I was sat outside Tesco this morning after popping in to buy a Latte (£1.10) and a packet of 10 cigarettes (£2.25).
I took the latte back to the car, and sat there watching all the braindead consumer morons rushing in and out. Men in suits driving over-sized executive cars, middle-aged women pulling up in 4x4's, workmen in vans etc.
No one stopped to talk to each other, everyones eyes were firmly fixed to the ground with expressionless faces.
All dressed in similar clothes, driving similar cars, spending similar amounts of money largely on products they don't really need.
What exactly IS the point of all this rushing about, increasing greed, a self-inflicted duty to earn more and more money?
Inside the supermarket it's a huge expanse of advertising, aisle-upon-aisle of products, sterile floors, artificial lighting, specially-chosen music playing faintly in the distance, security cameras tracking your every movement. You're then enticed by the products on offer, all at vastly-inflated prices (A DVD costs 20p to manufacture, and yet they cost up to, and over £15 each.
You have to wear certain clothes so that you then become 'accepted' into the pack (mass public). You then become just another shadow with a plastic card with your name and a number on it which you use to pay for your mostly un-needed purchases.
Your transactions are monitored by anonymous computers in a bank HQ somewhere. Your movements are tracked by CCTV constantly. The programmes you decide to watch on television are logged.
From the moment we're born, everyone one of us is force-fed information on how we should be. How we should look, what we should eat, what we should do for entertainment etc.
I only realised this today, but this is a nation of complete and utter cunts. Money is the only thing people understand anymore. We don't love each other anymore, we don't respect each other anymore. We're just selfish, largely single-minded robots dictated to by the media and government.
I know this post is all mish-mashed and poorly constructed, but I just wanted to get as many points as I could across without rambling on too much.
Does anyone agree with me?
Sick of Britain & Consumerism
I hate conformist and consumerist behaviour. I always have done, but in recent years, it has really begun to irk me.
I know this sounds very hypocritical - I run a business and am therefore one of the agitprops of capitalism, the driving force behind conformism and consumerism.
But I hate it. I hate it with a passion.
The whole purpose behind me doing what I am doing now is to accrue enough cash in order to opt out of the system entirely. Otherwise, I will be forced to retire at 70, having worked myself like a dog for nearly half a century.
I drive a crappy old Corsa. It gets me from A to B. I feel no need or want to drive a 4x4. I don't have a small penis, so I don't need to bolster my masculinity by driving a monstrously big vehicle to assert my manliness.
I'd love to live in a big house, but, because of the horrendous bubble in the property market (which, together with the situation in the US will cause one of the world's deepest ever recessions in the next 2 years, in my opinion), I refuse to allow myself to be grossly ripped off to live in some tiny little box on a new-build estate. I want somewhere nice and charver-free, but I'm not going to spend £250,000 to have it (not that I could afford anywhere near that anyway).
I detest seeing the lines of families in cars, so devoid of any internal stimulus, that they queue up in traffic for miles to shop at the Metrocentre on Bank Holidays. One guy was ever stabbed in an Ikea not so long ago.
I hate being told which women to fancy. I hate having it forced down my throat that I should go after some stick insect who, when I get her naked, will have no discernable arse and be some stuck-up little cow because her looks have given her an unjustified superiority complex.
It's not just Britain, Jamez, it's the Western World. And we have the cheek to consider other cultures backwards or lacking? I bet they're far happier than we are.
I know this sounds very hypocritical - I run a business and am therefore one of the agitprops of capitalism, the driving force behind conformism and consumerism.
But I hate it. I hate it with a passion.
The whole purpose behind me doing what I am doing now is to accrue enough cash in order to opt out of the system entirely. Otherwise, I will be forced to retire at 70, having worked myself like a dog for nearly half a century.
I drive a crappy old Corsa. It gets me from A to B. I feel no need or want to drive a 4x4. I don't have a small penis, so I don't need to bolster my masculinity by driving a monstrously big vehicle to assert my manliness.
I'd love to live in a big house, but, because of the horrendous bubble in the property market (which, together with the situation in the US will cause one of the world's deepest ever recessions in the next 2 years, in my opinion), I refuse to allow myself to be grossly ripped off to live in some tiny little box on a new-build estate. I want somewhere nice and charver-free, but I'm not going to spend £250,000 to have it (not that I could afford anywhere near that anyway).
I detest seeing the lines of families in cars, so devoid of any internal stimulus, that they queue up in traffic for miles to shop at the Metrocentre on Bank Holidays. One guy was ever stabbed in an Ikea not so long ago.
I hate being told which women to fancy. I hate having it forced down my throat that I should go after some stick insect who, when I get her naked, will have no discernable arse and be some stuck-up little cow because her looks have given her an unjustified superiority complex.
