We (Mel and I) have been talking about composting for way too long and not doing it — watching this got us convinced that we have no choice but to start.

I’m not sure I see it as completely “blamey,” and yet on the other hand I do think there are people to blame – corporations and government being a big part of this. But you’re right that it’s not just corporations and the government, it’s largely us, the people who make up those corporations and the government. I thought Annie actually did address pretty well the responsibility of the consumer in this? Am I missing something?

I found her arguments to be more directed at the consumer than Gore’s film was, which I also found to be very provoking and insightful. I walked away from the video thinking, wow we really need to consume less, and be more aware of where this all comes from (as you suggested as well). So, I’m not sure I see a lack of attention in this direction.

But if you focus solely on responsible shopping, I think you’re still working within the logic of capitalism and I personally think that it is this logic that forms people in a way that really does keep people from breaking out of this system of economic exchange.

I basically agree with what you said here,

“But its up to the consumer to make the changes that we want, it’s up to us to find a way to make making-money have less of an impact on what holds our planet together.”

Yet my point is that the consumers will not want to make the changes because of the way we are being formed within the system. I don’t think that there is room within the “logic” to fully change the system. That is to say I don’t think if we just throw out all our items that have flame retardants on them and replace them with organic items that we’ve really done anything to actually change the system, which is a large part of the problem.
Yet, on the other hand, I do see things like the internet making space for a more democratized capitalism, where sharing, participation and niche markets may have more of a chance to actually make some kind of an impact on the consequences we are now experiencing.

@Dan – you should definitely do that post. You’re way ahead of the game on knowing about this!

@Johnny, same here. Have you looked at the resources on consumption, there’s some helpful links there that may help expand the section a little.