If you haven't seen the first in this series, The Story of Stuff, you might want to view it now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8
Looks like much of the website is still under construction http://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-change/ but it could evolve into a great hub for activism. Annie Leonard and her team have some tremendous work so far.
Really?
Someone needs to slap that lady awake. Sorry I couldn't even watch the whole thing. I don't think she has a clue as to what the underlying problems are. But hey, 15 years ago that could have been me.
You are great!
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I don't understand your comment, Wendy. Maybe you should watch the whole thing.
Ok, the first film wasn't so bad. The only objectionable linewas this:
Being a responsible citizen starts with voting.
The Story of Broke should have been called the story of bs in my opinion. She starts out saying she pays taxes because its the law. Noa, you've posted freeman on the land stuff and America From Freedom to Fascism so I would think you would agree with me that there actually is no legitimate law saying Americans have to pay taxes.
"Cutting things that made this country great, like schools and the EPA" When schools were purely run by local communities on a shoestring budget I would agree with her - they were what made this country great. But once government funding got involved on the state level and even worse on the national level schools became these huge government money wasters with giant athletic facilities and actualy learning standards that dropped like a stone. I could be wrong on this point but it is my impression that the EPA runs a bit like the FDA. It rubberstamps polluting by the big corporations who can afford the fancy lawyers and puts their competition - the small Mom and Pop companies out of business because they can't afford to keep up with all the paperwork and legal expenses of complying. Like the FDA rubberstamping pharmaceuticals and going after raw milk producers.
"We should help companies that are helping us build a better future" By we I think she means the government. Sorry but that's facsism - even when it's going to support solar panel companies. I don't want to be forced to prop up these companies and I don't want the power of the majority to force the minority to subsidize these companies either. That doesn't mean I wouldn't consider subsidizing one of these companies personally - I frequently buy the greener option even when it costs more but that's my personal choice - it's different from asking the government to steal from some people so that they can give it to others.
"Starting with voting them out" - haven't we already been down that road over and over? Vote the republicans out to put in Democrats that follow the same policies? I don't see that as a solution.
She admits that government has misplaced and mis-spent a huge portion of our money but she seems to think that is simply due to lack of involvement by the people and if we just ask them to change the spending all will be well. It seems to me that she has a complete lack of understanding of human nature and the corruptability of the power of government. It's like saying all these problems are because we have a bad monarchy in place now and when we replace him/her with a good monarchy all will be well.
Ending with the solution of putting more money into education when this system is teaching children so many lies is the real kicker for me. How about disolving the education system all together and letting parents keep the money they would normally pay for schools so that they can afford to homeschool their kids? Homeschooling has been shown to be a far more sucessful way to educate children if you just want to talk about results, rather than the morality of forced taxation on everyone.
Banning plastic bags is where she just goes over the top natzi and I gave up watching. Sure, government rules are the problem so lets solve it by taking more freedom of decisions away from the people, treat them more like children, and making more government rules. I hate solutions like this and I'm a person who takes shopping bags with me almost every time I go to the market. You just never know who may legitimately need to use plastic bags for medical or other reasons. They need to be able to make these decisions on their own. And any time local communities have done this it's only for the bags they give away at the market. It never applies to all the processed crap wrapped in plastic that's produced by the big corporations. See how this is just punishing the little people again with this stupid top down fascist natzi approach to "solving " problems?
Sorry for the long rant but you did ask for it.....
I'm editing this now because I feel terrible that it sounds so negative and cynical but I think to sum it all up in a more brief answer I just find her solutions naive. That said I have to commend her for envisioning a better world. Something we all should do and never give up striving for. I just personally think there's another path that's much more effective. I think she actually did have it right in the beginning with her first film on Stuff. By making changes as individuals and consumers we are forcing change in a big way. Organic food is readily available at almost all supermarkets, the newspapers are going out of business and people are using less plastic bags, without being forced to. I personally would like to envision a society that is more free with less need for rules and big government.
Wendy
I see how you got there, but I think you were too busy bristling at the word "rules" to focus on the message. I don't like government telling us what to do either, but even alternative societies have a benchmark set of rules. Rules don't have to be the enemy; they can be guidelines designed to represent and protect what people need and want. For example, if someone wants to throw his trash in the river, a rule might be necessary to protect people living downstream.
This video is about changing the system by demanding a new way of life. Yes, I agree that voting is a farce - clearly Annie Leonard hasn't seen the material exposed by http://blackboxvoting.org/reports/corruption/. But the point is that when individuals come together as a cohesive body, we have the power to change the existing system.
Most of us don't want wars, pollution, poverty, etc., so why do we continue to live with them? It could be that we feel powerless to do anything or maybe we want other people to solve the problems for us. The main message of this video is that when take action together with a common goal, we can change the system for the better -- even if we don't have all the answers, yet.
Oh, and about those plastic bags... we can still have plastic without plastic pollution. Technology already exists that turns vegetable starch into biodegradable plastic. So why aren't biodegradable plastics mass produced? Because doing so would take huge profits from the oil companies. We solve this problem by showing people that alternatives exist and by empowering people to do their part to change the system... no one said it would be easy.
Naive? Maybe. But I agree with Annie... the way forward begins with taking the first step together.
Thanks Noa,
Sorry I was so negative that day when I answered. I think it's a very human tendancy to argue about solutions when we feel like we're in a sinking ship. Hopefully, the way forward will open up soon. I do beleive it's beginning.
Wendy
I feel the great move forward coming as well sometimes it has to hurt to heal !!!
Love all <> Eric
One of the things I admire most about you is that you're not afraid to speak your mind.
http://dailycaller.com/2014/04/02/report-epa-tested-deadly-pollutants-on...
I can't think of one thing that the US government is doing to benefit the general public that doesn't come with a catch or an ulterior motive. Can you?