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The Irony of the Consumer Culture

August 17, 2011 @ 22:06 By Gavin Webber 13 Comments

I pride myself in lowering consumption every single day.  So to my surprise along comes an email like this;

“Hi Gavin,

Love your work on The Greening of Gavin! And I wanted to personally invite you to be one of the first Advisors on ShopSquad, a free shopping advice website where shoppers and your readers can ask Advisors (i.e. you!) for advice.
If you recommend something that is purchased, from appliances to clothing to electronics to sporting goods, you get a percentage of the sale. You’re already sharing your expertise through your blog, so why not earn more money for it?
We think your readers would love the chance to get one-on-one advice from you, and ShopSquad is a great platform for you to monetize all your hard work. We’ve built several awesome tools for bloggers, including a referral program in which you can earn $5 for each of your readers who signs up.
Read our great press coverage or learn how ShopSquad works. When you’re ready, sign up free at www.shopsquad.com.
Feel free to ask me any questions: joycie.chen@shopsquad.com.
Thanks!”

Thanks Joycie!  Once upon a time, I would have ignored the email, but today it was just too good an opportunity to not pass comment on. 

So here goes.  Please dear readers, don’t be fooled by the simple, alluring, and siren like message above.  It is designed to appeal to your sense of greed and artificial desires and wants.  I will not be your shopping advisor, not now nor never in the future.

Joycie obviously loves my work (not), and having read my blog from start to finish (not) knows that I abhor the consumer culture and affluenza in its entirety.  So why in Gaia’s name did she send me this email?  To upset me?  Probably not, she and whatever marketing company she works for thinks I am a normal ‘consumer’!  ShopSquad sounds like just another marketing ploy to increase sales for some multinational selling tat that nobody needs, with a view to record profits and draining the planets finite resources!  Something that does not make me happy.  Sustainable living makes me happy.  Here is why.

The last five years whilst on our journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle, we have never been happier. By discarding materialistic habits, and living a simpler life, we have found the bountiful happiness that eluded us for many, many years. It was in front of our faces all along. It was within us and all around us. It was in the joy of feeding the chickens every morning. It was in the gift from nature by watching seeds grow in to edible plants. It was in the conversations with family members at the table at dinner time and in the eating of home grown meals. Happiness was in paying down our credit cards, tripling our mortgage payments, and buying needs, not wants, with cash. It was in the beauty of the Sun, the Moon and the air that we breath. It was in the bees that pollinate my fruit and vegetables. It was just amazing. The old me couldn’t see the forest for the trees. Now my family and I can see everything and am truly happy. I give thanks for simple living and the lessons that it has taught me.

Joy and perceived happiness should never be associated with shopping.  ShopSquad be gone!

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Filed Under: Affluenza, Green Psychology

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About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber's daily goal is to live a more sustainable lifestyle, in an effort to reduce his family's environmental footprint so we can all make a difference for our children & future generations to come.

Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Comments

  1. Tania @ Out Back says

    August 17, 2011 at 22:38

    I got this same email too Gavin…I like your response, you have said it well!

    Reply
  2. Tanya says

    August 17, 2011 at 22:47

    So pleased you have declined to be “my shopping advisor” Gavin as I too need nothing. I have no desires or wants anymore, other than repairs to existing things. Shopping holds no allure and my life is more complete now that I have relinquished the idea for things.

    Reply
  3. HAZEL says

    August 17, 2011 at 23:57

    wonderfully put…as always!

    Reply
  4. sue15cat says

    August 18, 2011 at 03:03

    A brilliant post, I’ve never been here before….but I’ll definitely be back, you’re a man after my own heart!!

    Sue xx

    Reply
  5. Dinner of Herbs says

    August 18, 2011 at 08:40

    Well said! I hope you emailed that reply to her. Though it could be fun to advise people “don’t buy it, you don’t need it!”

    Reply
  6. angela says

    August 18, 2011 at 09:59

    Well said!! did you send them a copy of this post. Im sure they would find it quite refreshing.

    Reply
  7. oneearthtolive says

    August 18, 2011 at 10:22

    I got this exact same email from Joyce, here was my reply to her:

    Hi Joyce,

    I am actually against excessive shopping in an excessively consumerized world. We are all shopping too much, buying too much stuff and rapidly using up the Earth’s resources. What will be left for future generations? Further – the production and shipping of all this stuff is putting so much carbon into the sky, which we really don’t need right now. Climate change is a disaster waiting to happen, and over consumption is a big part of that problem. I want to leave a better world for our children. I want to live a good life with less. I want to simplify, and rely on time with my children and family to bring me happiness, not the next gadget, dress or toy. So I guess you could call me an anti-shopper, and would probably not be the best Advisor for ShopSquad.

    Sorry!

    Sherry

    Reply
  8. Jason Dingley says

    August 18, 2011 at 14:11

    LOL. you have got to love the “Hi Gavin, love your work”. Are there people that really fall for this spam?

    Reply
  9. nellymary says

    August 19, 2011 at 10:01

    Here Here!! Way to go Gav….I’ve gotten these kinds of emails before too…I used to look into what they were about, but no more, a waste of my time….If I don’t support it, there is no way I’m going to market it…Each time I get a similar email I now add them to my ‘block sender’ list…Great post and thanks for sharing the email.

    Reply
  10. Darren (Green Change) says

    August 25, 2011 at 12:20

    I got one too, they’re obviously just scraping Australian blogs and mass-mailing everyone.

    Good response!

    Reply
  11. Donna says

    August 25, 2011 at 21:30

    Well put Gavin.

    Regards
    Donna

    Reply
  12. neri says

    September 15, 2011 at 18:46

    Thanks for this post. I was just researching on this Joyce Chen because I received an email from her, too. Go green! 🙂

    Reply
  13. willywagtail says

    February 17, 2012 at 15:34

    Thanks for putting this out there. I just received a similar email from this supposed company and could find no conclusive evidence on google of their existence. I have called it spam and moved it there. Cherrie

    Reply

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About Gavin Webber

About Gavin Webber

An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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