I listened with great interest to a recent episode of Speaking of Faith, devoted to changing values in the economic downturn, and titled Repossessing Virtue. Instead of drawing conclusions about how nationwide values have changed, it offered thoughts about how individual values can change. I think there’s a lot to be said for considering the cultural moment on an individual level.
There were some great passages in the show, and since there’s a transcript, I can easily pass along this bit, which I found particularly good (with a little bolded by me). It’s from Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen:
The culture tells me in order to live, I need to have 43 lipsticks and 10 face creams and no wrinkles, right? But those things cost a lot of money. And because I can’t buy them now in a knee-jerk way, I find myself recognizing that I really don’t need them. I need something else.
And I think that the economy is a pointing finger to a spiritual emptiness that has been among us for a long time and that we have an opportunity to fill it now, and that’s very, very exciting stuff. You know, in just thinking about all of this money, money itself, physical money, densest form of human energy. That’s what money is, stored energy. Now energy follows belief. The economy is based, I believe, not on scientific laws as much, but on peoples’ beliefs.
What is a good life? The answer to that drives an economy or other such questions or thoughts or beliefs. I believe that I’m alone and therefore I have to have something to be with me, to take care of me. I’m not safe. My whole life is about getting safe, so I spend money or don’t spend money based on these kinds of beliefs.
So another way of saying that is we got into this place because of the story, the story we tell ourselves about ourselves, about other people, about the world, that the goal in life is comfort, which is, I think, one of the most dangerous stories in the whole world, by the way (laughter).
But the opportunity here is to change the story.
Buying In readers will no doubt see immediately why I like this so much.
… is an immense Cheeto.
Or maybe not.
[April 1 update: Giant Cheetos reviewed (via Book of Joe): " Eating a piece all at once was a bit of a challenge, so for some of the puffs, I went with the gnawing method," etc.]
I forgot to mention: There’s no Consumed in this week’s Times Magazine. But go buy the Sunday Times anyway. The column will be back next week.
In other news…
Above, via Fail Whale creator Yiying Lu someone has a made a Fail Whale (Consumed February 12, 2009) out of Legos. [UPDATE: Stunning collection of Fail Whale fan-expression on If It's Hip, It's Here.]
I had a line in the March 10, 2009 Snuggie/Slanket consumed suggesting that perhaps Barack Obama might sport a sleeved blanket in one of his YouTube videos, in tribute to Jimmy Carter’s cardigan moment. Alas, the line got cut. But BZ points out that some guy is getting well-known conservatives (Joe The Plumber, Tucker Carlson) to be photographed in Snuggies. It’s not clear why. The Politico writeup says the guy’s “dream of getting President Barack Obama in a Snuggie, however, could prove a bit more challenging.”
Forgot to mention this earlier: Fisher-Price is phasing out “almost all” of its View-Master titles. But I’m pretty sure you can still get something cooler: A Vladmaster (subject of May 13, 2007 Consumed.)
The Sound of Young America recently had a somewhat different, but still quite interesting, episode in which Jesse Thorn hosted a panel with Merlin Mann, The Bros. Chaps, and Jeff Olsen of Adultswim.com, on “online branding.” The (reed-like) connection to Consumed is that one of the very earliest installments of the column (January 18, 2004) was about Adult Swim.
Kurt Andersen, who is as well-known as a writer can be and still deal with his name being consistently misspelled (I’ve seen it rendered Anderson three times in the last month), has a very readable shot at Big Think about the current economic cultural moment in Time Magazine. Check it out here.
Two bits I want to highlight:
If you want to feel encouraged about our economic near future — not this damned decade but the one to come — ignore the stock traders and go talk to some venture capitalists. They aren’t quite giddy (after the ’80s and ’90s and ’00s, beware all giddiness), but they are optimistic about an imminent tide of innovations in technology, energy and transportation.
I think this is true (certainly consistent with conversations I’ve had over the last few months) and very much worth keeping in mind.
And then there’s this:
Yes, we must start spending again, and we will. But we’ve all known people who, having survived the 1930s, never lost their Depression habits of frugality. And so it will be again. We don’t need to turn ourselves into tedious, zero-body-fat, zero-carbon-footprint ascetics, but even after the economy recovers, deciding to forgo that third car or fifth TV or imperial master bathroom or marginally cooler laptop will come more naturally.
This I’m less certain of. It’s the final bit that stops me. How many of “us” were buying a third car and fifth TV in recent years? I think this kind of generalization is actually what drives a lot of Americans crazy about media thinkers (maybe it’s even why the idiotic notion of the “media elite” is so persistent).
But apart from that, I also just think such overgeneralizations really fail to capture how complex this situation is.
Many Americans, it seems to me, are not reacting to this economy by saying, “I need to stop being so greedy and materialistic.” They didn’t buy a McMansion or a Hummer or a fifth TV (or, dare I say it, even an iPhone) — but they got laid off anyway. Or they’re scared that they will be soon. Some simply feel cheated. Some are quite angry, and what they are saying is: “Where’s my bailout?” I think for a lot of people, the issue isn’t that “we must start spending again,” but rather that “we” must find secure employement again.
I could go on, but basically, for a whole bunch of reasons, I just don’t think everybody out there is feeling like they need to repent for 25 years of mindless and greedy overspending.
