I’ve recently had a small banter among friends regarding Adbusters Buy Nothing initiative. The crux of the conversation was my belief that despite a noble effort, timing the event to Black Friday was a logistical mistake. I understand why they chose Black Friday from a messaging standpoint, but in terms of the American marketplace and the movement’s greater mission, I think it’s counterproductive.

Instead of getting a day of its own (like Earth Day), Buy Nothing will take a backseat to the inevitable media coverage of Black Friday, the ‘dismal retail season’ (isn’t it always a letdown?), the crowds, craziness, etc.

This decision was made for all the wrong reasons. Sure, the already-zealous and already-sold on the concept of Buy Nothing Day will think its a perfect ’stick it to the Man’ move to do this on Black Friday. The remaining 99.9% of Americans will miss the message entirely. What purpose does that really serve?

We live in a mediascape that has with it some definitive realities. Those can be leveraged or ignored with significant strategic benefit or consequence.

If AdBusters is looking to reaffirm what its small core audience already believes, then this tactic will accomplish that goal. If they’re serious about spreading their message and making a difference in the world, they have missed the mark by picking the wrong date to build awareness.

A more productive approach might be to promote a ‘Buy Nothing Birthday’ where each individual could adopt the concept for their birthday (“Friends, don’t send gifts, just spend time with me”). In this way the concept becomes personalized, inherently viral and happens every day of every year. A simple Facebook Buy Nothing Birthday app would be a great way to share the concept, reinforce the values of friendship over ownership and to allow people to spread the idea through their networks of friends. It would also have a more optimistic tone rather than the conspiratorial, anti-establishment, punk-rock edginess Buy Nothing Day has now. Again, the latter tone may validate the passions of a core small group, but if the aim is truly to effect change and not just stroke a fringe constituency’s collective sense of self then the punk edge will quickly lose its usefulness.

Lastly, being digital, Buy Nothing Birthdays would cost AdBusters next to nothing to produce, would consume minimal resources, and probably would reach more people in a year than a one-off stunt poorly timed to be eclipsed by a national event ever will.

It also allows for personalization of the concept. The punkers can be punky the soccer moms be soccer momish and everyone can embrace an idea which on the whole is a good one.

Until you get to the argument about our 10+% unemployment rate.

Now in its 17th year, Buy Nothing Day is celebrated every November by environmentalists, social activists and concerned citizens in over 65 countries around the world. Over the years, Buy Nothing Day (followed by Buy Nothing Christmas) has exploded into a global movement, inspiring the world’s citizens to live more simply and buy a whole lot less.

Designed to coincide with Black Friday (which this year falls on Friday, November 27) in the United States, and the unofficial start of the international holiday shopping season (Saturday, November 29), the festival takes many shapes, from relaxed family outings, to free, non-commercial street parties, to politically charged public protests, credit-card cut-ups and pranks and shenanigans of all kinds. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending.

Featured by such media giants as CNN, USA Today, MSNBC, Wired, the BBC, The Age and the CBC, Buy Nothing Day has gained momentum in recent years as the climate crisis has driven people to seek out greener alternatives to unrestrained consumption.

This year, Buy Nothing Day organizers are confronting the economic meltdown head-on – asking citizens, policy makers and pundits to examine our economic crisis.

“If you dig a little past the surface you’ll see that this financial meltdown is not about liquidity, toxic derivatives or unregulated markets, it’s really about culture,” says the co-founder of Adbusters Media Foundation, Kalle Lasn. “It’s our culture of excess and meaningless consumption — the glorified spending and borrowing of the past decade that’s at the root of the crisis we now find ourselves in.”

Economic meltdown, together with the ecological crisis of climate change could be the beginning of a major global cultural shift — the dawn of a new age: the age of Post-Materialism.

“A simpler, pared-down lifestyle – one in which we’re not drowning in debt – may well be the answer to this crisis we’re in,” says Lasn. “Living within our means will also make us happier and healthier than we’ve been in years.”

So this November 27 (November 28 in Europe and overseas), we’re calling for a Wildcat General Strike. We’re asking tens of millions of people around the world to bring the capitalist consumption machine to a grinding – if only momentary – halt.

