auntb93again
 |
You may believe you are joking, or at the very least must see the irony inherent in your question, but the fact is there IS such a market. It seems to be fueled by tee shirts, bumper stickers, and anything which forms the communication chain for the "underground" to find each other.
"Anti-consumerism" is an attitude, and yet it is part of the marketplace. But it feeds the small business, artist and craftsman markets, and any number of "customizing" things which contradict the idea that we must all buy into the mass market, to things sold by the millions or at least a market of that scale, depending on the object in question. So the people who digitize custom designs for embroidery machines, which are now a huge cottage industry tool, those who can convert jpg and tif and gif and so on into coffee mug stencils, mouse pads, that whole market that loves electronics for what it can do to personalize anything and everything.
I just got a demonstration CD from people who sell the equipment, instructions, patterns, etc., for all manner of engraving, air brushing, etc., using the same high-speed technology the founder of the firm learned about as a dentist. The video presentation included people who engrave Harley Davidsons, hunting knives, gun stocks, wedding glassware, and anything else you can imagine that can be done incredibly easily and still have that hand-made, personalized touch, and they go to crafts shows, they sell in touristy areas, they are doing what they would love to do as a hobby, and doing it fast enough with high tech that they can make it into a full-time career. One woman was legally blind, and so persisted in learning this craft that she's winning awards.
There are ladies making quilts and being a part of an incredible artistic boom in textiles, reaching out for new techniques, materials and high-tech tools to do something intensely personal well enough and rapidly enough that the can make it a full-time job. There are amazing numbers of people supporting themselves, sometimes quite well, in Renaissance Faires and other showcases for fine craftsmanship, selling jewelry, costumes, silver chalices, and all things of armory that their imaginations and their historical research, in whatever balance, creates with enough skill to be able to support himself or herself and family on what they do with their hands and simple tools and materials.
That is anti-consumerism in its way, too. Because most people who can afford to would really rather have a good handmade piece of whatever it is they want, rather than a mass-produced piece with no character. |
mel
|
what is anti-consumerism and which one do you refer to?
GREEN CONSUMERISM
This is where people purchase or participate in goods or services which attempt to replace existing ones with something designed to be 'friendlier' and less damaging to ecosystems and natural planetary defences
ETHICAL CONSUMERISM
This is a development of green consumerism which considers a variety of wider issues than just a product's green credentials, such as whether or not the manufacturer invests in the arms trade or has supported oppressive regimes. Through a comprehensive monitoring of the behaviour of modern business, ethical consumerism aims to encourage trade to be as responsible as is possible within the current economic system.
ANTICONSUMERISM...
however, challenges many of the assumptions about what is needed in contemporary society. Taking the view that the rich nations of the world are fundamentally damaging the planet and themselves in the pursuit of material acquisition, it raises the question, "How much is enough?" Rather than just buying green or ethically-produced goods, different ways of living, trading and working are advocated in order to 'live more lightly' on the Earth and be less dependent on buying things to feel good about ourselves. |
Homepage 
Financial
Forum 
Advertising & Marketing 
No Spam
Adult 
Gambling
Unfinished
Deception
Plagiarism
Not English
