We deeply appreciate the generous outpouring of support our Project has received over the past 48 hours in response to Glenn Beck’s continuing attack against the use of The Story of Stuff in classrooms across the country.
We created The Story of Stuff to get people thinking and talking. The result over the past two years—not to mention the past two days—speaks for itself.
The messages we’ve received from thousands of teachers and students who’ve seen the film—some of whom thoroughly disagreed with it—gives us confidence that young people are not only fully capable of engaging with the subject matter in the Story of Stuff, they’re asking for it. After all, they are the ones who will have to address climate change and the other environmental and social side effects of our throw away culture.
Beck’s line of attack appears to be motivated by the release of his new book: Arguing with Idiots.
But we have better things to do.
We’re developing a two-week educational curriculum—aligned to national standards, with a strong focus on critical thinking—that provides teachers with a fuller set of tools to help students consider and debate the message of The Story of Stuff.
In response to requests from thousands of faith-based institutions for more information, we’re field-testing a study program that helps people of faith explore how their religious beliefs connect with the message of The Story of Stuff.
We’re also in production on a set of new short films, the first of which we’ll be releasing this November.
We appreciate the new viewers, Facebook friends, contributions and other support that Beck has generated for us, but rather than respond to his outrageous claims, we’re going to stay focused on building the more sustainable, safe and just world our children, and all of us, deserve.
Thanks,
Annie Leonard and the Story of Stuff Project Team
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September 24th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Glenn Beck is right on. I just watched Story of stuff and was almost sick to my stomach.
It is so full of lies!!! One of her first statements was the US spends 50% of every tax dollar on the military!! My kids will not see this CRAP
September 24th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Okay… wtf… have you even taken an economics course? I can’t even begin to tell you how many things you’ve either misunderstood, taken out of context, or outright made up. PLEASE contact me at iceclimbers1@yahoo.com so that I may explain to you everything thats wrong with you.
September 24th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
Well said – and like most bullies, if you ignore them, they will likely go away. Thank you for everything you are doing!
September 24th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Strange from the looks of the last blog does not look like much support to me and all I have heard is angry parents.
We have staked the whole of all our political
Institutions upon the capacity of mankind for
Self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control
Ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to
The Ten Commandments of God.’
James Madison
IF YOU DO NOT LIKE WHAT THIS COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON MOVE TO RUSSIA
September 24th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Bravo Annie and the SoS gang! Keep on doing what you do best – educating the educatable – and the rest will all fall into place!
September 24th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Glenn thanks you too for the free diddy about his book. Sure it will sell even more copies now…tard. Obama is looking for a Propoganda Czar to write songs for the classrooms and distribute his message. Annie could go down in history with relation to Obama as Gerbils did with Hitler. Perpetuation of untruths and jibberish for the ‘greater good’. ELF is looking for a few ‘good’ people too. Ones who know how to play statistics games. I bet Annie’s parents are soooo proud.
September 24th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
This response will most likely be deleted shortly after it has been posted; however, I simply can not believe that any sane parent would find out about their child seeing this nonsense, especially in a school setting, and not swiftly contact the school district and request that any further “educational” information from you idiots not be shown to their children. Can you honestly, in good faith, tell me that you think suggesting our governing body should be compared to any other country? Suggesting that we could symbolize our government with a tank as if Fidel Castro is our president. I could under stand that position if the video had been created in the last week with our guy, the anointed one, telling the entire UN general assembly that the United States is the big bad wolf lurking in sheep’s clothing in the corner. Is it the fate of the U.S. to become a 3rd world state? Are we supposed to say “OK we’ve been bad consumers and have to tried to further ourselves just as our constitution allows us to but now we suck so we are going to take our turn being the 3rd world go ahead and nuke the crap out of us because we have now no defense?” I can’t understand why a man with so much “learning” under his belt would act in such a non-educated way. I understand that I haven’t attended an Ivy League school and I “only” have an IQ of 142 but for the life of me I can not grasp the plan that Obama has for the United States. Does he plan for complete and utter financial ruin? Any sane person, having attended a college level econ class or two, would realize that any fiscal policy changes that Obama makes from his throne almighty will, in the long run, only serve to drive up inflation and cause job losses.
OK I’m done with my rant you can delete the post now.
