Nichole Horkheimer/adorno

I find it to have been perfect timing that I should read this article directly after attending the first session of the symposium today on Florida environmental issues. Much of what the first speaker talks about is reaching for the lowest and most easily accessible fruit on the metaphoric environmental preservation tree. That is to say that it is MUCH easier to lower our demands for materialistic things than it is to quickly invent alternative energy sources. Similar to what Jiggy brought up in his blog, when he writes that the media has persuaded us to believe that there is this new level of consumerism which the media convinces us that we should all feel that we need to keep up. So called essentials are so expensive and extreme that few families can truly afford their luxuries without feeling the hurt of extra hours or financial debt.
A possible solution is to understand what the reading says, “the procedure [of the media persuading us to buy newer and better] is evident from the fact that the mechanically differentiated products are all ultimately the same” (43). This quote means that we shouldn’t be fooled by what an ad might say perhaps fastest drying machine EVER but instead realize that ours works at home and what is that extra 4 minutes of not having a few shirts going to really hurt you anyway? The environmentalist at the symposium was quick to point out that this new craze has had a profound on our waste management. Never before has there been so much trash in the dump and this is all a result of people feeling as though they need a more stylish car when the one they have will sustain their needs for another ten years. The media reaches so far into our everyday lives that it has now become a burden on our environment. The authors and the speaker would argue that lowering our idea of what is necessary would prevent a bunch of current issues.