Capitalism vs culture.

"A tension has always existed between the capitalist imperative to maximize efficiency at any cost and the moral imperatives of culture."

 Michael Pollan

The interests of capitalism and culture are often at odds. Capitalism cares only about maximizing profits while culture cares about food, art, and ideas. 

The harm and destruction caused by giant corporations and industrialization as a whole are never incurred by the ones causing the problems. Since their actions destroy the environment yet have no effect on their business's balance sheet it doesn't matter to them. Backlash and outcry from the public will get a corporation to put out a statement or change their logo but in order for them to actually change the way they do business it has to affect them financially. 

The fact that these giant corporations get subsidies from the government and don't pay any taxes helps to ensure any minor dips in revenue will be covered by the government. 

These same corporations will fight against the government when it tries to do something like raising the minimum wage for employees, but when it's time for their government handout they love the government. The fact that they have an unfair advantage in the free market because of all the free money they get from the government means that the average person has no hope of defending themselves against these corporate behemoths, and that is how they want to keep it.

 Culture cares less about profit and more about providing for people. Examples of culture are food and music and any type of art. These are used as a way of passing thoughts and ideas and traditions through generations. It is a way to share and connect with others and gives people a sense of connection with their ancestors and the shared consciousness we all come from. 

Will it ever be possible for corporations and culture to coexist, or will they always be at odds? 

The American Dream was once an idea that everyone admired and hoped to achieve. Although the ability to make a living and improve your life is still possible in America, our desire to grow and acquire more has led us to a place where greed is glorified.

 Everyone wants to make more money to buy more stuff and go to the coolest places, greed and consumption have taken over most aspects of our lives. 

How do we change this? 

Moving a society away from greed and consumption, and towards happiness and sustainability will mean fewer options. We view having fewer options as a bad thing, we have been brainwashed as a society to think more is good and new is better. We view laws and regulations as a limit to our freedom and encroaching on our civil liberties. We view any attempt to slow down or stop our destruction as some nefarious government plan to suppress and dominate us.

This downward spiral we have been in for decades spins faster and deeper every year. There is only one way to stop the spinning.

 Thinking. 

Humans love to congratulate ourselves on our big brains and ability to think and plan. This is what separates us from other animals and makes us the dominant species on earth. However, as our society continues to grow we use our brains less and less. 

We look for the fastest easiest solutions and rarely read past the headlines or do any kind of deep research of our own. We are quick to pick up things we hear that sound like something we agree with then broadcast it as far and wide as possible regardless of how wrong or stupid it might be. 

Thinking takes time and energy. It's much faster and easier to just repeat what you hear rather than think for yourself. 

One of the biggest obstacles in the way of people thinking for themselves is the fact that we have vilified education and celebrated stupidity to the point where it's not cool to be smart and the dumber you are the better. We first have to remove arrogance and stupidity from the alter and begin to worshiping logic and reasoning instead.

We have become a country where the dumbest people who yell the loudest are the best, and those of us who think and feel are weak and lame. I don't see how this mindset will change, anyone who talks about things like kindness or empathy is considered weak and anyone who fights for the environment is a tree-hugging hippy. 

We need a shift, away from the old arcane ideas of caveman-style masculinity, towards a world where handwork and responsibility are seen as noble, and crying and complaining are seen as weak and lame. 

For a country that is always bragging about itself being the best, we have become lazy and complacent, content to let things continue to burn until the earth is no longer inhabitable, and then they are going to fly off to Mars with Elon Musk.