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Curious commodities
“Modern man is so surrounded by nothing but impersonal, lifeless objects that he becomes more and more obliged to accept the idea that he is living in an anti-individualistic social order.” - Georg Simmel
Credit card. If you want to rent a car in the United States, you need a credit card. You may have bundles of cash but credit card is required. Your ATM debit card may be loaded with a large amount of money, but your request for a car service would still be refused. Credit is indeed king. Companies are less interested in the available cash in the card. They are more concerned about your credit history. If you have established consistency in paying your credit, you will be able to purchase more commodities. A good customer is a person with a large credit. Kapag mas malaki ang utang mo, mas marami kang mabibili. A successful individual is someone with multiple credit cards.
Credit cards are efficient identification cards of the 21st century. Suspects can be located through their cards. Individuals can be questioned by the police if they purchase controversial commodities. Companies can determine the personalities, preferences, and shopping habits of their customers through credit cards. Eduardo Galeano puts it best: I owe therefore I am.
Credit cards are magic keys which make it possible for both rich and poor consumers to buy expensive things. Cards are used to buy cars, plane tickets, home accessories, and almost every available commodity in the so-called developed world. Online and phone shopping can be done only through the use of credit cards. Virtual money for virtual shopping.
Hindi pwedeng kuripot kapag gagamit ng credit card. Many victims of identity theft are those who do not use their cards often. To protect their identities, individuals have to swipe their cards in superstores as frequently as possible. Cardholders are obliged to buy, consume, and unleash their materialistic appetite or else….
Garbage bag. In the past we burn or bury our trash. There was also a time when we just throw our leftovers in the rivers or seas. The tides will sweep it away anyway. Waste disposal has not changed: our trash are still buried, burned and even discharged in the seas. But the process of hiding our garbage has become a little complex. Others do the odious task of handling our junk. We are outsourcing the difficult and unwanted responsibility of burying our garbage. Our participation is limited to the dumping of trash bags in garbage containers and trucks.
Because everything ends up as trash, garbage bags (some call it kitchen bags) have become a necessary item in the modern world. It is a curious reminder that every human being on the planet produces waste which we cannot properly handle. It signifies the overproduction of redundant commodities. We produce disposables, not goods. It shows that waste is the main product of the modern economic system. Others have argued that globalization’s legacy is the establishment of throw-away societies.
Trash bags are popular but underrated commodities. Everybody needs them but nobody wants to keep them. Their purpose is to be discharged as quickly as possible. They are hastily delivered to waiting dump trucks since they contain our dark, smelly, and everyday secrets. We are what we throw; and we don’t want others to look inside our garbage. Unfortunately for us, garbology is an established academic discipline.
Modern trash bags are funny. Some of them are advertised as powerful bags with an odor shield which could neutralize smell. Some are even scented. (We use vanilla-scented trash bags). Who will smell these bags anyway? The garbage men? Scavengers in the dumpsites? We deceive ourselves by believing that producing trash which does not smell is possible. Garbage without garbage. Waste without odor. Life without risks. Politics without politics….
Then there are the green bags for those who are proud of their politically-correct lifestyles. They segregate their trash; they recycle and reuse (but they don’t reduce since they always buy green things). Unfortunately, when garbage bins are collected, the green bags will be mixed with non-greens. At dumpsites, the greens will finally lose their privileged status. And it will be revealed that the so-called green bags are manufactured not to save the fragile ecosystem but to assure the earth-loving and guilt stricken consumers that producing waste can also become an environmental activity.
Recession suit. Wanna buy a suit? An Italian clothier is selling suits with a price tag of $43,000. That’s right, $43,000 (Forty-three thousand dollars). Convert it into pesos. Surprised? Here’s more surprise: The clothing company sold 30 suits last January. What is so special with these expensive suits? According to the clothier, the suits are made from rare fibers such as vicuna, pashmina and Qiviuk.
Is there really a recession in the United States? Probably the "elite of the elite" who bought the suits were not victims of Wall Street-Madoff ponzi scheme. But even if they have the money to spend on luxurious items, is it wise to spend $43,000 for a suit?
When progressives lambast individuals for buying things we don’t need in life, they refer in general to the rise of consumerism in society. But in this case, progressives need to be more specific and literal in their criticism. No one needs $43,000 suits. That amount of money is already more than the annual income of a minimum wage earner in recession-hit America.
Economists are criticizing the undeserving poor for buying houses which they couldn’t afford to pay. These subprime loans became so huge which led to the collapse of the housing industry in the country. But at least the poor bought something which they really need in life. A house is a basic necessity. Who is the more unreasonable human being: The poor worker who bought a modestly priced house for his/her family or a (filthy) rich banker who bought a $43,000 suit for himself?
Still surprised why America’s economy is declining?