We want you to not only stop buying for 24 hours, but to shut off your lights, televisions and other nonessential appliances. We want you to park your car, turn off your phones and log off of your computer for the day.

We’re calling for a Ramadan-like fast. From sunrise to sunset we’ll abstain en masse, not only from holiday shopping, but from all the temptations of our five-planet lifestyles.

Take the Plunge!

 You know what they say: a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. You feel that things are falling apart – the temperature rising, the oceans churning, the global economy heaving – why not do something? Take just one small step toward a more just and sustainable future. Make a pact with yourself: go on a consumer fast. Lock up your credit cards, put away your cash and opt out of the capitalist spectacle. You may find that it’s harder than you think, that the impulse to buy is more ingrained in you than you ever realized. But you will persist and you will transcend – perhaps reaching the kind of epiphany that can change the world.

Here is an interesting blog post from Adbusters.

if you aren’t familiar with culture jamming, then click on the image:

what does this have to do with columbus?  well, cbus needs culture jammers.  i surely can’t be the only person in this apathetic town that cares about questioning the dumbasses in power. they’ve all had their chance to help artists out and they’ve failed, it’s time for them to go.

what does this have to do with 2012?  well, you have to understand a little about what the mayans meant with 2012.  there’s a few different theories and i agree with the one that believes there will be a paradigm shift and human consciousness will evolve to a higher level where creativity is preferred over mindless mass consumption.  daniel pinchbeck has written some interesting stuff about this.

sure, it sounds far out there, but it really isn’t.  consumer culture is dying and creative culture is being born.  signs of this are apparent all around us.  unfortunately, thanks to dumbasses in hollywood, many people will falsely assume that 2012 means the destruction of the world.  nope.  hollywood just took the liberty to dumb-down and over-sensationlize the mayan beliefs.  fuck you hollywood.  it would’ve been a much better movie if you tried to make it reflect what the mayans truly believe.  i mean, hell, they knew something we don’t know, those mysterious fuckers just disappeared off the face of the planet and left behind a civilization that was more advanced in many ways than our civilization.  wtf?  and their calendar has NEVER been wrong so something WILL happen in 2012.

hopefully it’s a shift in consciousness and then columbus will no longer be a shitty supporter of the arts…

Until fairly recently,  “Black Friday” was associated with crisis and scandal. In 1869,  stocks plunged when a group of speculators, headed by James Fisk and Jay Gould, cornered the gold market and inflated prices by nearly 30 percent. When the government put it’s own gold on the market, the premium plummeted within minutes. Investors scrambled to sell their holdings. Many were ruined in a matter of minutes.

In 1965, “Black Friday” took on new meaning when the Philadelphia Police Department used the phrase to describe the year’s busiest shopping day, the Friday after Thanksgiving Day.  It is not a term of endearment for them. “Black Friday” officially opens the Christmas shopping season, and it usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as stores are mobbed from opening to closing.

Last year alone, Americans spent $41 billion — $372.57 per shopper — on this one frenzied day. Good news for the economy, but bad news for citizens. We’re all familiar with the images of people waiting in line for hours in the cold and trampling each other, sometimes fatally, to be the first ones inside. At a Long Island Wal-Mart last year, employee Jdimytai Damour was stomped to death as the throng of product-hungry shoppers stormed the store.

Buy Nothing Day, an international day of protest, was created  to counter this mad dash for the shelves. Founded in 1992 by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by Adbusters magazine, Buy Nothing Day urges participants to “lock up your debit card, your credit cards, your money clip and see what it feels like to opt out of consumer culture completely, even if only for 24 hours.” The event has become a yearly rallying cry for hundreds of thousands of activists around world who still believe that Black Friday is marred in crisis.

On this week’s show, I’ll be speaking with Rev. Billy, an outspoken performance-activist who resists consumerism with the Church of Life After Shopping. The Morgan Spurlock produced film What Would Jesus Buy? documents the Church’s cross-country tour denouncing the commercialization of Christmas, materialism, and over-consumption in American culture. We”ll talk about consumerism, how it rules our lives and economy, and it’s consequences for ourselves and our Planet.

Tune in Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 8pm for an hour of funk, jazz-fusion & their more experimental offshoots, then at 9pm for the show.

