Post by crudo on Feb 19, 2006 15:20:14 GMT -5
Consumption vs. Community: By Armrevoltlove
Society in the United States of America is ruled by constant consumption. Pride and prestige are found in possession. In order to possess one need to consume, in order to consume one needs money. Americans seem to have the constant need for something new, something to replace the old. Americans buy new stuff when the old stuff isn't event worn out, they buy storage to put there stuff they no longer can store at the house. In today’s complex society of hyper-capitalism everything is made a commodity. The means of production and the basic means of survival are owned by the few. The rest of society is forced to sell their labor for the basic means of survival. People who do not have money are pushed to society’s fringes, ignored by most of the general public. In such a wasteful society is it possible to get by just on the scraps that others leave behind. There are groups of people who do it everyday. People who live on the waste of the free market. These people chose to live with out any money as a protest hyper-capitalism, they eat out of dumpsters, and live in abandoned houses called squats. They think of capitalism as a form of slavery called and refer to those who work for the rich only to buy from the rich wage slaves. For two days I lived with the them, I left my car, my cell phone, and my money behind searching for liberation from wage slavery. All I took with me was the clothes I was wearing, a backpack, my notebook, and a few pens. It is possible to live without any money and still have the basic needs for survival
It is well known that there is hunger and homelessness in the United States of America. The most recent statistics on hunger from Second Harvest, show not only the vast numbers of hungry but also the rise in hunger: In 2001, the number of Americans who were food insecure, or hungry or at risk of hunger, was 33.6 million, a rise over 2000, when 33.2 million Americans were food insecure. The number of individuals who are suffering from hunger rose from 8.5 million in 2000 to 9 million in 2001. ("Current Hunger & Poverty Statistics" 2005). With so many hungry people it is hard to even comprehend why Americans throw so much food away. Agriculture economists with the Economic Research Service, USDA stated "More than 96 billion pounds of edible food was lost by retailers, foodservice, and consumers in 1995" ( Kantor 1997). Determined to find a few scraps of food from the billions of pounds wasted each year I set off for two days living with no money.
I traveled to my mother’s house In Modesto, California and parked my car. From there I walked to downtown Modesto, because that is where the squatters and dumpster divers usually are on Friday nights. I meet with them and told of what I was doing, they are a very warm and accepting community of people, and almost immediately invited me to a punk show that they were going to. They said we could get in for free if we tabled at the show. Tabling is the act of distribution political literature and talking to people. They usually table about anarchist philosophy and culture, and most identify them selves politically as anarchists and are either vegetarian or vegan. At the punk show we all took turns sitting by the table so others could watch the show. All ready I felt like I was a part of the group and got to see a few good bands play. After the show it was late and we were all hungry, it was then I learned how to table dive. Table diving is going into a restaurant and waiting for people to leave, so one can eat the food that the diners left on the table. This was not very successful; we only ended up with a few sodas. The next option was dumpster diving. They knew of a good dumpster that almost always had lots of food it. The dumpster was behind a grocery store and what they told me was true, the dumpster was full of food. The food was still good, and most of it was still in the package and was only thrown out because the sell by date had been that day. We sat down and took what we wanted to eat; I had a salad and some fruit. We also took extra food because every Sunday they go to a park and give out free food to any body that wants some this is called Food not Bombs. Our next stop was the dumpster behind the thrift store where we found clothes for Saturday when they go out to a busy intersection on the working class side of town and give away free clothes for an event they call Mutual Aid this can also be known as a really, really free market. After that, with our backpacks full we headed for the squat, an abandoned building on the outskirts of town. It is very cozy house for a building that from what I could tell was condemned. It had new carpet, couches and beds that were either found on the side of the road or in a dumpster. There were various artworks on the walls, mostly done in spray pant. The in the entry way said “abandon all hierarchy ye who enter here.” Deeper in the squat there was more writing on the wall that said, “The boss needs us, we don’t need the boss” and in the back I words that read “Under new self management.” We settled down for the night on the mattresses that were lying on the floor. There were plenty of blankets and they made sure I was going to be warm, because it was going to be a cold night. We stayed up using the light from candles to see each other's faces. Our conversation was emotional and personal, and we even sang songs together.