News report about the infamous “recession suit” can be read here.
Credit card. If you want to rent a car in the United States, you need a credit card. You may have bundles of cash but credit card is required. Your ATM debit card may be loaded with a large amount of money, but your request for a car service would still be refused. Credit is indeed king. Companies are less interested in the available cash in the card. They are more concerned about your credit history. If you have established consistency in paying your credit, you will be able to purchase more commodities. A good customer is a person with a large credit. Kapag mas malaki ang utang mo, mas marami kang mabibili. A successful individual is someone with multiple credit cards.
Credit cards are efficient identification cards of the 21st century. Suspects can be located through their cards. Individuals can be questioned by the police if they purchase controversial commodities. Companies can determine the personalities, preferences, and shopping habits of their customers through credit cards. Eduardo Galeano puts it best: I owe therefore I am.
Credit cards are magic keys which make it possible for both rich and poor consumers to buy expensive things. Cards are used to buy cars, plane tickets, home accessories, and almost every available commodity in the so-called developed world. Online and phone shopping can be done only through the use of credit cards. Virtual money for virtual shopping.
Hindi pwedeng kuripot kapag gagamit ng credit card. Many victims of identity theft are those who do not use their cards often. To protect their identities, individuals have to swipe their cards in superstores as frequently as possible. Cardholders are obliged to buy, consume, and unleash their materialistic appetite or else….
Garbage bag. In the past we burn or bury our trash. There was also a time when we just throw our leftovers in the rivers or seas. The tides will sweep it away anyway. Waste disposal has not changed: our trash are still buried, burned and even discharged in the seas. But the process of hiding our garbage has become a little complex. Others do the odious task of handling our junk. We are outsourcing the difficult and unwanted responsibility of burying our garbage. Our participation is limited to the dumping of trash bags in garbage containers and trucks.
Because everything ends up as trash, garbage bags (some call it kitchen bags) have become a necessary item in the modern world. It is a curious reminder that every human being on the planet produces waste which we cannot properly handle. It signifies the overproduction of redundant commodities. We produce disposables, not goods. It shows that waste is the main product of the modern economic system. Others have argued that globalization’s legacy is the establishment of throw-away societies.
Trash bags are popular but underrated commodities. Everybody needs them but nobody wants to keep them. Their purpose is to be discharged as quickly as possible. They are hastily delivered to waiting dump trucks since they contain our dark, smelly, and everyday secrets. We are what we throw; and we don’t want others to look inside our garbage. Unfortunately for us, garbology is an established academic discipline.
Modern trash bags are funny. Some of them are advertised as powerful bags with an odor shield which could neutralize smell. Some are even scented. (We use vanilla-scented trash bags). Who will smell these bags anyway? The garbage men? Scavengers in the dumpsites? We deceive ourselves by believing that producing trash which does not smell is possible. Garbage without garbage. Waste without odor. Life without risks. Politics without politics….
Then there are the green bags for those who are proud of their politically-correct lifestyles. They segregate their trash; they recycle and reuse (but they don’t reduce since they always buy green things). Unfortunately, when garbage bins are collected, the green bags will be mixed with non-greens. At dumpsites, the greens will finally lose their privileged status. And it will be revealed that the so-called green bags are manufactured not to save the fragile ecosystem but to assure the earth-loving and guilt stricken consumers that producing waste can also become an environmental activity.
Recession suit. Wanna buy a suit? An Italian clothier is selling suits with a price tag of $43,000. That’s right, $43,000 (Forty-three thousand dollars). Convert it into pesos. Surprised? Here’s more surprise: The clothing company sold 30 suits last January. What is so special with these expensive suits? According to the clothier, the suits are made from rare fibers such as vicuna, pashmina and Qiviuk.
Is there really a recession in the United States? Probably the "elite of the elite" who bought the suits were not victims of Wall Street-Madoff ponzi scheme. But even if they have the money to spend on luxurious items, is it wise to spend $43,000 for a suit?
When progressives lambast individuals for buying things we don’t need in life, they refer in general to the rise of consumerism in society. But in this case, progressives need to be more specific and literal in their criticism. No one needs $43,000 suits. That amount of money is already more than the annual income of a minimum wage earner in recession-hit America.
Economists are criticizing the undeserving poor for buying houses which they couldn’t afford to pay. These subprime loans became so huge which led to the collapse of the housing industry in the country. But at least the poor bought something which they really need in life. A house is a basic necessity. Who is the more unreasonable human being: The poor worker who bought a modestly priced house for his/her family or a (filthy) rich banker who bought a $43,000 suit for himself?
Still surprised why America’s economy is declining?
News report about the infamous “recession suit” can be read here.
posted by: mongpalatino at March 08, 2009 09:29 |
link | comments |
economy
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