It's not just Britain, Jamez, it's the Western World. And we have the cheek to consider other cultures backwards or lacking? I bet they're far happier than we are.
absolutely JB.
My idea of the ultimate in a happy life would be living in somewhere like New Zealand, away from the city, with a modest house next to the beach. I would spend my days listening to music, painting and living around other like-minded people who don't want to be a part of this crappy lifestyle. I hate being controlled by the clock (god knows how many times a day I have to check my watch!), living a peaceful, happy and carefree life.
What pleasure is there in working your arse off all your life trying to aspire to live in a big house, drive a big car, having "friends" who only bother with you because of what's in your bank account?
99% of the population will never achieve that, but this nation is based on the utterly false pretence that we can all get that one day if we work hard enough. Bollocks.
If everyone realised the truth, the whole foundation of this money-thirsty, materialistic western world would collapse in an instant.
And yes, we are on our way for one of the biggest recessions in nearly a century. The shit will hit the fan big time, so brace yourselves!
My idea of the ultimate in a happy life would be living in somewhere like New Zealand, away from the city, with a modest house next to the beach. I would spend my days listening to music, painting and living around other like-minded people who don't want to be a part of this crappy lifestyle. I hate being controlled by the clock (god knows how many times a day I have to check my watch!), living a peaceful, happy and carefree life.
What pleasure is there in working your arse off all your life trying to aspire to live in a big house, drive a big car, having "friends" who only bother with you because of what's in your bank account?
99% of the population will never achieve that, but this nation is based on the utterly false pretence that we can all get that one day if we work hard enough. Bollocks.
If everyone realised the truth, the whole foundation of this money-thirsty, materialistic western world would collapse in an instant.
And yes, we are on our way for one of the biggest recessions in nearly a century. The shit will hit the fan big time, so brace yourselves!
User Removed
You don't need to go all the way to New Zealand to escape consumerism. After all NZ and Oz are hardly non-consumeristic (is that a word??).
I agree though with all that's written above. Money is the issue and the fact we all want more of it (or just spend via the plastic to get what we want rather than save up for it and pay for it on cold hard cash).
As for everyone keeping themselves to themselves, i guess everywhere is different, but sadly (again) nowadays people just don't have time for anyone else other than themselves (slight sweep of generalisation) and the fact that people are happy to drive past that person slumped in the road for a whole 2 hours (if you remember the news story). We live in a moral vacuum!!
I'm not talking about having sex more often with different people, the gay issue, abortion and such like.....I am talking about day to day respect (or lack) of other people about you - from pushing in front of the granny to get on a bus, helping people struggling with shopping getting off the bus (thankfully I don't look the type that people might get the wrong idea and think i'm robbing them).
I think consumerism and Thatcherite Capitalism is the cause of all this disrespect.
God that was deep!!!
Mike x
I agree though with all that's written above. Money is the issue and the fact we all want more of it (or just spend via the plastic to get what we want rather than save up for it and pay for it on cold hard cash).
As for everyone keeping themselves to themselves, i guess everywhere is different, but sadly (again) nowadays people just don't have time for anyone else other than themselves (slight sweep of generalisation) and the fact that people are happy to drive past that person slumped in the road for a whole 2 hours (if you remember the news story). We live in a moral vacuum!!
I'm not talking about having sex more often with different people, the gay issue, abortion and such like.....I am talking about day to day respect (or lack) of other people about you - from pushing in front of the granny to get on a bus, helping people struggling with shopping getting off the bus (thankfully I don't look the type that people might get the wrong idea and think i'm robbing them).
I think consumerism and Thatcherite Capitalism is the cause of all this disrespect.
God that was deep!!!
Mike x
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Cheese Head
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I think, Jamez, you have just described every Marilyn Manson song bar the torture for entertainment for ratings on TV.
I hate the entire lack of individuality. A bit of a lame example would be my prom - All the guys will be going in Tuxedo's because they *have* to. I dont want to look like a damn penguin - make an effort to break away from looking like everybody else and show an ounce of individulaity.
We all conform some way or another, but the majority of people to it because theyre so insecure they find they must buy what they are told to buy and dress like unreal mannequins put in windows because if they ever dare to break out of a glass display box theyll break down and cry because everybody *just might* be thinking something bad about them.
Yiesh - I'm done. Next.
I hate the entire lack of individuality. A bit of a lame example would be my prom - All the guys will be going in Tuxedo's because they *have* to. I dont want to look like a damn penguin - make an effort to break away from looking like everybody else and show an ounce of individulaity.
We all conform some way or another, but the majority of people to it because theyre so insecure they find they must buy what they are told to buy and dress like unreal mannequins put in windows because if they ever dare to break out of a glass display box theyll break down and cry because everybody *just might* be thinking something bad about them.
