The Story of Stuff

OK so check this out:
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
I don’t know who Annie Leonard is, but I assume she’s a liberal (isn’t that horrible? Pro environment, anti-business =liberal in my mind…) Regardless of her political views, her camera presence is pleasing and her voice not nails on a chalkboard, so I have given her the 20 minutes she wanted to tell me the Story of Stuff.

Truth be told, it made me think… We waste a TON (literally) of stuff, and it’s not good. She points out a lot of really interesting and alarming things. I don’t have much to say about her facts, but her conclusion gets me thinkin’. The goal of commerce now is to get as many goods to as many people in the cheapest possible way. We can get crap for cheap. REALLY cheap. And yet adverse poverty and hunger exist in our nation. My question is if we re-vamp the system and become totally eco-conscience and fair-wage driven, how much MORE money will that cost? If we have poverty in our current system, how much more poverty would we create by implementing closed-loop production and recycled-only products? As much as I agree with the idea of keeping what we have and not living in a disposable society, we must face the fact that our society IS indeed disposable (not the people, just the lifestyle…). I just don’t see how any other way can work. Our cost of living now is crazy high, and we genetically engineer chickens and out source everything! Imagine how much more money EVERYTHING would be if it were made domestically (unions…grr…) and grown locally…
Fundamentally, I disagree with Annie’s foundational point that the government is supposed to “take care of us.” I don’t want a government that takes care of me, I want one that protects me and allows me to take care of myself. That’s the problem, I think. No one wants to take personal responsibility, so they throw away whatever they want, consume whatever they please, and expect the government to bail them out when they get in trouble… So, if anything, this video has planted the seed of self-governance. It isn’t cool to exploit people and willfully pollute the world God gave us.
So maybe I gotta take better care of the stuff I have and be more aware of the waste I’m creating. Not because I’m afraid the earth is going to warm and we’re all going to drown, not because Al Gore told me to, not because I don’t enjoy the super-huge freak-of-nature chickens McDonalds creates. But because I’m called to be a good steward of the gifts that God has given me- and that includes my body and His creation… that’s all. I honor God by taking care of me and the little slice of this world He has entrusted me with. That’s not too much to ask, I think, nor does it make me a leftist eco-Nazi.
Anyway, it’s food for thought… take it or leave it. I think I need some Chicken McNuggets…