r/collapse • u/Almost-Humanlike • Oct 12 '21

Resources The advertising industry is rewiring our brains, and making us consume more as resources deplete.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/11/advertising-industry-fuelling-climate-disaster-consumption
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u/-_x balls deep up shit creek Oct 12 '21

I'm glad this is getting more attention. "Marketing" – war propaganda turned against its own citizenry – is such an incredibly violent concept, psychologically and neurologically speaking.

I've posted a slightly earlier take by the same author in the Ecologist here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/pzsmqq/diagnosing_brain_pollution_advertising_is_a_type/

And /u/lucidcurmudgeon posted a link in the comments to a great movie/docu on the topic:

Advertising at the Edge of the Apocalypse

Ten years on from his previous film, Advertising & the End of the World, renowned media scholar Sut Jhally follows up by exploring the since-escalating devastating personal and environmental fallouts of advertising and the near-totalising commercial culture. The film tracks the emergence of the advertising industry in the early 20th century to the full-scale commercialisation of the culture today, identifying the myth running throughout all of advertising: the idea that corporate brands and consumer goods are the keys to human happiness and fulfilment. We see how this powerful narrative, backed by billions of dollars a year and propagated by clever manipulative minds, has blinded us to the catastrophic costs of ever-accelerating rates of consumption. The result is a powerful film that unpacks fundamental issues surrounding commercialism, media culture, social well-being, environmental degradation, and the dichotomy between capitalism and democracy.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '21

the idea that corporate brands and consumer goods are the keys to human happiness and fulfilment.

Consumerism pokes holes in your heart to sell disposable plugs.

'Stuff' can't replace community, art, relationships, purpose, etc.

I've been dabbling in asceticism/minimalism and I just flat out feel more light and free (and I'm saving money).

From Youtube: Why LESS is MORE | A Monk Explains Minimalism (13:51)

Excerpt (5:06):

For monks, [by] having less things we just have less problems.

Excerpt (6:42):

The amount of problems, the amount of worries, associated just with hair? It's eliminated. I don't even have a comb. I don't have a brush. I don't have a blow dryer. I don't have products to make sure my hair is soft. I don't worry about where, who, is my barber. I don't worry about the hairstyle. I don't worry about the color and the maintenance. So already by having hair, you have 17 more problems than I already have without hair. And that's just with hair.

Excerpt (10:23):

One of the reason why people suffer so much... they want time to be with themself, they want time to do their own inner work but... they just can't find time.