Music on the show (in order played)

“Cut That City” by The Mars Volta

“The Extinction Agenda” by Organized Konfusion

“Beatitudes of Buylessness” by Rev. Billy & The Church of Life After Shopping

“Remove Starbucks & Disney” by Rev. Billy & The Church of Life After Shopping

“Behind The Wall of Sleep” by Black Sabbath

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Music Hour: Jazz-fusion, funk, and their more experimental offshoots (in order played):

“Spanish Key” by Miles Davis

“Snoopy’s Search/Red Baron” by Billy Cobham

“Peel This Strip and Fold Here” by Candiria

“Faction” by Candiria

“Sanctuary” by The Mahavishu Orchestra

“That Which Survives” by Ghosts of the Canal

“Oh Yeah” by Can

“Resolution” by The Mahavishnu Orchestra

My review/critique of the Invisible Committee’s The Coming Insurrection is in the current adbusters, and is available at present on their website.

This being the first thing I’ve written that a large number of people are likely to read (PhD, 3 years; likely readership, 3 people), I feel impelled but also wary to defend the article. In the Comments box on the adbusters site, someone’s already addressed me as ‘Mr Cooper’*, which feels rather peculiar. However, the article was edited before publication, and there are two particular changes to the original that I would like to qualify:

1)     The opening sentence, presently, runs:

The instability of meaning within the society of the spectacle is such that a statement can contain two opposing messages simultaneously.

Originally, I had said ‘… within what we might call the society of the spectacle…’. I think this is an important clause, whereby I am attempting to prolematise the too-easy adoption of a social diagnosis as broad as Debord’s soceity of the spectacle. Instead of say, ‘yes, we live in a spectacular society’, let’s look at the type of power relations Debord is describing, and see how far they extend into scenarios that we recognise.

2)     Another sentence now reads:

Capitalism, as we are hearing more and more regularly, is in crisis.

My original had said that ‘Capitalism… is crisis’. I don’t really understand why they’ve changed this: I don’t think that capitalism is in crisis, it will certainly mutate and recover. I was referencing the slogan, ‘capitalism is crisis’, that seems to have appeared in the last year (in England at least), which itself references the now familiar argument that capitalism needs a series of crises to sustain itself.

Anyway, I’m very grateful to adbusters for contacting me and allowing me to revisit The Coming Insurrection (they contacted me following the original review here).

*So much for blog anonymity.

Otro año más, los irreverentes AdBusters nos proponen el “Buy Nothing Day”, “una moratoria de 24 horas sobre el gasto del consumidor”, un día en el que las mentes dejan de pensar en clave de monedas para pasar a pensar y actuar en clave vital. Desde la fundación AdBusters nos animan a que el día 28 de Noviembre, los europeos dejemos de lado el ansia consumista y plantemos cara a un modelo de producción insostenible para el planeta. En Norteamérica el Buy Nothing Day se celebrará el 27 de Noviembre, y a ese monstruo del consumo le dedican el siguiente vídeo:

Mirar a Norteamérica es mirarnos en un espejo y ver que, en el caso del consumismo, no podemos seguir sus pasos, a no ser de que el final de nuestro camino sea la muerte. Aún así los europeos, y más concretamente los españoles, pecamos de hipócritas contagiados de sofasis y nos llenamos la boca al gritar contra el “enemigo yankie”, sin ver que las hordas rojas actuales, en política y medios de comunicación, sólo hacen que propugnar el modelo americano de consumo. La derecha tiene grandes fallos y demasiada soberbia, pero al menos llevan a cabo el indigesto mensaje que promulgan. Lo verdaderamente asqueroso es ver  a una “izquierda” que pretende propugnar comportamientos y valores que, en la práctica, están tapados por kilos y kilos de hipocresía, falta de libertades y muy poco pensamiento crítico, y una gran mole llamada ESTADO pisando cada pensamiento y acto de sus ciudadanos.

U obligándonos a usar nuestros impuestos para salvar fallos privados: “El rescate de los bancos ha sido como ir a comprar a la fuerza. Han utilizado nuestro dinero pero nosotros no hemos tenido alternativa. Los bancos y empresas han convencido al gobierno de que hay que salvar su economía a toda costa. Pero yo quiero una economía diversificada, donde las cuentas saneadas de una economía local no tengan necesariamente que reflejarse en las cuentas de Wall Street. Ir de compras aumenta el conformismo. Y hoy es importante subrayar que no todos los ciudadanos estamos de acuerdo con esta cultura del gasto”. Bill Talen, delcaración recogida del blog Signo XXI.