Do you?
Continuing the effort to put Consumed readers in the spotlight, here’s the latest a series of mini-Q&As with some of the interesting people who have joined the Consumed Facebook page. Today: Debbie Millman, who heads the design division at Sterling Brands, hosts Design Matters, and is a painter and writer to boot.
1. What are you working on now, or making public soon, that you’re particularly excited about (and why)?
I primarily work in the business of designing what are considered FMCG’s or “fast moving consumer goods.” At the moment, I am working on several brands that are considered “comfort food.” I find this particularly interesting given the economic downturn we are experiencing and the sudden interest in these often-neglected, nearly vintage American stalwarts. Many are lumbering (but profitable) relics from my childhood, and it is fascinating to try to resuscitate and reinvigorate these sleepy giants.
Also, I am working on my third book, Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design, which is both thrilling and terrifying, depending on the day. Or the hour.
2. Is there something you would have bought, or used to spend money on, a year ago, that you would not today?
Showtime and HBO. Regular blow-outs for my hair. My landline. Taxis.
3. What have you bought/spent money on/or otherwise consumed lately that you’re really pleased with?
Scrabble. Online, on my phone and on my dining room table! I now know more words that contain the letter Q than anyone else I know.
4. And on a related note: Name, if you can, one thing that a friend/coworker/acquaintance bought lately that you find surprising or puzzling.
New boobs.
Wow, I didn’t see that one coming. Thanks for the answers! Next mini-Q&A in one week, with Janet Kim.
Join the Consumed Facebook page here, and if you’re interested in being Q&A’d, just let me know.
The Unconsumption blog is getting more & more interesting, as more participants have joined in. I recommend that you check it out.
For the moment I think there are enough contributors — with one exception. I would still love to get somebody to help in checking out and finding highlights from the many “garbloggers” out there. If that sounds interesting to you, definitely get in touch: murketing@robwalker.net.
The blog is one phase of the unconsumption idea; I have two more phases in mind. I’m aiming to say more about Phase Two next week.
Meanwhile, if you find the general subject interesting/worthwhile but don’t have time to contribute, that’s cool — maybe help spread the word? Thanks.
Thanks also to Eyecube for this writeup & Listenerd for this mention, too.
My last inquiry along these lines didn’t turn up the story I was hoping had been written, but …
I’ve been wondering, in regards to the rising savings rate — how much of that is a result of people moving their money out of IRAs and the like (which I believe the official savings rate does not count) into bank accounts? Anybody read anything about that?
I ask because during the years when the savings rate was falling to, or below, zero, many pundit types on the conservative side insisted that this measure didn’t matter, because it didn’t capture equities in 401(k)s. Or at least that’s what I remember. Thus my curiosity. (Since lately the savings rate seems to matter again.)
I’m quite certain I’ve read that a lot of people have shifted their assets away from stocks and into cash, and if I am remembering right about the above then that should be at least something of a factor in the increase in the official savings rate. But how much?
Anybody read anything about this?
Above: “Us Always,” on Behance, iPhone/iPod Touch wallpaper, via ffffound. July 22, 2007 Consumed about Domo is here.
A recent-ish Consumed (January 28, 2009) about the iFart app for iPhones quoted Amar Bhidé making some points about “venturesome consumers.” Bhidé is given a more dignified context in which to discuss bad times and new innovations on the NYT site. He notes: “About 20 years ago, I studied 100 founders of Inc. magazine’s 1989 list of the 500 fastest growing private companies in the U.S. Virtually all of them had started between 1981-83 in the midst of an awful recession.” Others weigh in as well; worth reading.
No doubt you’ve caught the news that the maker of the Flip video camera (Consumed: May 25, 2008), is being bought by Cisco.
One of the founders of mixed-martial-arts apparel brand TapouT (Consumed: Augut 29, 2008), Charles “Mask” Lewis, was recently killed in a car accident.
Billy Mays (Consumed: October 26, ,2008) merch in the land of handmade? Well, Craftzine offers this on fighting sweat stains with Oxi-Clean.
NPR reports on a “markedly un-Hollywood” film festival — the San Antonion Independent Christian Film Festival. The alternative market & distribution strategies for Christian movies were examined in this November 13, 2005 Consumed about the Left Behind movies.
My Private Brand on Wal-Mart’s Great Value private-label effort. This has gotten a fair amount of attention, although to my surprise few are mentioning Wal-Mart is not exactly new to the private-label game — its private-label Ol’ Roy dog food has long been the top-selling dog food in the country. (Consumed: February 22, 2004).
There’s been a slew of Barbie-related material out there, as this year is the doll’s 50th anniversary — an event marked by Consumed with this January 25, 2009 column on Margaux Lange’s Barbie-parts jewelry. That piece mentioned past studies of girls mutilating their Barbies, and recently Forbes decided to recap some of that research, from 2005, along with other examples, here.
Longtime readers know I’m really into imaginary brands, and among other places addressed the topic in this November 18, 2007 column about T-shirt maker Last Exit to Nowhere. Since one of Last Exit’s designs is the Omni Consumer Products logo from Robocop, I was of course interested in this Evil Movie Megacorporation Rebranding project (via Adfreak). Here’s the new “friendlier” identity for Omni:
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