Economic and Political Systems and Their Effects

Nathan Schulman
November 12, 2012


This blog entry will look at economic and political systems and their effects on today's consumption and globalization.  I will first discuss Annie Leonard's video on "The Story of Stuff," followed by Barbara Miller's dicussions of political anthropology and economic systems.

I watched a video online called "The Story of Stuff."  It was very cleverly put together, with animation behind the speaker, Annie Leonard.  She did research on our economic system in the United States and its affect on globalization. 

Leonard broke down the systems within globalization and American consumption.  The first step was extraction (pulling resources out of the ground).  Leonard said that we Americans use too much stuff, and we are running out of  our natural resources in the U.S., so, we are using "stuff" from Third World Countries.  The next phase is production that uses toxic chemicals, hiding them in household common goods like personal computers and pillows.  This actually creates human pollution.  The third step was distribution of products (selling, buying, importing).  An example given for this was a $4.99 Radioshack portable radio; it would cost more around the globe in various areas to get the parts needed to make the radio and ship it to the store.  She brought up externalized pricing where the people who made the parts that go into a product and the people who shop for the products by paying taxes help pitch in to making it possible for product price deductions.

Then Leonard discussed "use."  She said we are a nation of consumers, and that 99% of the stuff we buy is trashed within 6 months.  This is called "planned obsolence" and it occurs so that we will buy more stuff.  She also mentioned "perceived obsolescence" where we are made to think we need the newer improved product or updated packaging when our existing product is still quite functional.  Next came disposal, which creates more and new toxins.

The point of Leonard's video presentation is that our whole system of economic prodution is in crisis.  Recylcing helps, but it is not enough.  She ended her presentation with the idea of sustainability and keeping it green as we create a something new. 

I really did like the way Leonard explained everything.  It is clear to me that we need to make huge modifications in our economic system to protect our natural resources.

Chapter 8 discussed political anthropology, the study of power relationships in the public domain and how they have evolved through different cultures (from foraging communities with minimal political organization all the way to the state, which is an organized political structure that is more complex and possesses power).   This chapter also mentions legal anthropology which studies cultural variation in social order and conflict, and norms and laws in different cultures.  Legal institutions often maintain social inequality and injustice. Anthropologists study international organizations such as the United Nations to see their role in peacekeeping and conflict resolution.  I am glad I live in a country that has many freedoms.

Chapter 3 discussed the different levels of economic systems which include foraging, horticulture, pastoralism, agriculture and industrialism.  Each of these systems become increasingly complex.  In Annie Leonard's presentation, it became clear that economic globalization is changing livelihood, consumption and exchange around the world.  An example given in Miller is the work of Katherine Milton who studied indigenous foragers in the Brazilian Amazon.  Western goods, like steel machetes, axes and cooking pots were left for the Indians.  After using these goods, they were unable to think of returning to daily life without them.  They then had to work to earn money or make goods for trade so they could purchase new items.  Now time is devoted to production instead of other traditional activities.