Americans are known for overconsumption. The stereotypical American is thought to be rather large, values money and possessions more than anything, and is frequently seen yelling about ‘Murica and freedom at the top of their lungs. We are thought to be the epitome of excessive consumption whether it is food or finances. However we aren’t the only ones that can be known for our over the top habits. According to the World Watch Institute, 12 percent of the world’s population lives in North America or in Western Europe but they account for 60 percent of private consumption spending (World Watch Institute). This is not just a simple, easy to fix problem, it’s an international crisis that effects our future. The overconsumption of the more affluent …show more content…
The popular Canadian magazine AdBusters was the push that truly made Buy Nothing Day as big as it is today. Over 60 nations now participate annually, and the expected amount of participants for 2015 was a whopping one million people (AdBusters). In North America Buy Nothing Day is held on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, whereas everywhere else holds it on the last Saturday of November. Participants show their support in a number of ways. There are the easier tactics such as simply not purchasing any products from a large nationwide retailer like Walmart or you could go extreme. AdBusters recommends you have fun with it and go a little extreme. They suggest Zombie Walks, when you walk around the mall or shopping center essentially dressed as a zombie to exhibit the now normal behaviors of those that have fallen into the trap that is the consumerist machine, or you could participate in a fan favorite, the Whirl-Mart, this is a conga line of silent protesters pushing around empty shopping carts through widely known stores (AdBusters). Buy Nothing Day, in all, is a day dedicated to the raise awareness about overconsumption and the negativity in …show more content…
They might say that it isn’t even worth a try, that a single day won’t change anyone’s point of view, that most will go back to living the consumeristic lifestyle the very next day. However as the anti-consumerism magazine AdBusters says “Buy Nothing Day isn’t just about changing your habits for one day, it is about rediscovering what it means to live freely.” Buy Nothing Day is not just one of those days people should take lightly and pretty much ignore, it is the start of a solution to a global epidemic. It is meant to bring about inspiration, to make us see the error of our ways and correct them before they do too much
Having to eat so much is problem and the authors have great ideas to help prevent over eating. Americans around the world need to stop eating so much because they play as a role model to the youth and young adolescents. Healthy eating is the most beneficial despite how it sometimes taste.
In the article “What You Eat Is Your Business”, the author claims, Americans need to be more responsible for their own health and the government should not become involved (Balko). I argue this point; the American people have been tempted into buying foods that are unhealthy, cheap, and convenient, and we cannot be responsible when foods like this are so easy and available to purchase. We are also one of the fattest nations in the world. He conveys in the article that we should have some sort of responsibility for what we put into our own body (Balko), but I feel that with all of the tempting foods being right at our fingertips, we are getting fatter and fatter. When we turn on the television at night, and every fifteen minutes a food commercial comes on. When we go to school, there are vending machines in every building. Nobody offers water anymore with our meals; it costs extra just to get a cup for water with a meal.
Imagine, a day where making any type of purchase was simply not allowed. No food, no gas, no items, none of the above. A single day without using money to purchase any good. Sounds difficult doesn’t it? “Buy Nothing Day,” which was originally developed in Canada, is a day in which citizens around the world are urged not to purchase goods in order to promote the awareness of excessive consumerism. However, the establishment of such a day will have negative impact not just on the people of the world, but the economy as a whole as well. There will be many consequences to the actions of “Buy Nothing Day” such as lower revenues for local businesses, a stunt in economic growth, and international companies to recess in the stock market due to the
Toward the end of the legislative session, fear rises as bills line up at the Texas governor’s desk. With the governor’s power of vetoes, it seems that lawmakers in Texas are losing their power. In Texas, the governor, Greg Abbott has the power to veto any bill that is present to him with no limit. During the recent session, 6,968 bills were sent to the governor’s desk for approval. Abbott will not make a decision until the legislative period is over to avoid challenges and to make his decision permanent. During these last few weeks of the legislative period, the governor holds a tremendous power over the lawmakers. Lawmakers are inclined to “curry favors” with the governor in order to get their bills passed. Greg Abbott, for example, has
Some evidence points out too much food and not enough exercise as one of the main causes. According to the publichealth.org website, “Americans are notorious for their fast-food consumption ― such food makes up about 11% of the average American diet. Another study demonstrates the full effect added sugars from soda and energy drinks are wreaking havoc on American waistlines.” So it is not just how much we eat, but what we eat? On the other hand, Americans spent more than $50 billion annually on quick diet scheme, books, and work-out videos to lose weight. Most especially as a New Year’s resolution wish having had too much holiday dinners and parties. The irony of the mixed messages on health, and food consumption in America could send anyone to a therapist chair on conflicting emotions about food and
MWA#2 was our argumentative news paper editorial, and the rhetorical situation was that we were hired by The Daily Lobo to write a piece about an important issue and discuss both sides ultimately contending for one side. We also need to have research on the topic and have cited our sources properly. Our audience for this assignment was to be the readers of The Daily Lobo. I very much enjoyed this assignment as I love to argue and it was very fun choosing any topic I wanted, besides the ones deemed off-limits in class. In an argument there is a process you have to follow and it roughly starts with choosing a topic of debate and then researching it on both sides to compose a more sophisticated piece. Something I learned is that your topic has
In a world of consumerism, technology, and spending, a day where no one purchases goods sounds quite impossible. This is what a Buy Nothing Day encourages. People are urged to not buy anything for a day in order to reflect on the effects of over-consumption. First started in 1992, Buy Nothing Day has become popular in different nations. The establishment of an annual Buy Nothing Day would be greatly beneficial to the economy, the environment, and all people who spend.
