The words of Paul Mazur, a leading Wall Street banker working for Lehman Brothers, >"We must shift America from a needs- to a desires-culture. People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed"

Video for century of self youtube▶ 1:46

All by design SMH

crazy conspiracy video

I can afford to pay cash for a new car - but my 2006 Nissan Altima works just fine.

The Cell Phone thing - I launched 57 new devices between January 2006 and December 2007.

57.


Different colors / options but people bought it.

In the meantime - I still work for that company and my phone is 2 years old (I had an HTC that crapped in the sheets) and I won't get a new one until it craps in the sheets.

Next time you are around people in the industry - take a good hard look at their phones. Unless they are visible to the press or at trade shows - makes you wonder . . . why do all of those folks have phones that are 2, 4, 6 years old?

Consumer conditioning, the worst part is that even if you recognize the process you can't even talk your family members off the ledge let alone your coworkers.

My bachelors - I pursued because initially I wanted to go to Law School - but then I thought I'd rather be a Lobbyist, political speech writer, professional campaigner. Poli Sci and Mass Comm (Adv/PR).

That was 20 years ago I completed those. . . I've been very cynical and observant since. Like - How much do you REALLY need?

Consumerism isn't bad - if you limit what you covet.

I can't walk by a L'Occitane without making a purchase. I've tried. I'm an addict. And well - I use it up/consumer it.

But electronics? Being in the industry I'm in? I met my husband in October 2009 and he knew he found a kindred spirit when he saw my 15 year old television in my house. I couldn't kill that thing. It wouldn't just die already!

Our house came with a 30 year old washing machine and 15 year old dryer - they are still working. When they die - I'll move to energy efficient as we did our appliances (had to gut and renovate our kitchen), our hot water heater, the solar shingles, etc. etc.

I guess I don't get updated electronics because I've seen the back end campaigns and done the go to markets - and I can see manipulation from a million miles away. I've done it - so I can see it clearly.

I've even gotten my husband off of being an early adapter.

is sometimes the force that overrules if you want to be the first kid on the block or have to have it now
Our TV s are so old but no one watches much so who cares . We have. Wall Projector set for movies if we want . That is over 15 yrs and came used from a church sale but works great DVD ,Netflix, and we have the wall needed Check out my cell phone post below

But don't worry I am posting on my iPad mini at home on our wifi . Same with you on appliances We don't consciously avoid tech or electronics just not that interested in upgrades due to low use and not that interested to begin with
A marketing teams nightmare!

Mrs. 1SBM is addicted to all things new and shiny, whether it's clothes, electronics, vehicles, or whatever ... I had to cut down on golfing because I'd come home to new stuff, or a volunteer commitment!

No. Seriously. I don't have a problem with the purchases ... she works hard for the money and can spend it as she pleases.

I got turned on to Loccitane at Four Seasons hotel where I would stay in Thousand Oaks or Westlake Village because it was so cheap compared to other Four Seasons locations.

I hate that hotel chain now, after seeing how connected to Reagan and that type they are.

But I would ask the housekeeper for extra EVERYTHING Loccitane because that is what they had in their bathrooms.

And then I stayed at Fairmont Hotels and they have Le Labo

http://lelabofragrances.com/us_en/


OMG, the bar soap and the shower gell is to die for.

But unaffordable, way too expensive, but I bought some anyway

fuck it, dont live forever

by hate me I mean when you start buying this stuff you will hate me cuz it cost so much

seem to care too much about

Shower cream - hooked!

He's standing outside in cam shorts, black t shirt, big beard, and tattoos on display!

after one day using Loccitane shea butter, smooth as silk

I even wrote them an email and asked them why didnt the whole world know about this and would they like to use me in a commercial

but I am a big fan of woody, spicy perfumes and it seems they have a bunch. I would have tried them by now but you're right, they do seem rather expensive. This is when buying perfume samples on ebay is the BOMB!

Lately, I've been a HUGE fan of the Commes de Garcons perfumes. http://comme-des-garcons-parfum.com/selector/ I'm all about Wonderwood right now but was rocking the Incense Kyoto last year. It is smoky, dark and amazing. Would have liked a bit more staying power though. I just caught a whiff of their Girl perfume, co-designed by Pharell, and it's not too shabby. A bit young but nice.

How the heck did we start talking about colognes and perfumes in the AA forum??! Darn you, JAG!

Sometimes... I get real scared... and wonder if, in fact... we are the same person...????????



And I say this as someone who still owns the ORIGINAL IPAD. The big, black clunky one. In fact, I think I own the prototype!

But - I won it at my last all hands marketing meeting. Because . . . The company was trying to sell through stock ffor the next one to come in - and only 1% of the employees had purchased the original. Put it in our hands - we'll adapt. We'll promote it.

And that prior device launch team experience (same company) made me extra skeptical about this shiny new toy.

Of the three people on the account - my almost 70 year old mother is the worst with the latest and greatest iShit. Dr Dre headset, pill speakers, docking station alarm clock, downloads on iTunes. She got locked out of her iTunes account because it got hacked in February and you would have thought someone had kidnapped one of her children!

Me - I'm in a Moto Droid.

What is this L'Occitane of which you speak?

bath, skincare, makeup type stuff. high end .

