The movie , "The Story of Stuff," that we watched in class today certainly brings to light a serious problem in the way that we consume products and produce waste in this country. I think that Annie Leonard conveys an important message in a fun and entertaining way: every time we buy a product, the impact that the purchase has extends far beyond our own personal satisfaction with the item that we bought.

In my opinion, the primary complaints in relation to this video stem from two things: 1. Leonard's presentation style does give viewers the feeling that they are being attacked for their lifestyle and lets be honest, no one likes to feel that way, so the instant reaction of people is to defend their way of life, and 2. The antiquated opinion that encouraging a reduction in consumption is a socialist/ anticapitalist way of thinking. This is evident in the Heritage commentary (if you look at the bottom, one of the tags for the article actually is "socialism." This article, to me, was a complete misinterpretation of Leonard's point. I do not think that she was trying to induce shame amongst the American people for being who they are at a fundamental, value based level. She also was not using environmentalism as an attack on capitalism. This seemed more like her way of showing that consumption is definitely out of hand and it is causing unacceptable damage to the earth and its citizens. It is not un-American to want every person on the planet to be able to live a healthy and fulfilling life on an unpolluted planet, is it?

One thing that was brought up in Cohen's blog that has been in the back of my mind is the fact that a decrease in consumption has a pretty hard impact on the economy. My primary question is, how can we phase into a sustainable society and still have an economy where people can find work and support themselves? Will people just need to learn to live on less? Or is there a more innovative option to create sustainable jobs?