¡Apriétate el cinturón, ciudadano!… Lo siento pero yo paso. ¡Down the power!

Boigandreau

Am 28. November 2009 (am 27. in Nordamerika) wird der vom “Ober-Adbuster” Kalle Lasn inszenierte Buy Nothing Day zelebriert. Culture Jamming und Propaganda zum Event findet ihr auf der Adbusters-Seite.

I encourage you to not give in to what got us here. November 27 in the US/Canada, November 28 in Europe and overseas.

Last night I picked up the newest issue of Adbusters and was inspired – I thought I’d share one of my favourite articles. It’s written by the founder of Adbusters – Kalle Lasn. It’s most certainly worth a read:

Looking back, future generations will see the first years of the 21st century are humanity’s great omega point – the moment when physical reality grew so unbearable and physical existence so unfulfilling that we began abandoning the physical world. We grew tired of the hot, suffocating air, the endless gridlock and the tedium of uninspiring sex. The virtual world was a respite: a cool electronic reprieve devoid of the problems hat plagued the natural world. We plunged headfirst into cyberspace where we chatted, played games and boldly experimented with second lives. Ecosystems were dying and our bodies were atrophying, but our minds were alive. We lived for the electronic epiphanies and virtual thrills of a purely cerebral realm. We abandoned our evolutionary home and became psychic hives of activity in cyberspace.

-for the wild, Kalle

It may seem a little early to start talking about Buy Nothing Day, but the heft of today’s ad-laden Sunday newspaper says otherwise.

For those not in the know, Buy Nothing Day is a 20-year-old program put on by AdBusters, asking that participants buy nothing the day after Thanksgiving, (the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season.)

The AdBusters website describes this year’s shopping protest as such:

Hoy me he dado cuenta que es posible que haya sido un error no escuchar a aquellos que aconsejan no dejar ver televisión a los pequeños (incluyendo a mi marido, Mr. Maury). He notado últimamente que Mijita toma agua todo el día (literalmente),  y no quiere comer, y eso no se lo he enseñado yo. Tal vez, en lugar de preocuparme debería seguir su ejemplo, otro gallo nos cantaría en los veranitos.

Mi política ha sido medirle el consumo de televisión, y supervisar la calidad de los contenidos, enfocándome casi exclusivamente en TV educativa o pública. En Estados Unidos (desconozco si es asi en otros paises), los Medios Públicos, reciben importantes apoyos económicos, mayormente del ciudadano común y de organizaciones sin fines de lucro, así como de filántropos. Esto ayuda a que los medios públicos, generen y promuevan contenidos de calidad, y las noticias se produzcan “sin tendencias” (dentro de lo humanamente posible, porque está mas que claro que no hay medio perfecto, eso lo sabemos de sobra).

No obstante la supuesta prolijidad con la que he tratado de educar a un “ser” sin “actitudes consumistas”, a la sujetita en cuestión le importa un bledo, reconoce perfectamente a personajes que su madre considera estupidos y poco originales. No mencionaré nombres ni marcas para evitar cualquier demanda, pero baste decir que mijita me detiene en el supermercado para que le compre una “esponja que habla”, o para que la deje llevarse a casa la muñeca más cabezona del planeta (pista: es bilingüe y su mejor amigo es un mono).

¿Cómo se ha infiltrado el enemigo en mi casa? ¿Cómo no pude evitarlo?  Ya se que habrá puristas por ahí, queriendome gritar:  “tira la televisión a la basura”.  Pero sería una hipócrita al hacerlo, porque mi relación de amor y odio con los medios es tan fuerte, que estaría cometiendo casi un sacrilegio, esa es la gran incongruencia de muchos de nuestra generación (aquí me incluyo al 100%): queremos mejorar al planeta, pero no queremos perdernos de nada.

Así que mi gran pregunta filosófica del día es: ¿Qué tanto es tantito?

