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, 3 replies)

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)