The next day, after our cold night in the squat, we went to a dumpster behind a corporate doughnut shop. We did not find any edible food we did find a stack of coupons for free sample donuts. The coupons were expired but we went into the store and the clerk accepted them. It was Saturday and time to go to the Mutual Aid to distribute clothes to whoever wants them. Since I knew it was going to be cold I took a scarf and a hat. At Mutual Aid we met a woman who was being evicted and needed help cleaning out her house. We agreed to help her out after we were done with Mutual Aid. We helped the woman out and she thanked us for our help and gave us a few 12” records, a loaf of bread, and some lemon bars. They told her they would help her in her case against the landlord, who could be better described as a slumlord. The squat we stayed at the night before seemed to be in better condition than this house. The evening was getting near so we all decided to go downtown. When we got downtown we found there was a fancy dinner party that was taking place in an up-scale hotel. We decided to go inside the party and see what was going on. The situation quickly turned into a reality buster when two of us joined the men and women on the dace floor. The dance floor was filled with men in suits and women in gowns. Sticking out of the crowd were two males in street clothes dancing with each other in what could be considered a sexual fashion. It didn't take long for security to find us and make us leave. We made sure we did not leave on an empty stomach, and that we did leave an impression on the party. After our adventure downtown we headed back to the squat, but decided we were to full of energy to go to sleep. We went down to the gas station down the street and just sat and talked. Not only did we talk to each other, we talked to anybody that was willing to listen, and listened to anybody who was willing to talk. We did eventually get tired enough to go to the squat and fall asleep.
The next morning we went scavenging in the dumpsters again, by this time violating this norm did not feel strange to me anymore. This time we were not just finding food for ourselves but for Food not Bombs. After finding enough food we went to the house that they use to cook the food for Food not Bombs. We prepared the meal out of the food that was reclaimed from the dumpster. then went to the park to serve it. Many people showed up because Food not Bombs has been going for over two years in Modesto. I had many different conversations with many different types of people, some seemed to just want somebody to talk to, others seemed to want help. Food not Bombs ended and with that so did my adventure. I said goodbye to my friends and headed back to my mother's house. I headed back to my car, my cell phone, and my money. Somehow those things seemed a little less valuable to me.
My mode of subsistence seemed to violated the norms of American society where it is not acceptable to eat out of dumpsters and sleep in abandoned houses. At first i was apprehensive to look for edible food in a dumpster. After lifting that lid and seeing all the fresh food still in packages I was not afraid of what anybody looking might think. I was so hungry that it did not even matter. Sleeping in an abandon building was something I was not looking forward to, but I quickly learned that it can be an amazing experience. The society I was a part of for two days was based on cooperation and the norm of reciprocity. This was a welcomed type of interaction I don't get to experience that often in my everyday life, because life in mainstream American society is filled with social interactions of exchange, competition, and conflict. I was part of a communal society, and was part of all the decisions made. When the experience was over and i had to return to my regular life I felt a mild depression. I did not want to go back to the boring routine of my regular life, because for those two days i had felt like I had done more than I could do in a month of my regular routine. This experience mad me feel like there is hope in a world ran on hyper-capitalism, and that is it possible to live outside this society. It is possible to boycott everything, as long as there is a group of people who are willing to take the chance.
Society in the United States of America is ruled by constant consumption. Pride and prestige are found in possession. In order to possess one need to consume, in order to consume one needs money. Americans seem to have the constant need for something new, something to replace the old. Americans buy new stuff when the old stuff isn't event worn out, they buy storage to put there stuff they no longer can store at the house. In today’s complex society of hyper-capitalism everything is made a commodity. The means of production and the basic means of survival are owned by the few. The rest of society is forced to sell their labor for the basic means of survival. People who do not have money are pushed to society’s fringes, ignored by most of the general public. In such a wasteful society is it possible to get by just on the scraps that others leave behind. There are groups of people who do it everyday. People who live on the waste of the free market. These people chose to live with out any money as a protest hyper-capitalism, they eat out of dumpsters, and live in abandoned houses called squats. They think of capitalism as a form of slavery called and refer to those who work for the rich only to buy from the rich wage slaves. For two days I lived with the them, I left my car, my cell phone, and my money behind searching for liberation from wage slavery. All I took with me was the clothes I was wearing, a backpack, my notebook, and a few pens. It is possible to live without any money and still have the basic needs for survival
It is well known that there is hunger and homelessness in the United States of America. The most recent statistics on hunger from Second Harvest, show not only the vast numbers of hungry but also the rise in hunger: In 2001, the number of Americans who were food insecure, or hungry or at risk of hunger, was 33.6 million, a rise over 2000, when 33.2 million Americans were food insecure. The number of individuals who are suffering from hunger rose from 8.5 million in 2000 to 9 million in 2001. ("Current Hunger & Poverty Statistics" 2005). With so many hungry people it is hard to even comprehend why Americans throw so much food away. Agriculture economists with the Economic Research Service, USDA stated "More than 96 billion pounds of edible food was lost by retailers, foodservice, and consumers in 1995" ( Kantor 1997). Determined to find a few scraps of food from the billions of pounds wasted each year I set off for two days living with no money.