September 25th, 2009 at 12:19 am
I find it interesting that in the beginning paragraphs of this blog entry you claim to be encouraging critical thinking in our children, and yet you then dismiss the very valid arguments that Glenn Beck and others have leveled at you and your video as not worth responding to.
If their attacks are simply specious, then please, argue away as to why that is so. Engage in a dialogue with the other side and prove your point. Don’t just sit there on your high horse and pontificate to us or our children.
September 25th, 2009 at 1:26 am
As an educator, I am appalled by the misrepresentation of facts in this video obviously targed for young people or those unable to think critically. My background is in teaching history for 7 years and I wonder if it’s that people really don’t understand anything about our founding Fathers’ intention for this country or if it’s that they just don’t care. Beck has expressed my concerns and frustations in spades (no racial connotation intended)!
September 25th, 2009 at 1:32 am
I’m speechless. Although I agree that we should be good stewards of our planet, and resources, we (all of humanity) are not even close to using up all of the earth’s resources.
Your ridiculous progressive claims are killing me. First it was “global cooling” in the 60s and 70s. Then “save the planet” in the 80s. Just recently it was “global warming”, now its the ever ambiguous “Climate Change”. Hmmmmmmmmmm. You progressive leftists are FULL OF CRAP!
September 25th, 2009 at 5:32 am
The permanent solution to economic wastefulness is the development of a Resource Based Economy as explained by Jacque Fresco.
September 25th, 2009 at 6:37 am
I want your blog to address why you can complain about Beck and what many counter you with and dismiss it? What about critical thinking?
I hope that your lesson plans are objective and non-biased unlike everything else you’ve put together.
I love the recent blog dismissing Beck based on a book…not a one comment refuting what him and others say.
September 25th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Ignore the sad sniping individuals Annie; they are too foolish to see the evidence of what is before them.
September 25th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Yes to the point made by G. Lutz, if Glenn Beck’s arguments are so outrageous and invalid, then please enlighten us…how?
Afterall, if you “created the Story of Stuff to get people thinking and talking”, then why are you choosing to not engage in a dialogue? If your “Story of Stuff” is based on the truth, as you claim, then by all means stand up to your bully and walk through the “stuff” point-for-point.
And until you can represent that the claims made in the “Story of Stuff” are based in real unbiased fact, in the face of public scrutiny (and not hiding on your blog), do not offer to teach us about how our religious beliefs align with your story. I know a snake when I see it.
September 25th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Your information is clearly dubious.
I beleive the reason that you do not portray truthful information is related to your desire to indoctrinate our children into your discredited movement.
America is the greatest nation in the world.
Stay away from my kids.
September 25th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Your piece, “The Story of Stuff” should be retitled, “The Story of How to Indoctrinate Children”
I find it despicable that you would force feed this claptrap on our kids. Shame on you! Do you have the right to have your own opinion? Yes. Do you have the right to portray it as fact? No!
You are a subscriber to the “control the schools, indoctrinate the children, and revolution is unnecessary…” theory of socialistic change.
Thank goodness for Glenn Beck and others for exposing this transparent attempt to demonize the very good and fair system of Capitalism and the free market.
You will not prevail, because we are watching.
September 25th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Full support from me and many friends from Montréal, Canada! What you’re doing is necessary, and if some people want to live in a bubble of their own while feeding on everybody else’s ressources, well it’s time for them to wake up!
September 25th, 2009 at 11:57 am
There is a reason their is an emphasis on “You” being to blame and not corporations that pollute and mame the world everyday with their harmful practices. You are being conditioned to accept blame and unconsciously living in a state of fear so those in control can own you and they themselves are never to blame.
Remember Global Warming was written about and created by “The Club of Rome” in their book “The First Global Revolution.”
“The common enemy of humanity is man.
In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill. All these dangers are caused by human intervention, and it is only through changed attitudes and behavior that they can be overcome.
The real enemy then, is humanity itself.”
- Club of Rome
The First Global Revolution
September 25th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
I have two children and if this is what our schools are going to base their curriculum on I will with no hesitation pull my children out of the school system. My children will not be taught that the government is to take care of us and give us what we want. We as a nation need to teach the youth to have personal responsibility. Having value is not based on how much stuff you buy! Value is working hard and earning what you deserve. It’s not the governments responsibility to GIVE us what we want, or take what I have to give to someone else who chooses not to work.
