Ghastly xmas ads

It's bad form I'm sure to put a second consecutive post from the same person but Charlie Brooker does know how to skewer the shallowness and depressing nature of advertising with some humour - certainly better than me ranting angrily about it for several lines! Here is his article about the glut of 'emotional' xmas TV ads currently being chucked out by the large chains.

Check out Life Squared's free publication Xmas² for ideas on how to avoid too much commercial nonsense at Christmas.

Evil Weetabix

Great article by Charlie Brooker in today's Guardian about the repugnant practice of advertising to kids, and how consumerism is finding new ways to enter our lives.

How to change the world

This interesting article in the New York Times got me thinking again about something I'd been working on a few years ago - the question of how to we can gain the level of change needed to tackle big global issues like global warming and just what role we as individuals can play in this.

The article made me wonder whether we're getting it the wrong way round when we take things like the carbon footprint of the world and divide responsibility for it between individuals, as individuals are often not the agents whose actions and decisions will produce the level of change that is needed - it's companies, countries and other institutions and groups of people.

So, if we want to seek change on big issues, perhaps we need to redistribute the level of responsibility for these things - and assign more responsibility to those agents with the level of influence and power to make the big changes . This doesn't diminish our responsibility to live good lives as individuals - but simply rebalances the burden of responsibility for change to those agents that have the power to make it happen on a big scale.

This also affects the way we might go about seeking change in the world as individuals. It doesn't mean we should stop 'doing our bit' or stop leading planet-friendly and compassionate lives - as these are part of living in line with our everyday values as individuals, and this is a vital part of what it means to live a good, dignified, fulfilled human life. But what it does mean that if we're seriously looking to change the world as individuals we should be prioritising something else - and that is to do everything we can to influence the real agents for change on these issues.

So, if each of us is serious about getting a better world, let's separate the actions we can take to live in line with our values as individuals (like planet-friendly living) from the actions we can take to gain real change (like lobbying companies, voting, becoming politically active) - and then do both of these things.

Consumerism for babies - part 2

A few months ago I wrote about the highly questionable presence of Bounty packs in maternity wards (see this post for a reminder) and the unpleasant form of 'captive consumerism' they seem to enforce on new parents.

In the last week the Independent has also covered this issue in an article that explains more of the commercial workings behind the scheme - and the evidence they present makes the whole idea even more unpalatable.

Both the National Childbirth Trust and the Royal College of Midwives object to this practice, so it's about time we saw it stopped. Contact the NHS Confederation to tell them you want to see an end to it.

Making sense of modern life

Here's our new, improved summary of the social need for Life Squared and what the organisation does to address it... Click here to download the summary.

The wonders of the universe

Everyone seems to love the latest BBC popular science programme 'The Wonders of the Universe' and it's no surprise - apart from having everyone's favourite former-pop-star-prof as a presenter, it provides an awe-inspiring view of the universe that we live in.

I think having a regular dose of this sort of perspective is important in our lives. It helps us to retain a sense of balance and context for our lives, and to appreciate both our relative insigificance in the great scheme of things and the remarkable fact that we are alive in the first place. See this link for an article on the value of perspective.

At Life Squared, we're currently redeveloping our website, and one of the new features the new site will carry is an interactive tool to help people see various aspects of their lives in a broader context. Apart from simply being very interesting, it may well encourage users to think about their lives and how they live them. Keep checking the site in late April/May to find out more...

Consumerism for babies

It's been a while since my last post because of a particularly busy period of work and the arrival of a new member of the Docwra household. The process of having a child has opened a door to a whole new world that many non-parents may be unaware of - and consumerism seems to have a strong hold over this new parenting world!

Take the Bounty pack for example - these are packs of free goodies given to new parents at the hospital just after their baby has been born. The Bounty pack reps are allowed to wander through the maternity wards distributing their packs - and they do this in a way that not only seems to have the blessing of the NHS, but that also seems to be an integral part of its maternity service.

This is a serious piece of misrepresentation, as in reality the Bounty pack is simply a commercial tool. It says it provides 'expectant and new mums with...important information, expert advice, support and try before you buy samples', but in reality it is simply a bag of samples and advertisements for baby products. Take out the promotional items and you are left with nothing of any informational value. And these promotional items are being presented to a captive audience, who are new to their role as parents and slightly vulnerable, masquerading as information from the country's trusted health service.

I was so suprised at how a piece of commercialism was allowed to get into such a sensitive part of our health service in this way that I asked a midwife about it. They (slightly sheepishly) agreed that these packs are basically just a load of adverts and product samples.

I'm not having a go at our health service - it is one of our great institutions and the care we received was absolutely brilliant. I just feel this is a great example of how the influence of consumerism can seep into every aspect of our lives - from the minute we are born - and that we need to do something to halt its spread.