Staying in Jakarta made me think even more than before about how sustainable our way of living is, or little sustainable, I should say. Everybody in Asia wants to have a big car and everyone around the world wants a blackberry. After watching Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff, the notion that we should seriously diminish our consumption cannot escape me anymore. But how? In this world of want, is there a way of not wanting? Is there a way back?
Would I myself be willing to consume less? If this means I should fly less often, would I? Currently, I am reading Jared Diamond's 'Collapse', a book on how some societies have a tendency to destroy themselves. Is that what we're doing? Well, naturally I haven't found an answer yet. But I do want to share a teaser of Annie Leonard's video.
2 comments:
There's nothing wrong with a world of wanting, but it's what you want. Happiness or prosperity is not defined by the things we own. When most is gone, there's still the Bali breeze 2 enjoy or even a bikeride through the rain with some of ur favorite tunes joining you.
you're right, somehow the lifestyle model all over the world is the american affluenza. bigger cars, bigger houses, bigger tvs ... all this stuff = power = respect in people minds.
I think there is a way of not wanting, to use your words. It frustrates me when i hear people saying the government should do this or that, to alleviate these problems. We all have our share of responsibility into creating a solution. Being conscious that almost every decision we make, even small ones, has some impact that we can influence. Buying local food, choosing greener transports, watching for wasting habits, all these little things add up, especially when done collectively. Lets not have the "if i'm the only one to do it, it doesn't matter" mindset that i heard so many times.
Here comes a time of great individual and collective responsibility. It is not to take lightly.
Flying is also concerned. In the light of this decision-making process, one should prefer staying for a longer period of time than flying to multiple destinations all the time.
Here is a link on this 'wanting' topic : http://zenhabits.net/2009/11/how-to-want-very-little/
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