The story of stuff, a video by Annie Leonard takes a fun and lively mood to elaborate on its primary conceptualization of the material economy. Leonard goes to great lengths to demonstrate the reality of how the industrial economy interacts with sustainability. The video touches on the global economy’s ignorance to sustainability and its compulsion to serve the growing middle class. The increase in the middle class raises consumption that in turn elicits demand for higher production. Essentially, this is the central theme of the video. The phrase “material economy” is not a formal term used in economic theory but a term Annie employs to represent the idealization of supply chains. Nonetheless, I believe that there is a high possibility that Annie invented the word to push her opinion in a better way. In other words, she supports the idea of more trees and reduced stuff. The video postulates that corporations in the first world countries having depleted most of their resources and caused irrefutable damage to their environments have now turned to third world countries. Simply, exceptionally large and powerful corporations such as Apple and Nike do not produce products, but rather produce brands. In essence, these companies design and market their products in-house but produce elsewhere.
Annie has clearly put a lot of time and research into her understanding of the global economy. Her main sentiment centers on fairness. Globalization has allowed corporations with a global footprint to have unlimited authoritative and financial power that gives them the capability to subject other less privileged territories to their might. I agree with Anne’s outlook on globalization and the necessity of fairness in achieving sustainability. Despite the high rate of depletion of natural resources especially in hyperactive economies such as the U.S, the need to sustain their populace should not be at the expense of other lesser economies.
The student has shown a clear understanding of globalization’s negative impact on the planet’s ability to sustain life. I agree with the student that there is a need to address the overconsumption of “stuff” promptly lest the world becomes unable to support life.
Work Cited
Story of Stuff Project. “Story of Stuff.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, Apr 22, 2009.Web. 14 April 2016.
