Twisted economic values
12 January 2004
In an essay I wrote last year, I quoted Ben Elton’s ‘This Other Eden’:
“Consumer confidence is actually considered a measure of a country’s relative economic strength… Consumption is synonymous with ‘growth’ and growth is good… Judged by the logic of world economics, the death of the planet will be the zenith of human achievement, because if consumption is always good, then to consume a whole planet must be the best thing of all” (Elton, 1993:125)
I was reminded of this when I read a story about a man who collected all the junk mail he received on the BBC News website today. The guy received 701 items through the year, coming to 70lb in weight. The story highlights how wasteful the direct marketing industry is, and one reason why I hate it.
Yet the guy goes on to concede that there are “benefits to society from junk mail with employment for postmen, printing workers and direct marketing employees.”. Argh!!! Is that why we work, so that we all have jobs? If something can be done better without anyone working, is that not surely better? It frees our time to do other things, to enjoy our lives, to educate ourselves, to have fun. Yet another underlying reason for my forthcoming dissertation.
Next: Interesting copyright law with tape recordings Previous: As I suspected - never trust unemployment figures
Other stuff...
- 2008-12-16: My yearbook company
- 2008-10-24: Benjamin Luke Flash Gordon
- 2006-05-08: AllYearbooks.co.uk Relaunches!
- 2006-04-11: Building Collapse!
- 2006-01-19: Estate Angels & Drupal
- 2005-09-10: Hard Drive Fried
- 2004-12-23: US Election Ohio Recount
- 2004-11-19: GlobalPublicMedia.com
- 2004-11-03: Peak Oil Dissertation
- 2004-07-15: Internet Explorer vs. Mozilla Firefox: Google Zeitgeist
- 2004-07-13: Fahrenheit 9/11 - good, but nothing new
- 2004-07-10: Fahrenheight 9/11
- 2004-07-03: Using the Disability Discriminatin Act (UK) to force companies to provide e-books
- 2004-06-20: Slashdotted
- 2004-06-08: Mr Jake BA
- 2004-06-05: JakeG Limited & Degree Results
- 2004-05-13: Yearbook Production
- 2004-05-01: [essays] Advantages & Disadvantages Of Home Ownership As The Dominant Form Of Housing Tenure
- 2004-05-01: [essays] Would the introduction of a basic income be a utopian reform or an administrative one?
- 2004-04-25: No Jobs & No Oil: the unsustainability of full employment and cheap energy
- 2004-04-01: [essays] No Jobs & No Oil: the unsustainability of full employment and cheap energy
- 2004-03-14: My Own Radio Station - For Free
- 2004-03-05: [essays] Traditional Marxist Theorists And Work
- 2004-02-24: New Blog!
- 2004-02-24: More on Peak Oil
- 2004-02-24: BBC License Fee Debate on Century FM
- 2004-02-23: P2P Internet TV
- 2004-02-18: More Bleak Predictions
- 2004-02-11: Jobless Figures
- 2004-02-05: Ski Photos Online
- 2004-01-27: Ski Champ!!!
- 2004-01-18: Interesting copyright law with tape recordings
- 2004-01-12: Twisted economic values
- 2004-01-11: As I suspected - never trust unemployment figures
- 2004-01-08: Sociology essay: Internet and freedom
- 2004-01-01: [essays] Habermas, the Internet and the Public Sphere
- 2003-12-19: Dissertation Plan
- 2003-12-07: Trampolining
- 2003-10-16: Sociology Essays
- 2003-10-12: Exploring Snowdonia
- 2003-10-10: Wireless Networking
- 2003-10-10: [essays] New Forms of Management Effectively Solve the Problems of the Organisation
- 2003-10-07: Disabling Education System
- 2003-09-19: Wealth Concentration & Technological Freedom
- 2003-09-09: [essays] Human Resistance To Technological Advancement
- 2003-08-31: Travel Photos
- 2003-08-27: Boy I'm glad to be back home
- 2003-08-24: The Real Mexico
- 2003-08-24: Socialism, The Cuban Way
- 2003-08-24: Marcela in Monterrey
- 2003-08-24: Cuban Brawl
- 2003-08-24: Cigar Smuggling
- 2003-08-24: Argh... Airport, Travel Agency... Argh!!!
- 2003-08-22: Cuban Prostitutes
- 2003-08-17: I do like to change my mind...
- 2003-08-16: Hammock Havan
- 2003-08-15: Capital Village and Belizean Quirkiness
- 2003-08-13: Robinson Crusoe
- 2003-08-11: Coke snorting policeman
- 2003-08-10: Dreams
- 2003-08-08: Are you okay? My name's Jake, I'm a rescue diver, may I help you?
- 2003-08-01: Industrial Action
- 2003-07-29: Honduras
- 2003-07-28: Almost Dead
- 2003-07-25: School's out for summer!!!
