Freeganism

[Subby]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freegan

I just heard about this lifestyle today. It combines a lot of disparate ideas and combines in a pretty strong anti-consumerist, anti-capitalism message. Obviously, it is pretty extreme in its approach, but I have to admit that the older I get, the more disgusted I get by mass consumerism/materialsim/wastefulness that is rampant in our country.

Interesting to see one response to it.

[Cap]

I think it comes with age.

[Subby]

The first half of Fight Club is another response, I guess. That resonated with me pretty heavily (not that I put down my quad grande mocha and went dumpster diving or anything).

[Karlifornia]

I feel this way a lot, and I'm only 22. I work in an area that is basically a breathing status symbol, and the more people I see with Mercedes', Ferrari's and lives they hate, the less I want to to be them. For me, it's not entirely "Anti-consumerism", but part "Anti-Hating my life but doing something hollow and depressing for the reason of money"

[Grammaticus]

Looks like a better term for them would be parasites. As they leach off the rest of society and add no value, other than to consume waste.

It is interesting how they propose a value in not supporting exploitation, but are happy to consume products gained through exploitation (their definition, not mine) as long as they don’t have to pay for them. Yes, I see they justify it by proposing they are just taking something that would waste anyways. Although theft was mentioned as well. The theft piece does not compute, as someone would replace the loss with a new product, thus supporting the exploitation they claim to denounce.

Also parasite because they cannot survive without a source. The source of course has values they claim to abhor. Really just looks like people who are trying to justify their own behavior that can at times be considered poor, theft and/or lacking value of work ethic.

[gottimd]

I scanned through the article but they sound like a mix of homeless people, minimalists, pan handlers, and hippies.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by gottimd

I scanned through the article but they sound like a mix of homeless people, minimalists, pan handlers, and hippies.

I think that's generally true, but I see nothing wrong with what they do (assuming shop-lifting is not a supported belief). It's basically taking recycling to the total extreme.

[Young Drachma]

I wonder if the person who came up with this, is still doing it or living off the high hog. Literally.

[Warhammer]

I don't understand people who dumpster dive for food.

I don't understand how if it is so bad for them to buy the stuff, why can they take it from the dumpster no problem?

Also, is killing bacteria in your mouth ok? What about the small microscopic animals that live on the outside of the veggies they eat, etc?

[Daimyo]

I think they'd better support their goal by finding a job in a non-exploitive place like a university or non-profit and then living a minimalist lifestyle and donating money and spare time to good causes.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Warhammer

I don't understand people who dumpster dive for food.

I don't understand how if it is so bad for them to buy the stuff, why can they take it from the dumpster no problem?

We used to do that in college at the local Rocky Rococo's pizza place. Pizza in the box at the top of the dumpster seemed safe, though it probably wasn't a great idea. Nobody ever got sick though, so we didn't worry much.

[DanGarion]

Didn't Bobby Hill do this in an episode of "King of the Hill"?

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

I think they'd better support their goal by finding a job in a non-exploitive place like a university or non-profit and then living a minimalist lifestyle and donating money and spare time to good causes.

That comes with a great deal less "hey, look at me" cachet.

[Hammer755]

I guess I don't understand how living off of the scraps of the capitalist world absolves you from interaction with it.

[Buccaneer]

I don't know, while the baby boomers have/had the perception of "yuppiness" and status symbol, I don't find that nearly as pervasive as the extreme-branding of some in the younger generations. I think you would find many boomers that will not wear a logo on a shirt or hat or shoes (like myself), or be loyal to a brand in the way that it becomes an identity. Some of us were fighting the establishment or going back to nature or simplifying our lives/worship/conservation/whatever.

I truly believe the answer lies, not in being anti-capitalist, but adopting a much less consumeristic lifestyle (is that a word?). The more disposable income we can obtain from not buying the latest-greatest-biggest-badest-hippest product, the more we can spend on things that really matter - like taking of one another and making a difference in our community.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

That comes with a great deal less "hey, look at me" cachet.

I really don't know that it's the core issue here. I think there are people out there so totally disillusioned with our culture, society, etc that they simply want to drop out of it. Are those the same people running webpages on freeganism? Probably not, but it doesn't mean there aren't people out there living this lifestyle without it being some sort of fashion statement.

You're playing to the smallest minority if you're crawling through dumpsters to try to convince people of how cool you are. In fact even a lot of people who already consider themselves on the fringe of society and live their lives in a totally ironic sense of uncoolness (you know... thick black-rimmed glasses, thrift-store t-shirt, but with a brand new ipod and mac) would give think you were nuts if you were to tell them you were adopting a freegan lifestyle.

I think it's much easier for people to look at this and view it as an attempt at rebellion for rebellion's sake rather than actually think that some people are so fed up with the way we (as a society) lead our lives that they're willing to say "i'm just not doing this any more."

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

In fact even a lot of people who already consider themselves on the fringe of society and live their lives in a totally ironic sense of uncoolness (you know... thick black-rimmed glasses, thrift-store t-shirt, but with a brand new ipod and mac) would give think you were nuts if you were to tell them you were adopting a freegan lifestyle.

black rimmed glasses - check
thrift-store t-shirts - check

Replace Sirius radio for ipod, and several year old laptop for mac and I would think you are talking about me.

In all fairness though, I usually wear contacts. And I also buy other stuff from thrift stores.

[Toddzilla]

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