Entre nuestros amigos puedo encontrar todos los matices y extremos a los que se puede hacer uno en este tema de la tele. Unos de plano No tienen televisor en su casa, y no viven atormentados por que sus hijos no estén al día con las tendencias de los niñetes de hoy, todo lo contrario, sus hijos de 11 y 8 años tocan el piano, leen en tres idiomas, se la pasan regiamente con sus padres cuando están en casa. Otra amiga argumenta que el único momento en el que puede descansar y/o hacer algo más que cuidar que su infante no se meta en problemas con alguna travesura, es cuando lo pone frente al televisor a ver dibujos animados, es su “media hora de sanidad”, dice. La entiendo perfectamente.

La cuestión es tener la certeza de que en este caso quepa la connotada expresión: Todo con Medida; y si es que no aplica, saberlo antes de meter la pata y echarse uno encima la maldición del “adolescente enfurecido”, por ese pequeño error de padre primerizo.

Hace un par de años, la revista canadiense Adbusters (www.adbusters.org), publicó un experimento que consistía en un abecedario. Lo notable de este ABC era que cada letra correspondía a la tipografía o logotipo de una marca distinta. En este momento, me trago mi orgullo para admitir ante ustedes que pasé el experimento con mención honorífica: no me faltó reconocer una sola marca. ¿En verdad soy tan inteligente, o es que la publicidad que nos meten los medios, sin que lo solicitemos, tiene tanto efecto?

No lo sé, pero también puedo cantar todas las estrofas de un jingle de una publicidad de los años 70’s sin equivocarme en una sola nota. Hace fácilmente 30 años, que no he vuelto a ver esa publicidad.

Hasta el Próximo Jueves y Mil Gracias por leerme.

In the Waterloo Public Library I grew bored of writing about aspects of film sound and soundtrack I looked through the shelves of magazines. One particular magazine caught my eye :

adbusters

It is an interesting magazine that promotes radical change to the current social structure. They have eye catching pages which keep you reading (or at least flipping through the magazine) and the articles are written well. It’s a nice change to “mainstream” magazines.

Well, other than that short review of the magazine, I am going to be baking some rainbow cupcakes tomorrow for the habitat for humanity bake sale. Hopefully people will like them. Anyways, I need to sleep but I just wanted to make a quick update on randomness.

Adbusters

I have recently read the book “No Logo” by Naomi Klein and have come to conclude it’s  a very worthwhile and informative read . Here is why:

The book is an amazing recount of the evolution of the brand as well as an incredible analysis of the corruption of big name corporate bodies, their large influence on the world as a whole and the response of the working class towards the unfair practices of these corporations. Klein’s thesis points out that because of the resulting loss of space, choice and jobs of multinationals, the common folk has taken it upon themselves to lash out and take a stand in various forms such as culture jamming, boycotting, pie throwing and “reclaiming the streets” (among many others).

If sweatshop labour is something that you have only heard of and not something that you have been able to explore in detail, this book is a perfect opportunity to learn about the unlawful labor practices of the 90s (some of which I’m sure continue to this day). Big name brands like Nike, Adidas, Starbucks, Tommy Hilfiger, Shell and McDonald’s are put on the stand and are unmasked in the realm of hiring practices, labour disputes, space invasion, and the huge separation between marketing and production of goods.

Klein writes using her experiences in downtown Toronto as well as detailed worldwide facts and research. She uses the method of analyzing specific names, incidences and examples to look at the big picture of anti-corporate  movement. Throughout the work, she has a way of inflicting a sense of hope for the reader by showing that the power is in our hands, and when people join together for a common purpose, they will succeed. She points out that no matter how powerful these companies may be, the brand can be tainted and reduced on account of their unjust actions, because let’s face it, without the consumer, the brand is nothing. Although the biggest names in advertising hold a huge portion of the world’s wealth, they can indeed be brought down to earth, “spotlighted”, exposed and forced to respond to the demands of the people.

