Maybe it is time...
...to legally limit the amount of advertising any one corporation is allowed to put out over, say, a decade. After all, advertising is the oil that allows the engine of unbridled consumerism to keep running faster and faster, so that we can fill the holes in our souls with stuff or play status catch-me-up games like chimpanzees.
And we do live on a planet of finite resources, so perhaps continuously making vast amounts of shiny and irresistible new toys isn't that great an idea. Or is it? Perhaps it is. Or is it? * Puzzled*
(Happybara The jungle came alive and took him, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 11:48, 17 replies)

pointless post has no point

(likeajackhammer, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 11:54, closed)

Hmmm.
I think it does. The author seems to be suggesting that a cap on advertising could be conducive to a reduction in the wanton consumerism that is destroying our planet. But certainly he is not very bold in his assertion. Perhaps on that we can agree?
(Happybara The jungle came alive and took him, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 11:59, closed)

I doubt reducing advertising would have any effect on "saving the planet"
It would simply put people out of work and put more stress on an already fragile economy.
( theoriginalsteve <this space intentionally left blank>, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 12:07, closed)

hang on... hang on...
are you saying that these problems CAN'T be solved by one throw-away statement?

I've been doing this all wrong
(likeajackhammer, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 12:08, closed)

sorry, I think I just destroyed the moral of the whole world.
oops.
( theoriginalsteve <this space intentionally left blank>, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 12:10, closed)

so.... what you're saying is...
people are stupid... and therefore the government need to curb advertising to stop stupid people buying things they don't need?
(likeajackhammer, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 12:07, closed)

I'm not saying people are stupid...
but as a species we're not doing that well. Many of us buy an awful lot of things we don't need to the detriment of the planet and indeed our own psychological wellbeing. It's partly because we're hardwired to interact in certain ways. I'm sure we all know alpha males who buy Porsches and Range Rovers instead of thumping their chests and swinging aggressively through the bush. And of course there are those who shop compulsively for a buzz or because it temporarily abates some inexplicable feeling of emptiness.

Products should be celebrated for their longevity and parsimony, not their novelty. Everbody needs to slow down and re-adjust their goggles or we're in grave trouble. The whole notion of free-market economies needs to be re-examined. It is a system that cannot continue indefinitely and advertising is a key part of it. Personally, I doubt this re-examination will occur on a broad enough scale to bring about useful change. It's all too much of a headfuck.
(Happybara The jungle came alive and took him, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 12:33, closed)

People are stupid though
also, some people buy Porsches and Range Rovers because they are good cars.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 12:53, closed)

Yes, it is true.
People, on the whole, are stupid or at least maddeningly short-sighted. The thing is, I love cars. My neighbour has a 911 and it's a beautifully made object, so perfectly fit for purpose. As you say, a good car. But we must harden our hearts to such pretty temptations. Every one constructed and used is another of inhabitable earth's death by a trillion cuts. Buy second-hand if you really need a car.

Besides we'll hit peak oil, if we haven't already, and thirty years down the line petrol will hit the magical $300 a barrel mark. Once this occurs, capitalism and indeed society as we know it will cease to become viable. Forget about Porsches. Think Mad Max. We don't have very long to make significant scientific breakthroughs in cheap, clean energy and/or huge changes in how we think.
(Happybara The jungle came alive and took him, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 14:46, closed)

Yeah, but ...
Getting and having stuff is great, though.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 14:22, closed)

Indeed it is!
Especially if by 'stuff' you mean milk-bottles of urine. One of my tenants left three in his bedroom cupboard and buggered off without paying his final month or collecting his deposit(s!). They're still in my fridge. Any suggestions as to what I should do with them?
(Happybara The jungle came alive and took him, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 14:58, closed)

eBay.
Claim they're genuine Japanese school-girl urine.

#6. Profit!
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 14:59, closed)

I don't know...
Are you allowed to sell piss on e-bay? I wouldn't want to make some poor perv ill. And what would I charge? All sounds a bit tricky.
(Happybara The jungle came alive and took him, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 15:14, closed)

Then I refer you to my first response.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 15:18, closed)

I just did a smelly fart

(likeajackhammer, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 15:11, closed)

Could you give us some idea
of its qualities? Does it smell meaty, sweet, sulphurous ...or perhaps just of freshly deposited semen?
(Happybara The jungle came alive and took him, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 15:21, closed)

Shut up, hippy.

( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Tue 20 Apr 2010, 12:03, closed)