the stuff on stuff...

*update*
here's an article from CNews about this site...didn't realize it was only a week old. that means that if you regularly read my blog, you've been on the cutting edge recently!

click here for the article

the orginal post:

materialism.

it's a tough thing. especially around Christmas when it's hard not to think about what you want to get for people and what you hope that they'll get for you.

materialism may not seem, at first glance, to be a justice issue. i'm convinced, however, that it's intricately tied to justice issues because things & stuff (the scientific components of materialism) don't just appear from nothing. they appear as the result of an intricate process that involves tons of people we don't know and through the use (and misuse) of the planet that we live on.

this video brilliantly (and, at times, humorously) illustrates that. i'm greatly interested in your thoughts...in some ways, parts of this seem overstated & to have an agenda, but at the very least, it's provocative enough that it ought to cause each of us to do a bit of a double take. i know there's some questions this raised that i haven't really thought about before.

and this was all sparked by a very short blog by seth godin that asked the question "how long has it been since you went an entire day without buying anything at all?" maybe you'll answer that question while you comment on the video as well.

technology for the global south...

my title for this post reminds me that i want to do a post on the things we call the other parts of the world...and the merits and downsides of the various names (third world, global south, developing countries, etc). if you have a name, drop me a comment about it and i'll include some research and thoughts on it in the post...

now onto this post...
cnet recently posted an interesting photo piece highlighting technologies that are helping to bring better quality of life in underdeveloped areas. take a gander and then stop back here and comment on which one you found the most interesting. the interesting thing about this to me is that some of these are really simple ideas. what other simple ideas are out there that we could cooperate on to partner with those who need them?

http://www.news.com/2300-1008_3-6209770-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg

One tall stack of cash...

The richest man in India, worth roughly $28 billion, is building a $1 billion dollar house to live in the center of Mumbai, which also happens to house Asia's largest slum (6.5 million people).

Apparently I'm not the only one who finds this innappropriate:

"In a modern, democratic society, business must realize its wider social responsibility. The time has come for the better off sections of our society - not just in organized industry but in all walks of life - to understand the need to make our growth process more inclusive; to eschew conspicuous consumption; to save more and waste less; to care for those who are less privileged and less well off; to be role models of probity, moderation and charity"
-Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Read the full article on the quote and the tower.

But what really turns this on its head for me is realizing that as much as this outrageous display of oppulence is a travesty to me, wouldn't my $4 mocha be a similar display to someone who earns $4 in a week (such as the 1/3 of the world's population that lives on less than a dollar a day). So then where does the line get drawn? What does simple living really look like?