Consumerism

We are being distracted. We are told that we face a ‘climate crisis’, a ‘fossil fuel crisis’, an ‘ecological’ crisis. It is true that we face the prospect of an unliveable earth. But it is not true that this is a crisis of ‘nature’. It is a crisis of capitalism. …

Why is an Inferior Substitute to Breast Milk Threatening the Lives of Babies? — Parents want the best for their kids. That is what makes them the perfect target for a lot of companies including consumer brands selling baby products and infant formulas. When it comes to corporate greed, nothing is off-limits. Parents are unethically targeted with incessant, misleading, and emotional advertisements. Corporates can…

Somehow, we have managed to dissociate ourselves, both minimizing and normalizing what animals must endure, from factory farms to slaughter to end up in fast food chains, markets, and our own plates. As a vegan, I still agree that everybody has the right to eat animals. However, there is no…

We live in a data-saturated world. Every transaction, every website, every phone call, every text message, even every step has the potential to be tracked, measured, counted and captured for our (or others’) records. It makes me wonder if there are ways we could measure our relationship with God. Some…

Flooding students with flyers stresses them out, wastes resources, and doesn’t change anyone’s mind. In late June of the summer after I graduated from high school, I received another email from a college I have no interest in inviting me to “visit” and “explore” their offerings. This wouldn’t be an…

I’ve recently been entering bookstores with a certain amount of trepidation. Even the most casual and fleeting visit brings to mind my many lapses of judgment. All the books I should have read (but haven’t), and all the books I did buy (even though I have so many already!) begin…