In the age of innocence...
Has anyone heard that we're in a recession? I hear it all the time. It's crazy, and the conversation is always followed by everyone blaming the big, evil corporations. Well, it's true. Some of them are in fact evil by definition, but there's something we are failing to see: one of the best things about a free economy or capitalism in general is that corporations will generally produce products that we want or have asked for. In fact, corporations spend millions of dollars trying to figure out the best way to produce and design the things we will buy. Isn't that nice of them?
We said we wanted to live in houses that were too big for our wallets, so the mortgage companies created "the five year arm" and other financing products that allowed us to do just that. We said we wanted big - really big - cars that guzzled gas and polluted our planet, so the car companies created the SUV. We said we wanted cheap clothes so that our styles could change with the seasons with just a swipe of the plastic card (another issue all together), so the manufacturers started outsourcing production overseas and exploiting workers ages 8-80.
No one held a gun to our head and told us to buy these things, and no, commercials are not considered lethal weapons. So in the end, when we blame the corporations, aren't we really just blaming ourselves?
The great thing about this mess we are in is that it started with us; therefore, it can end with us. "How?" you ask. Well now is the time to raise our consumeristic conscientiousness. I'm sure many of you reading this are already on the path, but there's no time for walking it: start jogging.
Tell the corporations what you want and how you want it. Trust me; they will start doing it right. Until then, buy more Pangea. We started listening nine years ago, and we'll never stop.
Joshua Scott Onysko Founder & CEO Pangea Organics