corporations
Freeganism Podcast
Now with his friend Bob and many others, he follows one of the paths of Freeganism, shopping from the backs of stores, without money, dumpster diving to utilize some of the many ton's of waste food and other products consumers and suppliers throw away each year.
As we remember the words of the economist and philosopher John Stuart Mill when he said.. "f you want to distroy a system, refuse to buy it's products", Alf agrees it's a dangerous message.
Click HERE to subscribe to the Documentally podcast or click HERE to download the audio.
This blog post originally appeared here: www.Documentally.com
For more information visit:
www.freegan.org.uk and www.freeganism.org
|
Communication is life
03/02/04 15:01 Filed in: Journalism
..in fact it is pivotal to
life.
'Perhaps communication could even form
part of a definition of life, because things that do
not communicate do not live either..'
In
our "developed" society the methods, tools and
techniques of communication have developed too. We
now have an astonishing array of specialised
communication, which support our way of life.
Sadly
the biggest users of communication are also often the
biggest abusers of communication. Governments and big
business have sponsored the development of
communications thinking through the employment of
advertising, PR and other communications agencies.
These agencies have developed techniques for helping
their paymasters conceal or invert the unacceptable
to persuade us the buying and voting public to accept
and even support things that poison us and disempower
us.
All too often the voice of truth and the voice
of caring has been drowned out by the deafening blare
of self-interested corporations and governments. The
tools of sophisticated communication have, until
recently, been expensive. Mass media is inaccessible
to all but the very rich and distribution of
magazines and news papers for example is controlled
by a very few who exploit their position.
The
Internet has propagated an amazing democratisation of
media. Every one now has, at least theoretically
access, to a global audience of millions. This has
already lead to a tremendous shift of power and the
signs are that it will contribute to a genuine
change. The anti-war protest marches of the 15
February 2003 could not possibly have been organised
on such a global scale with out the
Internet.
However theoretical access to the audience
does not mean that your message will be heard or
taken seriously. Far too many important and positive
messages and initiatives are blighted by the lack of
skill with which they are projected because although
the access is there the techniques of communication
are not always available and can be expensive.
The
Internet makes a mass audience available to us all,
web site authoring software and desk top design and
publishing tools makes the creation of fairly basic
web sites, brochures or newsletters easy.
Unfortunately the accessibility of the audience and
the availability of the tools does not turn all of us
into great designers, copywriters or coders.
Most
designers, copywriters and coders still work in
agencies for the corporate world designing clever
communications. For many of us the tragedy is that
these brilliant adverts, copy lines and web sites are
themselves just pollution pushing products which are
just more pollution.
Wouldn’t it be great to turn
that model around and apply the creative brilliance
of the communications industry to promoting the
positive projects, products and services that are out
there?
We need to change our society to a more
sustainable and less damaging model.
And if this is
to happen we all have to give up the idea of
individual success and wealth for a much broader
sense of community and societal success and wealth
for all without being at the expense of other
cohabitants of our planet.
Use your communication skills wisely and for the good of all.
Use your communication skills wisely and for the good of all.