I find that the ideas correspond closely to one of my favourite movies, Fight Club.  I love the detailed description of the culture jamming movement and groups like Adbusters that take it upon themselves to “out” corporate bodies by altering billboards, creating meaningful tunes, skulling posters and using other forms of effective activism. In Klein’s view, Adbusters serve as an ad for anti-advertising. I find the book gives you something to think about if you are the kind of person who think that there is SO MUCH wrong with the world, but you have no idea what to do about it. Well, it turns out there are many options to make your voice heard and remembered. You can join a group of corporate bullies or boycott on your own, but  either way, you are doing something. Below is a collection of keywords from the book. If you are interested in any of them, you should really look into Klein’s writings and  inform yourself of the many ways to make a difference.

Some keywords from the book: Culture Jamming, Adbusters, Reclaim the Streets, Koder fire, Loglo, Spotlight, Selective Purchasing Agreement, World Trade Organization, National Foreign Trade Council, Saturation Point, Censorship, Synergy, Cannibalization Strategy, Trademark Harassment, Buyouts, Mergers, Chain Clusters, Price Wars, Superstore, Monoculture, Creative Artists Agency, “Cool” Hunters, MAI.

Peace and Love,

Phyllis

Every day is a challenge. I never want to be one of those people who sits down and says… Today I can rest; today I’ve achieved it all, today I have no aim, no growth, no learning.

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The name of my office manager is Sandy. Think of her as the 60-year-old “Joan” of my agency. She has an intimidating English accent, a poised walk, and wears a pristine blazer always popped at the collar. She walked into my boardroom/office and said “Christina darling, here is the welcome package…” going through it slowly she stopped at one particular page that interested me “…And here is the retirement speech of Mr. Leo Burnett — you know, the man who created Leo Burnett in Chicago? — I suggest you read it. It is quite inspiring… “

That was in the morning. For the better part of my day, there wasn’t much for me to do. I set up my voicemail, looked up some rating numbers for different TV stations… And after bugging my new friend Brad and going downstairs to chat with my other friend Tiara, it was 3:30 pm and all of my assignments were complete. I sat before my computer with Leo’s speech to the left of me and its lyrics still circling my head… “Better advertising is what the Leo Burnett Company is about…” In the midst of my trance, I had somehow navigated Firefox to a page: the website of Naomi Klein.

Firstly, I think the woman is brilliant. The amount of research that goes into her books is incredible. Unlike many non-fiction books where research begins to pop out of the page like a separate entity, with Naomi, this is not the case. I’ve read some non-fictions which pull out statistic after statistic after statistic with minimal journalistic-flow and a complete lack of prose. It’s one thing to be an apt researcher or an eloquent writer. But to be a combination of the two? — Brilliant.

Anyway, I read her short biography and some reviews of her first book, NO LOGO. Basically, the book is about “branding” — Yes, this is the business I am in. It’s a book about some of the most branded multinational organizations taking a shrewd path in expelling the idea of choice, interactivity, and freedom for workers. “It’s about the Nike ’swoosh’, the theme parks (we) visit and the films (we) go to see… It’s about magazines, rock music, universities and the Internet. In short, it’s a book about everyday reality – or, rather, what lies behind it.”

So back to this challenge I was talking about earlier. I’m 4 days in. Only 4 days into this agency and I’m about to read a book called NO LOGO? Only 4 days in; still learning the business, still a ways away from receiving those court-side Raptors tickets, still eager to make money, still trying to network and to make friends… But still, completely affected by the thought of my Banana Republic work dress being made by my 10-year-old 3rd-world relative just so I can go about my day with a greater sense of confidence?

I sit in an office full of windows over-looking Bloor Street. I run out of paper work at 3:30 pm. I spend my evenings preparing my lunch and moaning from exhaustion. I stroll about perkily in a Banana Republic work dress and Tommy Hilfiger trench coat from 8:00 am – 6:00 pm while my younger counterpart, whomever he or she is, is confined to life of irreconcilable circumstances and …sewing? Seriously. I ask seriously… What did I do to deserve all of this?

I work on behalf of TD Canada Trust for goodness’ sake. Logos, branding, advertising, marketing, corporatism, consumerism — whatever you want to call it — is my business. Clearly, my heart and my lifestyle are at-home to different things; clearly, I will continue at the agency but clearly, I feel accountable… Clearly, this my challenge.

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ps. I’ve been getting so much feedback from people about this blog. Initially I just needed an outlet to express myself and to practice writing. To think that people actually enjoy reading about my struggles/triumphs/everything-in-between? — It’s astonishing. Sincerely, Thank You.

pps. Also, when I said in the last post (which I have now deleted) that I wouldn’t be blogging as much — I lied.

