The Link Between Consumerism and Fascism


D. VanThournout --

American's perceived needs often get translated into dictatorial American foreign policies that favor corporatism and the cheap goods the wage slaves of the world make for the benefit of the worlds wealthiest citizens. Corporatists favor dictatorships because it is beneficial to the bottom line to have a captive and low paid workforce with which to guarantee profits.

It could therefore be argued that our consumerist society is what is destroying the planet. It drives us to the mall in droves and we depend upon oil for that. This Christmas season I will be giving only the gift of my activism. I will not only buy nothing on buy nothing day, I will buy nothing for my family and friends this entire holiday season. Instead I will be giving things I've made and plants I've grown as gifts.

Our level of consumption drives the worlds production of cheap plastic crap that has little or no value but which guarantees the production of tons of useless garbage. At every stage oil is necessary. Production, transportation, etc. Packaging of the product requires either, you guessed it, Oil! or paper which of course requires deforestation. Deforestation and destruction of the environment forces more aggressive governmental policies regarding the acquisition of natural resources. This results in long bloody conflicts such as the one occurring between the Russians and Chechnya and in general the suppression or elimination of indigenous peoples and their sacred lands and the protection they provide it.

The general public fails to understand that these are the results of our own demands for cheap gas and cheap goods we need to convince ourselves we're really living the American dream. The American dream which more and more is propped in place by a third world nightmare.

Because of greed and corruption the corporations which put on such a pretty face for Americans, economically strong arm the worlds workers into low wage jobs making junk for Americans instead of protecting their lands and their cultural heritage for future generations (stealing). Some of us even paternally and selfishly will suggest that they benefit from the "progress" even if we do have to force democracy upon them at the point of a bayonet.

American consumerism is destroying our environment. American consumerism has been a boon to fascism in the world. American consumerism feeds violence. American consumerism enslaves the world to the will of corporations. They will comodify everything that is sacred. This earth will end up a vending machine floating around the sun if we continue on this corporatist's path.

Fascism is coming home to roost in the administration of George W. Bush. With his policies Americans are finally about to see the whip that we've  been flogging the rest of the world with for the last hundred years.

Our dependence upon oil for virtually everything is what our problem is. It guarantees a world at war for the next fifty years and a depression for everyone in America unless we get off this world killing addiction now! Give the earth a break!

Lets start with buy nothing day!

D. VanThournout

Contact the author at DVanThournout@thedeprogrammer.com

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