FarmerChick
Super Self-Sufficient
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yea I would be the dirt farmer with the poorest soil and a 1/2 dead plow horse and 15 kids to feed. I hear ya!!!!!
The Gospel of Consumption
- Thread starter homestead jenna
- Start date
yea I would be the dirt farmer with the poorest soil and a 1/2 dead plow horse and 15 kids to feed. I hear ya!!!!!
me&thegals
A Major Squash & Pumpkin Lover
Lots of great points. I think freemotion has an excellent one. Do we really need to live at one end of the spectrum or the other? I feel a great joy in finding more and more things to give up (or trade) for more and more self sufficiency. But, I'm still pretty far away from complete SS. Oh well. I'm making way less of a negative impact on the planet than 10 years ago!
If Americans and other world inhabitants who overuse would be willing just to cut out some of it, it could have a huge impact.
I struggle with the whole "If you don't buy, we will lose jobs" thing. Seems pathetic to have an economy based on buying quite a bit of useless junk. I would be excited to see a lot of manufacturing jobs shifted to green manufacturing--like solar and wind farms, biking and pedestrian paths, self-contained villages in which you could do everything on foot or bike, etc. Just because we are losing jobs in some areas (and please don't think I take it lightly for those losing jobs) does not mean we can't create new ones in other areas. Easier said than done, I know.
If Americans and other world inhabitants who overuse would be willing just to cut out some of it, it could have a huge impact.
I struggle with the whole "If you don't buy, we will lose jobs" thing. Seems pathetic to have an economy based on buying quite a bit of useless junk. I would be excited to see a lot of manufacturing jobs shifted to green manufacturing--like solar and wind farms, biking and pedestrian paths, self-contained villages in which you could do everything on foot or bike, etc. Just because we are losing jobs in some areas (and please don't think I take it lightly for those losing jobs) does not mean we can't create new ones in other areas. Easier said than done, I know.
freemotion
Food Guru
Yup. It is about supply and demand. People are demanding junk, businesses are supplying it. In a poor economy, people give up some of the junk, and manufacturers have to cut back.
If more people started buying ss supplies and good things, there would be more jobs created in those industries. Remember what the baking aisle in the grocery store looked like a couple decades ago or more? It was the whole aisle. Now it is a tiny section with flour and sugar, the rest is boxed mixes and other junk.
Even Whole Foods Market has cut way back on their whole foods. Not enough people are buying it. No demand. That's why I am looking online now for what I need, and have to deal with shipping costs and buying in bulk.
But even a couple centuries ago, not everyone lived a ss life. Some people were farmers, some bankers, some blacksmiths, etc and many people purchased their daily needs to some extent.
So total ss is not my personal goal, but it is a good back-up plan to have some knowledge of how to survive in an extended crisis situation. And some preparation for tight times.
If more people started buying ss supplies and good things, there would be more jobs created in those industries. Remember what the baking aisle in the grocery store looked like a couple decades ago or more? It was the whole aisle. Now it is a tiny section with flour and sugar, the rest is boxed mixes and other junk.
Even Whole Foods Market has cut way back on their whole foods. Not enough people are buying it. No demand. That's why I am looking online now for what I need, and have to deal with shipping costs and buying in bulk.
But even a couple centuries ago, not everyone lived a ss life. Some people were farmers, some bankers, some blacksmiths, etc and many people purchased their daily needs to some extent.
So total ss is not my personal goal, but it is a good back-up plan to have some knowledge of how to survive in an extended crisis situation. And some preparation for tight times.
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homestead jenna
Lovin' The Homestead
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That's exactly true.freemotion said:
They want to be able to just make their appointments directly on-line into your appointment scheduler...which I will never have because I want to talk to the person seeking my massage services in order to hopefully weed out the ones who want those "extra" services that I don't offer. *ahem*
freemotion
Food Guru
Another LMT??? Cool! AND I need to control my schedule as to who comes in on a particular day from among my regulars.....I cannot work on my four clients needing the deepest work all in a row on one day!
me&thegals
A Major Squash & Pumpkin Lover
No way!! I thought that was just in awful movies!homestead jenna said:
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
Nope. Its a reality....maybe because some poor schlepp saw it in a movie, who knows? I've even been propositioned by one of the doctors who worked with me. Extremely good-looking, single doctor....why in the world would he need to buy something like that? Its demeaning and a slap in the face of our profession. They need to crack down on the ones who cheapen and sell flesh under the guise massage therapy. 
freemotion
Food Guru
I guess this still fits the "gospel of consumption" subject! 
