Kaylie: We Sure Do Like Our Stuff

Editor's note: We challenged all of our finalists to "Tell us about a current topic that's of importance to your generation."

It’s the first day of school in September, so many thoughts are rushing through your mind.  You’re sad the summer is over, excited to see friends again, nervous about what classes you have and who your teachers are— but above all, you can’t wait to show off your new back to school gear to everyone!  You dragged Mom and Dad out a few weeks prior to shop for new clothes, shoes, jacket, backpack, pencil case and all brand new school supplies of course— and you’ve waited all this time to finally bust it out and show it off!

Sound familiar?

Well, this, my friends, is a simple but prime example of what is classified consumerism in our world today.  We’re all guilty of it, we’re not always proud of it, but somehow we always come back to it. 

Society’s infatuation with the consumption of goods is a particularly significant topic for our generation.  Unlike our parents and grandparents, we were born into this society and have spent all our lives being given most of the things we want and ‘need’.  We’ve reached a point where we no longer define ourselves by the things we do but by the objects we purchase. 

Aside from the moral wrongness of this issue and the fact that it’s costing us way too much money, we are also causing damage to our world in the process.  Most often times, we don’t even need the items we purchase, but clever advertising tells us that we aren’t good enough if we don’t get ourselves these new, shiny toys.  Meanwhile, the system of developing these goods and getting them in our hands is depleting our natural resources, polluting the environment and even harming ourselves. 

So, what’s the good news?

The good news is that all these ideas and processes were designed by people.  This in turn means that they can be altered and made better by people!  It is our job as the new generation to try to make things right.  It may seem impossible, but with the amazing technology we have access to and sheer power of mind, there is hope that something can be done to improve our world by squashing consumerism.  

What can WE do now?

Get informed, spread the word, do our part!

As I mentioned, consumerism is directly linked with environmental, economical and health issues—so there is every reason to put our efforts toward helping.  The first step is getting to understand the system and helping to inform others.

Below is a quick but very informative video called “The Story of Stuff.”  If you’ve got a few extra minutes, I highly recommend checking it out as it is a great starting point for understanding this complicated topic.

That’s all for today, folks.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for my next video! 

Kaylie