Interesting discussion on the radio this morning about turbo consumerism. Listen again here.

Neal Lawson, Political correspondent for the Guardian newspaper and chair of the left wing democratic pressure group Compass, spoke eloquently about his feelings that our society is increasingly addicted to shopping- the main leisure pursuit of the nation. Lawson suggested that our sense of identity, well being and status have become tied up in the getting of STUFF. We talk about ‘retail therapy’- where shopping serves a deep purpose in our lives in terms of attempting to define who and what we are.

It could be suggested that western industrial society has always been consumer orientated, but at some time in the 80’s and 90’s we changed from a consumer society to a TURBO consumer society according to Lawson- a product of a culture that increasingly became credit and debt driven, and an economy that required us to upgrade our gadgets every 6-12 months in order to remain viable.

Lawson suggeted that people at the bottom of the income scale, who are unlikely to achieve highly in terms of education or employment invest a huge amount in designer labels- and this becomes a source of large amounts of crime.

None of us are unaffected by turbo consumerism. The advertising industry in all it’s multi layered sophistication, is intent on creating dissatisfaction with what we have, and what we look like, what our life is about, so that we might be more ready consumers of produce, gadgets and lifestyle enhancements.

On my drive back from Bute today, some familiar questions were rattling around in my brain…

Is there a way back from this?

Is there a better way to live?

Do I need a new phone/car(scrappage allowance none withstanding!)/TV/MP3 player etc etc?

If I/we stop buying these products, then is recession not inevitable?

But who is paying the cost for this mad lifestyle now? Is it making us happy? What about the huge inequalities within our society, and the insatiable need for raw materials and cheap labour from the majority of the world?

Where do I start, and can I really make a difference?

I suppose the interesting thing is that these questions are being asked by many in the wake of the recent economic upheavals.

And some Christians are raising their voices to suggest alternative ways to live. Check out Generous.

Time to stop shopping, and start living…

Keith Short (Scottish Network Churches) sent a link to this clip- which made me happy.

It is a style of church that I have no real desire to be part of, but am very glad to see thriving.

Bless em all…

It was my boy Williams birthday yesterday. He was 9.

What joy the lad has brought to our family. Watching him grow from a baby to a boy, with all the potential and ability in the world- this is such a wonderful thing.

So happy birthday Will my lad.

A party of Aliens/Jedi/Sith in our back garden

Shooting stomp rockets at Aliens!

Dunoon Grammar School

One more post about living in ‘the swine flu capital of Scotland’ (a title bestowed by the Times newspaper- here.)

Although there are now cases on the Island of Bute, and in Oban, Dunoon still remains the centre of the largest out break of the H1N1 virus in Scotland. As of Friday, there were almost 70 confirmed cases. Fortunately, most cases seem to have had mild effects on those infected- vomiting, aches and pains, dry cough- but two people have required hospital treatment. One person suggested that a recent hangover was worse!

The official response to this has been changing too. Initially the hope was that we could contain the spread of the virus by keeping those who had direct contact with infected people separate, and using prophylactic medication. It is safe to say that this does not appear to have worked very well! The concern of those of us that work for essential services is that if enough staff are infected, then we will not be able to maintain essential care to vulnerable people. However, at present, this has not been a problem. Services are managing fine.

The service under most pressure is the local hospital- and this seems to be at least in part because of the very many ‘worried well’ who are turning up for tests and seeking medication.

The current advice is that if infected, keep away from work and people. If in contact with those infected, but you are not symptomatic, then carry on as normal.

Community services (Social Work and Education) have been given clear instruction to ‘carry on as normal’, and not to get into a pattern of canceling things, and therefore increasing the sense of crisis in the locality.

I was surprised then to hear that Dunoon Grammar School is now closed for a week. My daughter, who is in year three, was already off all last week in an attempt to control the spread amongst people who had contact with a confirmed case of infection. I wonder whether the decision to close the school was more in response to the fact that so many people were simply not sending their kids to school. I heard that on one day last week, there were only 35 kids in the school (the normal intake is more than a thousand.)

The effect on the community has been interesting. Some are fearful and withdrawn- suspicious of sniffles and sneezes. But mostly the effect seems to be rather positive on peoples relating and interacting. After all, communication in small towns can often be very incestuous and gossippy- and swine flu gives us such great material. The chance to compare notes on who-knows-who, and to inquire after the wellbeing of the new local celebrities- those infected. I have found people to be almost universally good humoured about the whole thing.

Perhaps the ultimate expression of this is that I heard yesterday that some of those who had been infected were gathering together at a ‘Swine flu barbecue’- a social event for those who had been quarantined from others.

A hog roast you could say.

Where the swine flu ham is fully roasted.

Good for them!