Just check out the yellow page ads, especially in a city phone book, under massage. You will see ads that are obviously prostitution....where is vice? How come it is so obvious to me (and all the johns) and they are able to get that ad into the phone book?
In CT, we battled the yellow pages people hard, saying that since massage is licensed in CT, then they need to not run the girls,girls,girls,alwayshiring ads alongside LMT ads. They said they are not in the business of policing the massage industry. We did a letter-writing campaign. I was the only one of hundreds to get a reply, and it was to an e-mail, and I figure it was because I forgot my dh's name was attached to it when I sent it. So they only responded because they thought I was a guy.
I asked whoever to imagine their mother, sister, wife, daughter working alone in her office when the new client comes in, expecting a prostitute, do want to put your loved one into this dangerous situation for a few commission dollars in your pocket? That is when I got the "we don't police licensing" bs.
When I started out, I never booked a male client that was not directly referred by another client (I have never had to advertise) and I always booked another client right afterwards and told them something like, we'd better get started because I have someone coming in at 7 sharp. Or let's get started right away on your massage, because my husband is meeting me for supper right after. And a picture of his big-shouldered black-man-ness right on the shelf next to my massage table. OK, he looks like a big brown teddybear, but it worked. A couple of times I felt the guy had the wrong intention when he came in, but the message was clear, he got an extra deep massage with more than necessary elbows on GB21 (you LMT's know what I am talking about!) and they never came back!!!
Tee-hee!!!
eta: The law has since changed in CT and they cannot legally use the word massage unless there is a license involved. MA just got licensing laws in place, and they are more about getting another source of revenue for the state rather than protecting either the LMT's or the public. Sheesh.
Just check out the yellow page ads, especially in a city phone book, under massage. You will see ads that are obviously prostitution....where is vice? How come it is so obvious to me (and all the johns) and they are able to get that ad into the phone book?
In CT, we battled the yellow pages people hard, saying that since massage is licensed in CT, then they need to not run the girls,girls,girls,alwayshiring ads alongside LMT ads. They said they are not in the business of policing the massage industry. We did a letter-writing campaign. I was the only one of hundreds to get a reply, and it was to an e-mail, and I figure it was because I forgot my dh's name was attached to it when I sent it. So they only responded because they thought I was a guy.
I asked whoever to imagine their mother, sister, wife, daughter working alone in her office when the new client comes in, expecting a prostitute, do want to put your loved one into this dangerous situation for a few commission dollars in your pocket? That is when I got the "we don't police licensing" bs.
When I started out, I never booked a male client that was not directly referred by another client (I have never had to advertise) and I always booked another client right afterwards and told them something like, we'd better get started because I have someone coming in at 7 sharp. Or let's get started right away on your massage, because my husband is meeting me for supper right after. And a picture of his big-shouldered black-man-ness right on the shelf next to my massage table. OK, he looks like a big brown teddybear, but it worked. A couple of times I felt the guy had the wrong intention when he came in, but the message was clear, he got an extra deep massage with more than necessary elbows on GB21 (you LMT's know what I am talking about!) and they never came back!!!
Tee-hee!!!
eta: The law has since changed in CT and they cannot legally use the word massage unless there is a license involved. MA just got licensing laws in place, and they are more about getting another source of revenue for the state rather than protecting either the LMT's or the public. Sheesh.
curly_kate
Almost Self-Reliant
This is a good point. Obviously, there are still people who do these things, but our economy has gotten so out of whack that tons of people don't really do anything 'productive' at their jobs. They sit at a computer and punch numbers in, they answer the phone, they sit in meetings, etc. It's something that has been gnawing at me lately. What will happen to all those people if the economy really collapses and they have to really take care of themselves. Whoever mentioned before about convenience having a cost is totally right. There are many people who have handicapped themselves by not learning useful skills. It's scary how many people I know who think 'making dinner' is taking a frozen dinner out of the freezer.freemotion said:
While I was speaking nostalgically about the 'olden days,' I would definitely not want to go back to them. Hot showers and modern dentistry are 2 things I don't think I'd want to part with! But I do think that people have lost focus on what's really important. AND the satisfaction you can get from doing things yourself! THAT is a definite motivation for me!