Have you ever heard of the Easterlin Paradox?  It is a theory developed in 1974, which goes something like this:  Money makes you happier until you reach about an average income.  After that, money’s affect on happiness is greatly reduced.  But there are those who argue that “happiness” is a very imprecise science, so maybe  Senator Bobby Kennedy (who might have known what he was talking about) might have gotten closer to the problem:  “Gross Domestic Product measures everything…except that which makes life worthwhile.”

The government of Bhutan has been following a policy of Gross National Happiness since 1972, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy recently announced that happiness levels would be taken into account when measuring the country’s economic performance.  Whether this happiness component is taken into consideration or not, there seems to be a paradigm shift from neoclassical to ecological economics now underway.  Is it possible that  there is a direct correlation between economics, ecology and happiness?

This new shift is  typified by Tim Jackson and his new book, Prosperity Without Growth, which is a completely revised and updated version of the Sustainable Development Commission report of the same name.  Tim Jackson is a Professor of Sustainable Development in the Centre for Environmental Strategy (CES) at the University of Surrey.  Since January 2003, Tim has been employed at CES under a research fellowship on the ‘social psychology’ of consumer behavior.   In the last twelve years he has pioneered the development of an ‘adjusted’ measure of economic growth – a ‘green GDP’ – for the UK. He is also an advisor to the UK government as a Commissioner on the Sustainable Development Commission and  is an Associate of the New Economics Foundation.  In other words, no lightweight.

Tim  wrote an article last summer which appeared in Adbusters  (and if you don’t know about Adbusters please check them out – they are working to change the “ way information flows, the way corporations wield power, and the way meaning is produced in our society”.  It’s entitled “Thinking the Unthinkable”,  based on Prosperity without Growth;  it explores the point at which economic growth becomes uneconomic growth.  The conclusions are disturbing.   Charles Siegel of The Sierra Club says it should be  required reading for everyone working to avoid ecological collapse (click here to read the review) . The article from Adbusters is reproduced below; the entire book will be available November 2 through Earthscan (www.earthscan.co.uk/pwg) or you can read the original report online at http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/publications.php?id=914:

Every society clings to a myth by which it lives. Ours is the myth of economic growth. For the last five decades the pursuit of growth has been the single most important policy goal across the world. The global economy is almost five times the size it was half a century ago. If it continues to grow at the same rate, the economy will be 80 times that size by the year 2100.

This extraordinary ramping up of global economic activity has no historical precedent. It’s totally at odds with our scientific knowledge of the finite resource base and the fragile ecology we depend on for survival. And it has already been accompanied by the degradation of an estimated 60% of the world’s ecosystems.

For the most part, we avoid the stark reality of these numbers. The default assumption is that – financial crises aside – growth will continue indefinitely. Not just for the poorest countries where a better quality of life is undeniably needed, but even for the richest nations where the cornucopia of material wealth adds little to happiness and is beginning to threaten the foundations of our well-being.

The reasons for this collective blindness are easy enough to find. The modern economy is structurally reliant on economic growth for its stability. When growth falters – as it has done recently – politicians panic. Businesses struggle to survive. People lose their jobs and sometimes their homes. A spiral of recession looms. Questioning growth is deemed to be the act of lunatics, idealists and revolutionaries.

But question it we must. The myth of growth has failed us. It has failed the two billion people who still live on less than $2 a day. It has failed the fragile ecological systems we depend on for survival. It has failed spectacularly, in its own terms, to provide economic stability and secure people’s livelihoods.

Today we find ourselves faced with the imminent end of the era of cheap oil; the prospect (beyond the recent bubble) of steadily rising commodity prices; the degradation of forests, lakes and soils; conflicts over land use, water quality and fishing rights; and the momentous challenge of stabilizing concentrations of carbon in the global atmosphere. And we face these tasks with an economy that is fundamentally broken, in desperate need of renewal.

In these circumstances, a return to business as usual is not an option. Prosperity for the few founded on ecological destruction and persistent social injustice is no foundation for a civilized society. Economic recovery is vital. Protecting people’s jobs – and creating new ones – is absolutely essential. But we also stand in urgent need of a renewed sense of shared prosperity. A commitment to fairness and flourishing in a finite world.

