I don't want to sell anything bought or processed... or buy anything sold or processed... or process anything sold, bought or processed...

Too many questions. First off, I would never say that any one thing is all anyone can be in this world. And although I am intrigued by the current ideas that I am exploring--consumerism via Judith Levine, and postmodern identity/society/experience via Jean Baudrillard--to say that anything can be completely reduced to one idea is, well, by definition, reductionistic.

I must also say that I am certainly no expert here. I've read an excellent interview of Ms. Levine on her new book in my favorite feminist response to pop culture 'zine, and about three-quarters of an introductory comic book on Baudrillard, which I appropriately purchased at Half Price Books. I do intend to check Not Buying It out of the lyberry, and if I'm not too nihilized (yes, lovable dorks, i just made up that word) by the end of it, maybe more stuff on the French guy. These handfuls of pages were, however, enough to instigate a late night conversation between Robot and Guanaco, and apparently some existential musings by both as well.

There were many things in the Levine interview that struck me. One of those was her commentary on the statement "the personal is the political." It seems that activists that came up with that phrase in the past might sort of regret that now, because what has happenned is that all we ever do now for the most part is the personal. Not shopping at the Mall-Wart is personal; choosing to buy organic foods is personal; and wearing a t-shirt that says "Rage Against the Machine" is personal. Kids that do this stuff often form small circles with other kids that do this stuff, but that's still not a social movement that creates political change. Social movements that spur political change happens when people are able to reach across social groups to take collective action, and I mean more than the yelling at people = action kind of action. What's so insidious is that people who sell us stuff today, those who are most effective at it, pretty much keep up with us in our whole personal quest to be political: "If you bought this, then you might like...." We can pretty much go our entire lives learning about and only connecting to people with whom we already agree. Plus, social/political campaigns that are effective generally have had effective marketers.

It's as if the high-speed information age has only served to make Gen X and Y somehow more rural again. Don't get me wrong--I certainly don't find anything wrong with blogging, or with buying stuff at one place as opposed to others, or with not buying stuff, but some people think that that's all there is social change. And then there countless numbers of us that have pretty much given up on trying to change anything, and have understandably resigned to only communicating and/or socializing with like-minded kids, and doing what we think is right just based on our beliefs. Apathy is sad, whatever the reasons.

Tiny Robot's question is "Where did this Individual-as-Consumer mirage of personal power come from?" Baudrillard, and many social scientists, would say it begins with the concept of property--when this first arises in human history. Then, it continues in a mad way with the rise of the middle class and their ability to at least create a similuation of "the good life" and "keep up with the Jones'." We've kind of permanently set this precedent now, and for better or worse, have to deal with it.

I must admit, I like shopping, too. I like stuff. I like looking at it, picking it up, trying it on, imagining what it would be like to have it, thinking about how it connects to identity/culture, actually having it, selling or giving it away to others, and then reminiscing about it. I like finding good deals and bragging about them--the more challenging the find, the more satisfying the story. And then there's those stories about the ones that got away ("I bought this and then the next day I found it on sale!"). Shopping is probably the closest thing humans have these days to experiencing "the hunt" of our ancestors.

To come back full circle on this, maybe for some of us, all we can do is the personal, but maybe it's not so bad. Significant social change usually takes a lot of work, and often more work than our 40-hour work weeks will allow us to put into it, even collectively. I don't think that the personal stuff is necessarily ineffective; just that it's not enough for us to stop there. Imagine how crappy it would be if we didn't even have that, though. So then I end this post with that quote, "Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."