bird_feeder
beautiful shark
i tell myself that ...
Posts: 118
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Post by bird_feeder on May 5, 2002 16:08:06 GMT 10
hi everyone,
i was just wondering what other people thought of the following books :
(note - i'd rather people who have actually READ them contribute, not just wing it off what their friends say. this is not an assessable tutorial, gang.)
no logo - naomi klein
fast food nation - eric schlosser
cute, quaint, hungry and romantic : the aesthetics of mordern consumerism - daniel harris
take it personally - anita roddick.
thoughts / ideas about all of this ??
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Post by dirtgirl on May 6, 2002 0:22:29 GMT 10
i'm tired...so i'll get back to your birdboy with my response...but I have read 'no logo' by ms klein. Have you read any stuff by ralph nader, noam chomsky or raulston saul?  do you work for big business? or are you an S11 anarchist?   |
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bird_feeder
beautiful shark
i tell myself that ...
Posts: 118
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Post by bird_feeder on May 10, 2002 21:56:27 GMT 10
no, i have not read any of those authors ... yet. i'm still trying to chug through some required readings for uni - about postmodernism, if you don't mind. whatever that means to you.
i am not part of 'big business,' neither am i an anarchist. but i know people who could be identified as either one. at the moment, i am getting close to finishing an IT/Law degree at uni, and i just thought i'd see what's out there by actually reading the texts, rather than then believing the hype. at this stage, i could go either way - i could become a Jerry, and get swallowed up in some huge law factory/firm, or i could try something else ... i dunno, i guess it's important to step outside what's comfortable and think about how you think - what is influencing / shaping / altering lifestyle choices etc. these books have clarified for me, to some extent, what's really been happening in society, and where we may be headed ....
:hitting::hitting:
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Post by dirtgirl on May 11, 2002 12:31:46 GMT 10
Good idea to get the facts/opinions first hand! That way you can make an informed opinion for or against. And better understand the grey... Knowledge is power... 8)
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Post by subtitled on May 16, 2002 12:09:53 GMT 10
hello
I finished reading no logo a couple of months ago.
It was an interesting read. As one of you said it is good know what is going on 'out there'. But at the same time do we have to consider an account of the current climate as another perspective?
It's all wrapped up in ideology as far as I can tell. Pluralist society, each party interpreting the factual events as meaning different things.
This said I have serious reservations about many trends emerging in society/world. Basicly it seems like we are all being duped (in some fashion) into this commercial nightmare, without regard to equality, wrapped up in our own hedonism.
The only this is that to effect change you are basically have the minority of people telling the majority of people that how they are leading their lives is morally or ethically wrong and that they should listen to the enlightened few. As least the co-ercion of the 'globalisation' at least previously was reasonably subtle, but seems to be getting less subtle.
So what is the solution? dont know
What was the point of my post? dont know
anyway y'all take care
</self indulgent middle-class white boy attempt at meaningful input, expressed as pretentious bullshit>
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Post by dirtgirl on May 17, 2002 22:12:09 GMT 10
Thanks for your thoughts, </self indulgent middle-class white boy attempt at meaningful input, expressed as pretentious bullshit> (lol) I wonder if globalisation, and the resultant homogenisation and in places genocide of culture isn't a new attempt by humanity to reconstruct the metaphorical tower of Babylon? Like the original tower, the idea was fine, just the devil lay in the detail...like the greedy raging egos, the people claiming to make the rules fair for all but then they put 30% trade tariffs against their so called friends etc... No wonder the right-handed dragon is beginning to rear its ugly head again, particularly in Europe. Does anyone fear history potentially repeating itself? |
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bird_feeder
beautiful shark
i tell myself that ...
Posts: 118
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Post by bird_feeder on May 18, 2002 9:11:33 GMT 10
um, i don't really fear history repeating itself - i think about the nature of dominating empires to eventually collapse and fall (Rome, Greece, the Khan etc), and it warns my little heart to think that this will one day happen to the USA too. coca-cola has got to be bad for you. do we really need another trashy sitcom ??
anyhoo, i think it would be more dangerous if we failed to learn from previous mistakes. the current accelerating hyper culture, infatuated with youth and crippled with a short attention span and an even shorter memory (asylum seeker, anyone ?) does seem to be progressing towards some kind of babylon. what we do when we'll get there is open to debate - start all over again, this time with feeling ? whinge about the lack of air-conditioning ? mmmm... there's a whole world out there, people. posting messages to e-boards pales into insignificance when compared to meaningful person-to-person contact. now get out there and be a positive force for change.
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Post by dirtgirl on May 18, 2002 23:36:25 GMT 10
agreed...we need to reconnect as people and rediscover the concept of real community...the question is how? |
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Post by subtitled on May 19, 2002 18:49:00 GMT 10
what do you mean by community?
unless you were to cast the net as wide as you possible could, isnt the notion of 'community' inherently exclusionary? a group of like minded parties joining together to either protect or furthur a set of interests or beliefs. I know a community doesnt necessarily have to be like this but they often are. Whether it be a community group (in broad defition of the term) in society through to organisations such as the EU, opec, asean. Even though the the wto and imf have bloody great ideals about developing LDC's its a fucking joke based upon trickle down economics, which while in theory presents itself well, the application has occured in such a way as to benefit private enterprise and developed economies.
sorry
half way through this paragraph I realised that we in fact do need community so as to counter these forces not on a individual level but as a powerful collective. there is no point in knocking yourself out pursuing notions of intragenerational equity if in practice the difference is negligibe.
so dirtgirl I salute your point.
suggested measure is trade union membership. who are fundamentally concerned with community but are looking to re-invigorate themselves with a broader social focus.
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Post by dirtgirl on May 19, 2002 21:01:33 GMT 10
exactly what I meant by the concept of community...one individual cannot make change but many together...
trade unions I guess are one way, perhaps more powerfully is alternative political parties? I don't really know the answer to this; how does one keep the 'collectives' or 'communities' free from corruption etc so that justice and positive change can happen? :/
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bird_feeder
beautiful shark
i tell myself that ...
Posts: 118
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Post by bird_feeder on May 20, 2002 17:39:50 GMT 10
um, i realised after the fact that my last post on May 18th, 2002, 12:11pm, that i had been rather postmodern, and for a bible-believing Christian, almost embarrassingly self-deterministic. mmm. i reckon Christianity contains what we search for : www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/comments ?? |
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Post by dirtgirl on May 20, 2002 23:14:06 GMT 10
i'm sorry but I'm having major issues with the aftermath of an orthodox roman catholic upbringing right at the moment, so i'll be diplomtic and say nothing further on the matter...bit of a sore point.
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Post by dirtgirl on May 23, 2002 15:00:05 GMT 10
Why do you feel the answer lies in Christanity? |
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bird_feeder
beautiful shark
i tell myself that ...
Posts: 118
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Post by bird_feeder on May 25, 2002 14:51:14 GMT 10
the short version is i believe that God made the world, and us too. if you buy an appliance - say a fridge or television - you're gonna read the instruction manual. while we are just a wee bit more complicated than your average sony or fisher & paykel, it makes sense to me to consult our Maker when things go wrong ...
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Post by dirtgirl on Jun 2, 2002 13:09:10 GMT 10
But what about personal accountability?
But what about other religions and other gods?
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