Delivering these goals may seem an unfamiliar or even incongruous task for policy in the modern age. The role of government has been framed so narrowly by material aims and hollowed out by a misguided vision of unbounded consumer freedoms. The concept of governance itself stands in urgent need of renewal.

But the current economic crisis presents us with a unique opportunity to invest in change. To sweep away the short-term thinking that has plagued society for decades. To replace it with policy capable of addressing the enormous challenge of delivering a lasting prosperity.

For at the end of the day, prosperity goes beyond material pleasures. It transcends material concerns. It resides in the quality of our lives and in the health and happiness of our families. It is present in the strength of our relationships and our trust in the community. It is evidenced by our satisfaction at work and our sense of shared meaning and purpose. It hangs on our potential to participate fully in the life of society.

Prosperity consists in our ability to flourish as human beings – within the ecological limits of a finite planet. The challenge for our society is to create the conditions under which this is possible. It is the most urgent task of our times.

We’ve put together a sort of “gallery of activists” for discussion with our clients at Amnesty – to see who inspires us and why. The presentation is embedded below. Here are a few themes that emerge:

To be really disruptive, you need to be really creative
In a world of stunts, it takes something special to get noticed. The ingenuity of The Yes Men hoax on BBC World is a great example, wiping $2 billion dollars from Dow Chemical’s stock – pretty disruptive. Love or loathe him, some of Michael Moore’s set-ups are bold and inventive, such as interview with Charlton Heston in Bowling For Columbine.

To have influence, plug in to mainstream culture
Plane Stupid are a great example of an organisation with the ability to get noticed through direct action, and then to engage with the mainstream press with articulate, media-friendly spokespeople. Ad Busters may feel a bit dated now, but they played an important part in fermenting the “No Logo” backlash, plugging into mainstream brand culture and subverting it beautifully.

To create change, be bold
Finally, there is sheer boldness. For example, who can argue with the bravery and brilliance of attempting to place Robert Mugabe under citizen’s arrest? Peter Tatchell is really the archetype activist, along with people like Robert Hunter from Greenpeace and Keith Mann from the ALF.

These are a some of the activist types we’ve pulled out for discussion with Amnesty next week. Any other examples?

There’s a classic Chris Rock piece that will probably be removed from YouTube by the time I link to it (but it can probably be easily found again anyway). It’s about medicine and how humans no longer cure diseases. He’s talking about how the last disease that was really cured was polio and how drug companies no longer attempt to cure diseases because they make true profits, not by eradicating something from human experience forever, but by marketing various mitigation techniques that require repeat purchasing.

“Ain’t no money in the cure! The money is in the medicine!”

The idea of getting paid “on the come back” is what I thought about when I read this Jeffrey Smith post about Eli Lilly over at the Huffington Post. Readers of this blog know that I like Jeffrey Smith and the Institute for Responsible Technology. They have some of the best stuff about GMOs around. And this piece is about bovine growth hormone. And it even ties back to Kate’s great post about breast cancer since Breast Cancer Action is a part of the Milking Cancer campaign. There’s an 18 minute film here.

And while we are on the subject of brief Internet films, here is a well-worth-your-time 10 minute movie about the lawyers who authorized torture. It’s by the Alliance for Justice and it’s called Tortured Law. It’s worth your time, whether you are a product of law school or simply think that the United States ought to be above the world’s lowest common denominator when it comes to treatment of detainees.

And finally, rounding out the video recommendations is the most recent Adbusters ad that was rejected by the major networks. The ad is only a minute and can be seen here. The design is kind of tough on the eyes, but I think that’s intentional. I’m always interested when people refuse to simply take the money. The people who run the TV don’t want you to see images about brands and consumption habits. And that makes me want to see those things even more.

Because those flashing images are like the “sky flowers” that distract the zombies in George Romero’s Land of the Dead. We, of course, are the zombies. And we shuffle around in a stupor, while our minds are invaded by acts of psychic piracy and our ecosystems are invaded by cogon grass. More pesticides will solve anything.

We are armed with paper weapons. They are armed with Laserblasts.