I traveled to my mother’s house In Modesto, California and parked my car. From there I walked to downtown Modesto, because that is where the squatters and dumpster divers usually are on Friday nights. I meet with them and told of what I was doing, they are a very warm and accepting community of people, and almost immediately invited me to a punk show that they were going to. They said we could get in for free if we tabled at the show. Tabling is the act of distribution political literature and talking to people. They usually table about anarchist philosophy and culture, and most identify them selves politically as anarchists and are either vegetarian or vegan. At the punk show we all took turns sitting by the table so others could watch the show. All ready I felt like I was a part of the group and got to see a few good bands play. After the show it was late and we were all hungry, it was then I learned how to table dive. Table diving is going into a restaurant and waiting for people to leave, so one can eat the food that the diners left on the table. This was not very successful; we only ended up with a few sodas. The next option was dumpster diving. They knew of a good dumpster that almost always had lots of food it. The dumpster was behind a grocery store and what they told me was true, the dumpster was full of food. The food was still good, and most of it was still in the package and was only thrown out because the sell by date had been that day. We sat down and took what we wanted to eat; I had a salad and some fruit. We also took extra food because every Sunday they go to a park and give out free food to any body that wants some this is called Food not Bombs. Our next stop was the dumpster behind the thrift store where we found clothes for Saturday when they go out to a busy intersection on the working class side of town and give away free clothes for an event they call Mutual Aid this can also be known as a really, really free market. After that, with our backpacks full we headed for the squat, an abandoned building on the outskirts of town. It is very cozy house for a building that from what I could tell was condemned. It had new carpet, couches and beds that were either found on the side of the road or in a dumpster. There were various artworks on the walls, mostly done in spray pant. The in the entry way said “abandon all hierarchy ye who enter here.” Deeper in the squat there was more writing on the wall that said, “The boss needs us, we don’t need the boss” and in the back I words that read “Under new self management.” We settled down for the night on the mattresses that were lying on the floor. There were plenty of blankets and they made sure I was going to be warm, because it was going to be a cold night. We stayed up using the light from candles to see each other's faces. Our conversation was emotional and personal, and we even sang songs together.
The next day, after our cold night in the squat, we went to a dumpster behind a corporate doughnut shop. We did not find any edible food we did find a stack of coupons for free sample donuts. The coupons were expired but we went into the store and the clerk accepted them. It was Saturday and time to go to the Mutual Aid to distribute clothes to whoever wants them. Since I knew it was going to be cold I took a scarf and a hat. At Mutual Aid we met a woman who was being evicted and needed help cleaning out her house. We agreed to help her out after we were done with Mutual Aid. We helped the woman out and she thanked us for our help and gave us a few 12” records, a loaf of bread, and some lemon bars. They told her they would help her in her case against the landlord, who could be better described as a slumlord. The squat we stayed at the night before seemed to be in better condition than this house. The evening was getting near so we all decided to go downtown. When we got downtown we found there was a fancy dinner party that was taking place in an up-scale hotel. We decided to go inside the party and see what was going on. The situation quickly turned into a reality buster when two of us joined the men and women on the dace floor. The dance floor was filled with men in suits and women in gowns. Sticking out of the crowd were two males in street clothes dancing with each other in what could be considered a sexual fashion. It didn't take long for security to find us and make us leave. We made sure we did not leave on an empty stomach, and that we did leave an impression on the party. After our adventure downtown we headed back to the squat, but decided we were to full of energy to go to sleep. We went down to the gas station down the street and just sat and talked. Not only did we talk to each other, we talked to anybody that was willing to listen, and listened to anybody who was willing to talk. We did eventually get tired enough to go to the squat and fall asleep.
The next morning we went scavenging in the dumpsters again, by this time violating this norm did not feel strange to me anymore. This time we were not just finding food for ourselves but for Food not Bombs. After finding enough food we went to the house that they use to cook the food for Food not Bombs. We prepared the meal out of the food that was reclaimed from the dumpster. then went to the park to serve it. Many people showed up because Food not Bombs has been going for over two years in Modesto. I had many different conversations with many different types of people, some seemed to just want somebody to talk to, others seemed to want help. Food not Bombs ended and with that so did my adventure. I said goodbye to my friends and headed back to my mother's house. I headed back to my car, my cell phone, and my money. Somehow those things seemed a little less valuable to me.
My mode of subsistence seemed to violated the norms of American society where it is not acceptable to eat out of dumpsters and sleep in abandoned houses. At first i was apprehensive to look for edible food in a dumpster. After lifting that lid and seeing all the fresh food still in packages I was not afraid of what anybody looking might think. I was so hungry that it did not even matter. Sleeping in an abandon building was something I was not looking forward to, but I quickly learned that it can be an amazing experience. The society I was a part of for two days was based on cooperation and the norm of reciprocity. This was a welcomed type of interaction I don't get to experience that often in my everyday life, because life in mainstream American society is filled with social interactions of exchange, competition, and conflict. I was part of a communal society, and was part of all the decisions made. When the experience was over and i had to return to my regular life I felt a mild depression. I did not want to go back to the boring routine of my regular life, because for those two days i had felt like I had done more than I could do in a month of my regular routine. This experience mad me feel like there is hope in a world ran on hyper-capitalism, and that is it possible to live outside this society. It is possible to boycott everything, as long as there is a group of people who are willing to take the chance.
