The place where we live is part of a whole
economic, social, cultural and political system. And this system has an
ideology. As people who are living in this system we have to be aware
of this and thus, we have the moral obligation of rethinking this system
in which we live; we have to decide if we like it or not, we have to define
our position.
We, as people
living in this system, have thought about this and we have come up with
a series of conclusions:
1. A vital part of this system is globalization, briefly:
an effort to uniform the planet following on the ideology of capitalism.
2. In the core of this ideology we find “consumerism”.
The human being is born, produces, consumes and dies. This ideology doesn’t
leave any space to other dimensions of the human being. This ideology
is in the base of the Established System; therefore the main part of society
is impregnated of it. Society, culture, social relations, politics…
it is all processed following the rules of market. And the main rule is
own benefit. Politicians rule for the powerful, exchanging privileges
for favors, a lot of social relations are based in knowing how much you
can get from the other. It is, simply, a way of life with the print of
competition, individualism and overall, consumerism. More you consume,
happier you are. In a few words, it is a culture of having, not a culture
of being.
3. The current economical model is searching for a maximum
of benefits in a minimum of time, without considering other parameters.
It is thus immoral and unequal, because it provokes the waste of the resources
of the planet; it is full of unfair working relations; and even, unequal
relations between different areas of the World in which the winners are
always the same few, and the majority always looses. The main actors of
this process are, without doubt, the great transnational companies that
are receiving the main part of the benefits. Thanks to globalization they
have a first world where people are dedicated to consume.
In the meantime, countries of the so called Third World are plundered,
the raw materials are taken and their people work with infra-human conditions,
being treated like animals, without any kind of rights; and this happens
when they don’t die in the wars that the powerful, thirsty of money
and power, have caused. The so-called First World is a great shopping
center that is stocked up on the great factory of the Third World.
4. We don’t agree with this system and we think
that there are better ways of living and organizing. It is so that we
think that this situation has to be changed. As it is consume the very
base of this imposed way of life, we find that a great part of the solution
is changing the consuming habits.
5. We propose a different style of life, in which the
responsible consume becomes a central issue of our lives. We have to walk
towards a responsible way of consuming, knowing who, where and in what
conditions the products that we consume were made; showing interest about
who and how sells the products to us.
6. We don’t think that the definite solution will
come one day from a “super-organization” that organizes a
revolution and changes everything. No. We think that the changes have
to operate in us. In normal, average people. It is personal change what
we have to seek; we need to change ourselves following our own ideas and
our own moral values.
7. We propose a real change in our daily life, taking
a critical attitude towards our consumerist attitudes and trying to be
capable of changing them as much as we can.
8. We are aware of the difficulties of this project,
it is not easy to develop, but we still think that this change can happen,
here and now. We don’t believe at all in so worn out topics, the
“there-is-nothing-to-do”.
9. We are not researchers prosecuting transnational companies;
it is neither our profession nor our duty. All we know about it is taken
from books, websites and some of those unnoticed news.