The Story of Stuff and Life Inc
A person could twitter away their life watching entertaining and even possibly educational youtube clips. Then the next day you have all of the recall of watching an evening of television. Someone may even ask you … “Hey, what did you watch last night?” You get a far away look in your eye… mutter something profound like “ummm” for a few seconds as you furrow your brow and then finally admit, “I don’t remember.”
Well I watched a clip 7 months ago that I can’t stop thinking about… called “The Story of Stuff” or http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html
Then last night as I was looking at a book on Amazon titled - (Scroll down and watch the video interview with the author–it’s fantastic) The story of what happened after he was mugged and how we got there as a society is so telling. It’s also intersting tome how these two pieces speak to a singular core issue. If I said more it would be a spoiler.
Life Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back http://www.amazon.com/Life-Inc-World-Became-Corporation/dp/1400066891
I know these are going to be hard to watch at work…but they are worthwhile for home and family viewing. I know we are gong to watch them as a family and discuss what they imply. I invite you to do the same.
Kirk Out
June 18th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Kirk,
the story of stuff was highly interesting and after I posted about it, a commenter came along and let me know that there is a lot of baloney mixed in the story of stuff. Not sure that I am in the position to play Solomon between the two but bottom line would be that the story of stuff is not entirely true.
The definitive critique to the Story of Stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5uJgG05xUY
Enjoy! Steve
Thanks Steve… I discerned that as well… and wasn’t advocating that everyone Drink the Kool-aid. I loved the core message and especially the presentation. There is enough truth in it though that I thought it outweighted the obvious indoctrination piece. When she said it was the Governments Job to take care of us… I had major twitches going on…but when she talked about how we’re sadly programmed into being a consumption driven society I found myself agreeing with much of what she presented.
Thanks for the link I will post them in the comments section of the blog.
Kirk Out
June 19th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Thanks, Kirk.
These video clips did give me a lot to think about. Actually, they confirm thoughts I have had regarding employment. I was laid off in January and I’ve had a lot of pressure to get a “job.” But what I really want is a vocation. I am not willing to trade my time for money unless I the work I do not only builds the Kingdom but also blesses others and as well as my family and me. To me, money is a side benefit. Man is that he might have JOY and we don’t get joy from stuff. Joy comes from putting Jesus first, Others second and Yourself last. So thanks for today’s T4D. I’m glad there are people like you out there that help us to see things as they really are because then we can use our agency with greater wisdom. Have a JOYful day. ~Di
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:29 am
Kirk,
Thanks for the video clips. Me, my 8 year old son and 11 year old daughter watched the “How the World Became a Corp.” and then talked about how important relationships are (above and beyond buying a bunch of stuff). It was great.
We then watched Bill Cosby (Himself - standup comedy from the 1980’s) and laughed and laughed and laughed.
It was a good father’s day. Thanks for helping to get it started off.
Jay Walker