Verbena, almond scrub, ahhhh!

They went into small communities in Africa and said - why don't you start a company and sell to us? They do a great deal for the blind too.

I also got the Cherry Princess solid perfume for both of my little angels too.

Girl, whenever they put it on my face become IMMEDIATELY glued to their little necks. Even more than usual.

This is what I use:
http://www.amazon.com/Kyocera-Silver-Virgin-Mobile-phone/dp/B001651NHW

It's at least 10 years old, service runs me $80 - per *year*. I carry a few spare batteries and a car charger, so it'll run pretty much forever. I don't turn it on unless *I* want to use it, though.

While looking for an image, I was rather surprised to see a new (or at least unused) one being sold on Amazon - it's an oldie but a goodie!

Nice people - but I got in trouble for putting fisher price stickers on a few of their phones I was in pre-launch with. They never made it to the finish line as they were going through serious turmoil in in 2006 leading into 2007.


My boss that got laid off at the end of February - had the first phone I launched with the company. Flip phone, had to press a key 4/5 times to get a letter in text - brilliant!

Before my dad passed away he gave me his old 'cell phone' from the 1980's. Think the one you saw in Wall Street. We got that thing charged up and made a call on it at the mother ship here.

ZERO ECHO.

There's something to be said about those monsters the size of a brick from 25/30 years ago!

I think it was the 323 and the first two they sent me for inbox material review I flipped open a few times and they broke apart. *ouch* In my other hand I'm holding a pre launch RIM device that felt like equipment and went through testing in record time.

An older version or difrnt version of this below . A kid was here talking about her moms phone bill so I buttedin and asked. $150 a month and some kids like mine because it is so small

http://www.mphone.co.uk/acatalog/1200_sim_free.html

I occasionally think about getting a smartphone, and then I think about the cost. Not for the phone, for the service.

I've never even owned an iPhone. My husband has one. He only knows how to operate 1/3 of the features and mistakenly leaves the damn thing at home more than he takes it with him.

Luckily it was free and he got it from work because otherwise, I'd have thrown that thing in the trash by now.

that my husband has one as well. Exact same age, purchased at the same time.

He doesn't know how to work his, either, and leaves it in the car except when it needs to be charged. (And sometimes even then, but he's got a car charger.)

I have always paid cash for older model Infinitis. I don't understand why their value depreciates so steeply because they drive well and last forever.

I like to invest heavily in nice products that have been proven to last.

I'm not a heavy consumer but I do pick wisely (most of the time) when I choose to spend.

I see nothing about race in this thread. I would think people would be rather upset about someone saying that consumerism does not have a racial component. Is that the implication? Because if so, you are very wrong.

It's about consumerism.

Newports
Midnight Train
All sorts of hair, skin, nail products marketed to black consumers
liquor
cars, clothes, lifestyle... all meant to take resources out of the black community and into the pockets of wealthy white people.
Pimp my ...

We are a minority -so hair products for Caucasian hair are plenty - we need special products. Ditto make up.
Lever smoked Newports when I smoked - Nasty.

I'm in J Jill clothing - most of my friends - all races - dress NJ Horse Country on the weekends.

I did just find new "black women" nude underwear at Nordstroms online this week. Victoria's Secret doesn't make Miami tan anymore.

Point taken, I figured we could talk Newport’s and malt liquor however I was hoping that this was less of a problem now days which you have confirmed this fact is not true. Stopped drink 40’s like 25 years ago it was pretty obvious that black people we’re the targets, after watching “Drop Squad” I began to notice the madness. I guess when your younger you can’t see the forest for trees.

Getting people to spend their money on things they don't need is universal. But the items marketed to the African American community are particularly calculated to strip the power from people. While entertainers (musicians, athletes, actors are the main people kids see who have made it) flaunt unattainable decadence, people can't afford a computer or to buy their own home or have a savings account or retirement savings. Kids go to school knowing they will never go to college because their parents can't afford it and they don't have good enough grades for scholarships or grants. There are no jobs - so they steal iphones and bikes from urban hipsters. They aspire to have a lot of things they don't need that cost way too much money and don't have any sort of path to plan a future. Now people might disagree with this part, but white kids rebel. They have options and they choose their course knowing that they have another road whenever they want to go back.

That's what capitalism and race have to do with one another.

Thinking we need to break the product control over us, read an article on people being renamed as consumers which means the corporation profit margins; regardless of the product. Saw a secret clip on the making of a Mac Donald’s hamburger virtually no meat just grind-ed up meat parts, another study confirmed high fructose sugars are a breeding ground for cancer. Which pretty much moves the poor over to the next set of vultures the Big Pharm, now the poor have lifetime medications like insulin and high-blood pressure meds which many can’t afford. If our kids are lucky enough to make it out of these under performing schools, then there is a bleak job market awaiting them, most of the young males are heading to prison and the young women are heading to motherhood and government assistance.

One thing I would like to point-out is this is a condition of poverty regardless of race, poor is poor. Yes minorities are often highlighted as the problem which is by design but the truth of the matters is there is a great divide that is also by design. The people are purposely set against each other, by race, religion, sexuality and any other control measure that is effective, capitalism works best when the people are divided and or grouped.