" and "small pleasure" are not synonyms.
Simple pleasures
YES! long walks, reading a book, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, soft rain on your face, childrens laughter, and so much more. and they don’t cost a thing.
what planet R U from with ideals like that?
ah…..so frustrating. maybe we could hope that in the “cutting back” people will discover the true small pleasures? sigh….life could be so much better for so many people if we just stopped believing what the tv told us…
It’s meant as a negative article, but I see lots of positives there: Aside from cutting back on things-that-are-bad-for-you-anyway, it also seems to make some folks get off the treadmill of consumption-at-any-price, bigger-better-more thinking. Just look at those quotes:
{
Small cuts can also have a big effect on the economy. If cutting back becomes a cultural mind-set, it can be very hard to turn around.
“The new status isn’t how much you’ve got, but your ability to show what you don’t spend,” says futurist Watts Wacker, who advises businesses on trends.
“This is a seminal moment. It’s not a fad that will die out when the economy picks up.”
Trends guru Faith Popcorn puts it this way: “It’s cooler not to spend.”
[...]
It’s not just leaner times, Richardson says. “I won’t go back to my old ways when the economy improves,” he says. “It’s hard for friends to understand, but I’m working on becoming more of a minimalist. It’s a relief to have less.”
}
You’d hope that attitude would indeed stick…
Remember when you went the beach to watch the sun set, and you found that you were there with many many other people? And as the sun finally dipped below the horizon, the crowd let out a cheer? It wasn’t the kind of bone-rattling cheer one would hear at a soccer game in Europe, which is awesome in it’s own way. This cheer was more quiet, and carried with it respect and gratitude…of another day on this beautiful planet, and another trip around the sun with everything that brings. Joy, Love, Boredom, Pain, Anguish - everything that lets us know that we are alive, even if not exactly well or even nearly perfect.
That article IS surreal. This is priceless: “If cutting back becomes a cultural mind-set, it can be very hard to turn around.” What’s next? Spending time with family? Talking to strangers? Telling people you love them? Pernicious madness, I tell you. Where will it all stop? “Very hard to turn around,” indeed!
My other favorite quote from the article is the sub-head, “Surviving on plain water.” This is news? Flash: “Vegetables are, in fact, edible.” Who knew?
Thanks for sharing your blog–and a slice of your life–with me, Laureen!