- 2003-07-21: Yo Hablo Espanol
- 2003-07-20: Twin Peaks
- 2003-07-16: Waterfalls And Even More Ruins
- 2003-07-16: Opa
- 2003-07-16: First Class' Chickens
- 2003-07-12: Jungle Ruins
- 2003-07-11: Pain In The Arse
- 2003-07-09: Guatemala and a Cunning Plan
- 2003-07-08: Hammock Haven
- 2003-07-07: [essays] The BBC Licence fee
- 2003-07-04: Travelling Budderinos
- 2003-07-03: Cuban Cigars and Beached Turtles
- 2003-07-01: Rambo
- 2003-06-29: Go West!
- 2003-06-27: Pyramid Funkiness
- 2003-06-26: Hola! Je suis en Mexico!!!
- 2003-06-24: Photos for all!
- 2003-06-24: MexiGo
- 2003-05-14: musicdonor.org
- 2003-05-01: [essays] Environmental movements 'greening' corporations and governments
- 2003-04-04: [essays] Male insecurities and uncertainties
- 2003-04-01: Mr Bump
- 2003-03-12: So maybe I will update
- 2003-03-11: Should I bother updating?
- 2003-03-03: [essays] Critical Analysis of Sullivan
- 2003-02-02: [essays] Is Marx's concept of alienation in conflict with his materialism?
- 2002-12-05: [essays] Sciological approach to contemporary British society
- 2002-06-06: [essays] Youth apathy
- 2002-05-05: [essays] Is Sociology a science?
- 2002-03-21: [essays] Capitalism and Consumption, exploitation and exclusion
- 2002-01-24: Derby Hall President Elections
- 2001-11-26: Travels 2001 Photo Album - Online!
- 2001-11-15: [essays] Television is bad
- 2001-11-11: [essays] Is Globalisation a Myth or a Fact?
- 2001-10-24: I'm still alive... and having fun!
- 2001-09-28: Uni Life
- 2001-09-20: [essays] The underclass
- 2001-07-15: Home Life
- 2001-07-15: Hi Guys, I'm Home!
- 2001-07-07: I Can Fly!
- 2001-06-24: Brisbane Photos... And I'm Back Home (kinda)
- 2001-06-22: The Reunion
- 2001-06-21: Aussie Photos Up
- 2001-06-20: Bungyyyyyyyyy...
- 2001-06-18: Mindless Stagger
- 2001-06-17: Freezing My Nuts Off
- 2001-06-12: A Browne Moon Rise on Fraser Island
- 2001-06-07: Learn To Fly
- 2001-06-03: Gagaju - Backpackers Retreat
- 2001-05-31: Another Change Of Plans!
- 2001-05-30: Back To South East Asia?!
- 2001-05-16: A Memento of Brisbane
- 2001-04-30: We All Live In A Yellow Submarine
- 2001-04-24: Perhenthian Islands Photos Up
- 2001-04-20: Aussie Life
- 2001-04-08: Mumma In Thailand
- 2001-04-06: Thai Boxing and Lady Boys
- 2001-04-05: Go Go Bars
- 2001-04-04: More India Photos Up - I'm In Bangkok
- 2001-04-02: Back In The Womb
- 2001-03-29: India Photos Up
- 2001-03-28: Noname
- 2001-03-27: Scuba Diving and Motorcycling on Koh Pha-Ngan
- 2001-03-25: Lady Bars
- 2001-03-24: Koh Samui
- 2001-03-24: All Washed Out
- 2001-03-22: Krabi
- 2001-03-22: Happy 5th Birthday To Me!
- 2001-03-20: Under The Sea
- 2001-03-20: The Wedding Invitation
- 2001-03-20: The Island
- 2001-03-20: Such A Fantastic Time
- 2001-03-12: Theme Park & KL Stuff
- 2001-03-12: Taman Negara National Park - arrival
- 2001-03-12: Camping, Jungle Style
- 2001-03-12: Alone Again
- 2001-03-12: A Cave, a Snake and a Leprechaun
- 2001-03-03: The Con-Job
- 2001-03-03: Kuala Lumpur
- 2001-02-26: Malaysia
- 2001-02-23: Night Safari, The Beach & Underwater World
- 2001-02-22: Time Travel
- 2001-02-22: Planes, Trains & Automobiles
- 2001-02-19: Indian Work: Child labour, wage and baksheesh
- 2001-02-15: Books and Weird Shit
- 2001-02-14: To Spew Or Not To Spew
- 2001-02-12: Imprisoned for 42 hours!
- 2001-02-09: Museums, forts, palaces and temples
- 2001-02-05: Horn Please
- 2001-02-03: A Week In... Kashmir!
- 2001-01-28: I'm In India!
- 2001-01-27: Plane in just over 4 hours!
- 2001-01-23: Only a few days to go
- 2001-01-06: Posse Page
- 2001-01-05: Travel Plans