A short but interesting opinion piece likens consumerism to religion. It’s certainly not the first time this comparison has been made…after all it seems that consumer and the woman of faith have the same goals: to seek happiness, contentment and true freedom.

The subtext of cultural change in the past 30 years has been the way the market has seeped into every sector of life and come to define how we think of who we are and what we do. We are consumers, feeding the great insatiable maw of the consumer economy.

Is it too much to suggest that consumerism has become a kind of alternative faith, a religion of sorts? Religions are characterized by some vision of a good life, by their rituals and by a particular language. Consumerism seems to be developing all three apace.

Consumerism is a greedy society’s religion

National disgrace: In a picture from a German archive never before published in Britain, the England football team give Nazi salutes in Berlin in 1938.

On May 14, 1938, in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, the English football team were blackguarded by the Foreign Office and the Football Association into giving the “Heil Hitler” Nazi salute before a friendly game with Germany. It was a piece of contemptible cringing rendered even more pathetic and futile because Hitler, who hated sport, didn’t bother to turn up.

But that picture of impressionable footballers obeying orders from mutton-headed apparatchiks went round the world and became a lasting source of shame to this country. This was, after all, just weeks after Hitler had annexed Austria and came at a time when plans for the Final Solution were well advanced.

Was Hitler made more reasonable by that salute, or by the willingness of the world to offer him a massive propaganda boost two years earlier at the Berlin Olympics by turning up without a squeak of protest? Of course not, which leads to some interesting parallels with today. (link to the full article)

Someone sent me this image… a political satire if you will. The Union Jack (U.K flag) is being changed to a condom, possibly because the condom and its functions perfectly mirror the state of affairs in present day U.K. Discontent and humor are a deadly mix.

See the full sized pic by clicking here.

I’m no political genius but this seems to speak the truth. But what form of direct action?

Some choice selections from the Reddit thread, where I found this picture:

WTFiswrongwithyou:

They say jump, you say how high.

WTF is wrong with you people? all I see when I browse your websites is how pissed off you are at your government, yet you do nothing about it. As somebody from very far away who has seen enough of civil unrest and disobedience, I have to say, your apathy and cinisism is sad and discouraging. Get out of your couch, turn off the computer.. and yes, go ahead and burn some cars, break some fucking windows, for humanity´s sake just do fucking something, anything, that expresses your unhappiness with the current state of affairs. If you don´t you are responsible for what your political class is doing to the world and to yourself. So stop whining, and trying to be clever and do fucking something. Anything.

And yes, I created an account just to write this. Excuse my english.

Edit: I just wanted to add, that around the world, we do know that the american people are better than their political class, raise up, don´t disapoint us, show your discontent.

kkrev:

Protests are a waste of time. Do you really think people in the street can force change on a modern state? It happened periodically throughout the Soviet system and they just mowed everyone down. Then, business as usual.

The Soviet system failed eventually because it went broke. If you REALLY want to affect change, quit your job. Live on a bare subsistence and file no taxes. Consume as little as possible, generating no sales tax or excise revenue. Store no savings with the banking system that finances war and corporatism. The system runs on MONEY, not hot air or “direct action.”

Myalomark:

I can’t believe the negativity displayed in some of the comments here. If you want change, you are going to have to get out into the streets at some point. When there are enough of us, the politicians will get nervous and start pandering our way, for once.

Yes, it can be dangerous, but tear gas washes away. What never washes away is the knowledge that you actually did something rightous instead of just sitting on your ass and bitching with your friends.

Image is everything in America. Thus, a suit and tie would be a good thing to wear to a protest. Let the cop provocateurs wear the Doc Martens and black hoodies. Let the American public see a bunch of “business profesionals” tossing rocks at the pigs and their attitude will change overnight. Think back to an earlier point in Packistan’s recent troubles, for instance. Nobody was paying that much atention until the media was full of images of angry lawyers battling it out with the police.

As anyone who’s ever worn a suit and tie has noticed, the clothes “make the man”. People automatically assume you’re someone who knows what’s up when you wear the costume of authority. So get yourself a suit. And make sure your hair doesn’t give you away, ya damn hippies!

One other thing a suit is god for: when the riot breaks out, it’s easier to escape when dressed like the enemy.

(It’s going to be a long, hot summer.)

nineoclick:

The key is for protests to be better organized that those who will disperse them (police). Not just old cars but distraction tactics. Split the cops up in as many ways over as large an area as possible just before a protest. Perhaps with several smaller but vocal protests in other logistically adjacent areas. Use the old cars to impeded police movement. Towtrucks can even form a temporary impediment to police movement.

Stage protests in as many places as far apart as possible while still being able to give the cops a reason to send forces in that direction. Remember, they’re not expecting protests to be that well organized, but rather think that protests will be large disorganized groups of people all in one place. Remember that protests need not gain ground to work and retreat can be used to draw a force in a desired direction.

Also, a lack of proximity can be overcome with sheer volume. Far enough away, such a tactic will draw police in even more spread out patterns. Done without permits, a small number of people can draw a disproportionate police force away from the convention area.

All of which needs to be done without violence. No need to give politicians more reason to assault the constitution even more.

Slave Britain is an art exhibition which examines the 21st century trade in human lives. I’ve read about human slavery before but the combination of pictures with text just makes it more striking.

The photographs, by Panos photographers Karen Robinson and David Rose, represent a rare and intimate insight into the mechanics of this fastest growing form of modern day slavery and explore the devastating impact it has on people’s lives.

The exhibition seeks to expose the reality of trafficking in the UK and the action needed to tackle it. The participating agencies are lobbying the UK Government to make good on its recent promise to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings in order to guarantee minimum standards of protection and support for trafficked people.

Iris Murdoch tells the truth here.

Ever wanted what it would be like to live in a city without advertising? São Paulo is where you should head. São Paulo is city that has passed laws preventing outdoor advertising of any sort. This means no posters, flyers, bus ads, billboards or even stickers.

“In September last year, the city’s populist right-wing mayor, Gilberto Kassab, passed the so-called Clean City laws. Fed up with the “visual pollution” caused by the city’s 8,000 billboard sites, many of them erected illegally, Kassab proposed a law banning all outdoor advertising.

The skyscraper-sized hoardings that lined the city’s streets would be wiped away at a stroke. And it was not just billboards that attracted his wrath: all forms of outdoor advertising were to be prohibited, including ads on taxis, on buses—even shopfronts were to be restricted, their signs limited to 1.5 metres for every 10 metres of frontage. “It is hard in a city of 11 million people to find enough equipment and personnel to determine what is and isn’t legal,” reasoned Kassab, “so we have decided to go all the way.”

This bold move was first initiated in September 2006 and has been well documented by photographer Tony de Marco. Here’s a Business Week article about Sao Paulo’s ad-free campaign and I’ve dug up some pictures of Sao Paulo as well.

An urban environment stripped of advertising feels a little odd but it just take a little getting used to. I actually like the spartan feel of it.