Yiesh - I'm done. Next.
» James »
I don't know my future after this weekend, and I don't want to
I don't know my future after this weekend, and I don't want to
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Lorns
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- Location: A room with a view. 15 Hookey street, the Edge.
- Contact:
I see this alot in my job. I meet so many people who have a couple of flash motors, dressed head to toe in designer gear and have nothing in the fridge, they're so wrapped up in themselves and their status. Got to have the latest everything going and tell everyone about it. If they haven't got it they are going to get it with the bundles of cash they flash or the gold cards.
Most of the people who fit this criteria are living on H.P. and as Jamez and Johnnyboy said when a recession hits they are going to be in soo much trouble.
I know i am lucky to be where i am now ( My own boss and i own my house), i've had to work hard to achieve it and more importantly i really enjoy my work and i brought my house 10 years ago for £47,500.00. It's a small 2 bed, terrace. I don't want to move to a bigger house i am more than happy where i am.
I'm not rich but i am ambitious without being greedy. I hope to one day expand my business, IF there is a demand for the services i provide. If all proves fruitfull then i will take a backseat and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
I too, hate being dictated to by time. At the weekend i never wear a watch and i move the clock in my bedroom so i can't see it. My brother is the same. Only he goes one step better.. The only clock that tells the right time in his house is his alarm clock, all the others have no batteries. It drives my mum and his girlfriend crazy.
Most of the people who fit this criteria are living on H.P. and as Jamez and Johnnyboy said when a recession hits they are going to be in soo much trouble.
I know i am lucky to be where i am now ( My own boss and i own my house), i've had to work hard to achieve it and more importantly i really enjoy my work and i brought my house 10 years ago for £47,500.00. It's a small 2 bed, terrace. I don't want to move to a bigger house i am more than happy where i am.
I'm not rich but i am ambitious without being greedy. I hope to one day expand my business, IF there is a demand for the services i provide. If all proves fruitfull then i will take a backseat and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.
I too, hate being dictated to by time. At the weekend i never wear a watch and i move the clock in my bedroom so i can't see it. My brother is the same. Only he goes one step better.. The only clock that tells the right time in his house is his alarm clock, all the others have no batteries. It drives my mum and his girlfriend crazy.
Mental anxiety, Mental breakdowns, Menstrual cramps, Menopause... Did you ever notice how all our problems begin with Men?
!!!Jamez wrote:I've spent £900 in 20 days...on nothing!
I received my student loan on January 10th, and 20 days later, I've spent nearly all of it!
These are the main things I've spent my money on:
28" Widescreen Telly £200
Surround Sound System £150
Exotic Indoor Plant £45
Diesel £100
Groceries £130
Cigarettes £40
Going out £100
New Computer Monitor £100
New Mobile Phone £90 .
Every weekday morning, the number 4 bus arrives at the bus stop. The same people waiting for it. The same people getting on and off it. The same people already seated. It stops at the station. The same people get off it there and get on it and it sets off again finishing its journey at the University where almost everyone gets off it. Some get off before this and enter huge faceless buildings dedicated to our consumer culture... insurance, banks, telesales...
Routine and conformity. Everyday. Rain, sun, sleet, snow. When you stop at a particular stop and wonder why someone you have never spoken isn't waiting for the bus... that's how famiilar routine is!
"Do you Reginald Iolanthe Perrin take British Rail Southern Region for your awful dreaded life..."
Routine and conformity. Everyday. Rain, sun, sleet, snow. When you stop at a particular stop and wonder why someone you have never spoken isn't waiting for the bus... that's how famiilar routine is!
"Do you Reginald Iolanthe Perrin take British Rail Southern Region for your awful dreaded life..."
"That one!"
You know, you guys have just perfectly summed up my own feelings.
There's an area near me called Wilmslow which I have to drive through to get to Manchester and beyond. It's got quite a reputation for being home to many wealthy footballers and got the label the "Kensington of the North" when the Beckhams lived there. The town is brimming with obscenely rich footballers wives types.
Yesterday I came home through Wilmslow and was overtaken on the A34 dual carriageway (where loads of Man U players have been caught speeding, and where Wayne Rooney had a crash last week) by about seven 05-Reg high-powered vehicles in a row, all being driven aggressively and inconsiderately, all trying to be the fastest. They were all too arrogant to indicate or use the correct lane.
Every time I drive through Wilmslow I become more and more depressed - not through any kind of jealousy - but at the sheer awfulness of these greedy, soulless materialistic people. Is this what we are supposed to aspire to in this country? Is this as good as it gets? It would seem so.
People seem utterly obsessed with material values. Look at my brand new expensive car, look at the posh house in the posh town I live in, look at the labels on my clothes, look at me and envy me.
