My View of Stuff

Annie Leonards The Story of Stuff is a short yet very informative video that opens our eyes to the reality of our consumption driven economy. Leonard provides us with many hard hitting examples, percentages and very scary details on how fast we are destroying our own planet and bodies in order to pursued us to create a more sustainable world. Leonard conveys her message with such urgency and sincerity that you can not help but be drawn in and want to do something about it. Leonards message is startlingly clear, we have too much stuff and too much of it is toxic and her suggestions for making stuff more durable, recyclable, and adaptable is undeniably important.

Leonard makes many important and great points, however I am neither for or against her opinions. After watching the video I do feel very concerned for how we are destroying our own planet but at the same time I question many of her facts. Leonard's transcript is extensively footnoted, so at first sight she seems to be providing great sources for all her assertions. After checking into her sources however, I found many flaws in her research, she seems to twists many of her sources. For instance, Leonard stated "Now my friends tell me I should use a tank to symbolize the government that's true in many countries and increasingly in our own, after all more than 50% of our federal tax money is now going to the military" (5) after reviewing her source I found that it is actually 36% of our Federal tax money that is going to our military (War Resisters League. 5).

Now don't get me wrong Leonard makes some very valid points like how we are "using too much stuff " (Leonard. 5) and disposing of all of it in all the wrong ways. Then how we are also going to "Third world" (Leonard. 5) countries and using all of their resources and disposing of our trash there as well. It is all completely wrong but then again the government always does terrible things then lies to us to cover themselves. She also brings into perspective the fact that even though recycling is a great thing to do "recycling will never be enough"(Leonard. 5). At the rate we are going we could never "get to the core of the problem" (Leonard. 5) and most of our garbage can not even be recycled, because most products were not designed to be recycled in the first place. Honestly, when Leonard says this it is extremely discouraging and makes recycling seem so pointless.

Leonard states that "That is why, after 9/11, when our country was in shock, President Bush could have suggested any number of appropriate things: to grieve, to pray, to hope. NO. He said to shop. TO SHOP?! " (5) President Bush did ask Americans to pray for those who grieve. And I feel President Bush had a great point asking Americans to shop and spend money, he was trying to get across that we shouldn't hide in our homes and be afraid. That we should continue to help our economy and show the