In this book, Pollan focuses a lot on the culture that surrounds the eating habits of today’s society in America. He talks about how we come from a culture that was primarily dependent on the hunting and gathering of our food. Pollan explains that through the years, Americans have turned away from providing for themselves in exchange for quicker and more convenient meals. I believe that America has evolved into a fast paced way of living. This has inhibited today’s society from having optimal time to prepare and even sit down to enjoy their meals. These cultural changes have led to a higher consumption rate of processed and fast foods. Almost anywhere you go, you can find a find a fast food restaurant or chain. With all of these arising opportunities, today’s culture has created a very unhealthy nation filled with sickness and disease. Pollan states that three out of every five Americans are overweight and one out of every five is obese. When compared to American culture before processed and fast food were ever an option, issues and diseases related to weight were almost non-existent. The people that lived before our modernized culture had to expend a greater amount of energy on hunting and tracking their prey, sometimes even ending up empty handed. However, when compared to today’s culture a surplus of food is available to people in exchange for much smaller energy expenditures.
Everyone loves fast food, surgery desserts and indulging in sweet and salty snacks covered in chocolate. What people rarely think of is how unhealthy they may be eating and what they’re putting into their bodies. The consequences can be life threating if not taking the right procedures to maintain a healthy lifestyles. As we continue these unhealthy lifestyles they can be taken after by our children and their grandchildren. Children that continue in their parents footsteps or start these habits soon learn the finances as adults such as health costs. Radley Balko criticizes Americans in “What You Eat Is Your Business” for not taking their own responsibility regarding be overweight and how it’s become a public issue. He says the government is not
Finkelstein & Zuckerman (2008). The Fattening of America. How the Economy Make us Fat, If
...quote by Daniel Bell that the “tendency of capitalism, in its single-minded pursuit of profit, to erode the various cultural underpinnings that steady a society but often impede the march of commercialization” (302). He means that if it will stop the flow of money, the capitalist government will do all it takes to remove it. If we are to fix the way Americans eat and think, we need to move back towards pleasurable eating and diets not ruled by capitalistic attempts to make more money. The only way this will ever be accomplished is if the government worries less about money and more about the health of the people. That will control the markets and what is sold, but the problem will still continue unless people change the way they eat as well. If we follow the French example of longer dinners and smaller entrees, we may be able to solve this omnivore’s dilemma.
Richardson, Jill. "How America Is Making the Whole World Fat and Unhealthy." Alternet. N.p., 7 Mar. 2012. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. .
consume much more than an average extended family of eight or ten in India or Mexico. Overconsumption was, therefore, as destructive as overpopulation, but the US kept pointing its finger at developing nations urging them to curb their population growth while refusing to
Zero Waste Market is revolutionizing the way consumers shop, by making them consider the effect the products they choose to purchase have on the environment and community. Providing customers with organic, ethically sourced products in an environmentally friendly way will revamp the way consumers purchase groceries. Zero Waste Market is the first store of its kind in Canada, and with a strategic marketing plan in place, growing Zero Waste Market into a nationally known brand can be achieved.
The single most important environmental issue today is over-consumerism, which leads to excess waste. We buy too much. We think we always need new and better stuff. Will we ever be satisfied? There will always be something better or cooler on the market. Because we live in a capitalistic consumer culture, we have absorbed things like: “Get it while the getting’s good,” “Offer ends soon, buy while it lasts,” “For great deals, come on down…Sunday Sunday Sunday!” We, kids from 1 to 92, have become saturated with commercials like: Obey your thirst. How much of our consumption is compulsive buying, merely obeying our momentary thirst? Do we actually need all that we buy? Could we survive efficiently, even happily, without making so many shopping center runs? Once after I made a Target run with mom, I noticed that most of the bulkiness within my plastic bags with red targets symbols on them was made up of the products’ packaging. I then thought about all the bags that were piled on the floor near us…all of the bags piled on the floors of many homes throughout America daily.