But what really sickens me about this capitalist society is the way that children who are born into poverty are taunted by these images of wealth and are brainwashed by the advertising industry to associate them with happiness. And of course these children have become the Chavs who prowl around in their branded sportswear, looking for anything to steal or wreck. But you know what? I don't blame them. They are the product of a greedy ruthless 'smash-and-grab' system that Thatcher and Blair have created. Nobody teaches them about respect or true happiness, their only guidance as they grow up is this constant bombardment of material values from the media.
And just down the road from Wilmslow, literally 2 or 3 miles away, is one of Britain's most deprived (and biggest) council estates called Wythenshawe. I have lived there and I have seen the desperate poverty, the rows of derelict houses full of drug addicts, the little toddlers whose teenage mothers give them a pound to go to the chippy every night for their tea, the complete lawlessness and police 'no go zones'. You see the Chavs prowling around and you can see the bitterness and hatred in their eyes towards the hand they were dealt when they were born into this hellhole.
God, I think this country is awful, and I feel it getting worse all the time.
There's an area near me called Wilmslow which I have to drive through to get to Manchester and beyond. It's got quite a reputation for being home to many wealthy footballers and got the label the "Kensington of the North" when the Beckhams lived there. The town is brimming with obscenely rich footballers wives types.
Yesterday I came home through Wilmslow and was overtaken on the A34 dual carriageway (where loads of Man U players have been caught speeding, and where Wayne Rooney had a crash last week) by about seven 05-Reg high-powered vehicles in a row, all being driven aggressively and inconsiderately, all trying to be the fastest. They were all too arrogant to indicate or use the correct lane.
Every time I drive through Wilmslow I become more and more depressed - not through any kind of jealousy - but at the sheer awfulness of these greedy, soulless materialistic people. Is this what we are supposed to aspire to in this country? Is this as good as it gets? It would seem so.
People seem utterly obsessed with material values. Look at my brand new expensive car, look at the posh house in the posh town I live in, look at the labels on my clothes, look at me and envy me.
But what really sickens me about this capitalist society is the way that children who are born into poverty are taunted by these images of wealth and are brainwashed by the advertising industry to associate them with happiness. And of course these children have become the Chavs who prowl around in their branded sportswear, looking for anything to steal or wreck. But you know what? I don't blame them. They are the product of a greedy ruthless 'smash-and-grab' system that Thatcher and Blair have created. Nobody teaches them about respect or true happiness, their only guidance as they grow up is this constant bombardment of material values from the media.
And just down the road from Wilmslow, literally 2 or 3 miles away, is one of Britain's most deprived (and biggest) council estates called Wythenshawe. I have lived there and I have seen the desperate poverty, the rows of derelict houses full of drug addicts, the little toddlers whose teenage mothers give them a pound to go to the chippy every night for their tea, the complete lawlessness and police 'no go zones'. You see the Chavs prowling around and you can see the bitterness and hatred in their eyes towards the hand they were dealt when they were born into this hellhole.
God, I think this country is awful, and I feel it getting worse all the time.
Really, this warrants a new thread, but I thought I might bring it up anyway --johnnyboy wrote:...the horrendous bubble in the property market...
surely what's causing house prices to increase is the increase in population. As this shows no sign of receding surely this is simply going to get bigger and bigger? Everyone, after all, needs somewhere to live, and if the demand for houses does not subside then won't even modest-sized houses will become something of a luxury?
It's something that really worries me (I mean,how can this metaphorical bubble "burst" as it's predicted to?)
If only it were that simple. The reality is that the housing bubble is a product of ‘cheap money’ I.E low interest rates and subsequent higher borrowing. Not to mention the recklessness of lenders and borrowers alike (not considering the long term impact of rising interest rates against a mortgage secured). You only have to look at the total national debt which (for the first time) clipped £1 trillion this year to appreciate how of control this has all become. I think the total mortgage bill for this country is something like £260 Billion, again a figure that has never been so high.cdd wrote:Really, this warrants a new thread, but I thought I might bring it up anyway --johnnyboy wrote:...the horrendous bubble in the property market...
surely what's causing house prices to increase is the increase in population. As this shows no sign of receding surely this is simply going to get bigger and bigger? Everyone, after all, needs somewhere to live, and if the demand for houses does not subside then won't even modest-sized houses will become something of a luxury?
It's something that really worries me (I mean,how can this metaphorical bubble "burst" as it's predicted to?)
Durlacher which is a city firm has said that it believes the house prices will drop of some 30% over the next few years. This of the back of rising interest rates and ‘buy-to-let’ outnumbering first time buyers in the market. (the inference is that buy to let mortgages are normally offset against existing properties thus creating the bubble)
I say it only because I'm good looking...