I say THANKS to Glenn for pointing out what us parents are left in the dark about. We pay for our kids to go to school, we deserve to know what our kids are learning and it’s our discretion whether they participate or not.
September 25th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
How about obtaining facts from more well-rounded sources than your far-Left counterparts. 50% goes to our military?? GIVE ME A BREAK. If you think our country will reject capitalism as a primary economic engine, you’re all hugging the wrong tree.
Way to go, Glenn Beck.
September 25th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Glenn Beck is right! You are demonstrating perverse views to the children viewing your videos. Your facts need double checking. I would be outraged to know my children are being fed your false information.
September 25th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I believe that, as lutz says, there has to be an open debate rather than simply dismiss other side arguments by dequalification. But i dont support Madison, its the same, but fron the other border.
I believe (and the video encourage me to do so) that the world economy is a bicycle and consumption is the pedal. If we stop consuming, then the factory outputs will be smaller, then we wont need so many workers, it will increase unemployment and poverty making a more unbalanced world.
The current level of consumption has allowed money to be thrown to cientist to develop newer and greenest ways of getting our stuff.
I will later continue whith this.
PD: Exploitation is not as the video shows and you are not the center of the universe
Greetings from the 3rd world
Rodrigo
September 25th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Annie, that is a great video.What better endorsement of the sanity and accuracy of your film than to have Glen Beck weeping and getting buggy-eyed about how evil it is? Thanks for the good work… I posted a link on my Facebook page and will recommend it to everyone I know (especially my kids).
September 25th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
To Lutz and Live Free or Die… the arguments she makes can easily be substantiated. Live Free, Madison was not what you consider a Christian… he, as were almost all the founders, was what would now be considered a secular humanist. That’s why there is separation of church and state in the constitution. Christianity in all its forms is merely one option. There is no mandate. Americans are free to do as they choose, but the tradition of stewardship has certainly fallen out of style.
Glenn Beck is just making money, folks.
September 25th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Beck is not worth your time? More like your ideals are built on complete trash that you spew and couldn’t hold water to save your life so you run and hide, to try to rake in a few more dollars from the weakminded sheep before you are exposed for the lying wind bag that you are.
September 25th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Hi,
Although I would most likely agree on all points and philosophies in the film, and agree that everyone would benefit by paying attention to consumption and it’s effects, I sadly feel it is ineffective.
One thing that really bothers me is that the narrator comments that only 4 percent of original forests are left in the U.S. but the fact that that line was derived from does not say that. It talks about 98 percent of the forests in the U.S. having been logged or disturbed, not eradicated.
When facts are altered in this way to overstate a fact it weakens and falsifies your statement. When the narrator said only 4 percent of the forests are left I thought wow that just doesn’t sound right. And according to the website’s own notes it wasn’t.
If the motive of the filmakers is to educate to promote a change I am sorry that it is done in this oversimplified manner with some passive aggressive statements that leave it open to chastisement by people the likes of Glenn Beck (who I couldn’t dispise more)
September 25th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
I believe we all can do a better job of recycling and finding value in things that are not material. However, I find it hard to believe that you truly want critical thinking to hold the day when I see how you have approached the subject matter of this film. If you are truly concerned about critical thinking you would have presented facts not feelings and propaganda. Many of the “facts” you have presented are either outdated our out of context. It is clear that you wanted to support a liberal agenda. I am frightened by the fact that this is being shown in our schools.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Will Mr. Soros be able to save you when this country is taken back and all the socialists like you are run out of here?
September 25th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
I hope Glenn is able to do to you what he did to Van Jones. I watched your insipid little piece of propaganda. I hope it finally exposes Greenpeace and the other organzations like it for what they are: Anti_capitalist, Anti-Freedom Marxists. Your whole diatribe is just more of the same set of lies, innuendo and fabrication that the left uses to try to de-legitimize our way of life.
And yet you have the gall to seel things here yourself. But as long as it’s all closed loop, right? Is the paper in the book really 100% recycled fibre? How about the DVD’s? You’re another example of a well to do hypocrite trying to tell people how to live.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Annie, you are wrong on your “Story of Stuff” propaganda. You have obviously retained a juvenile state of development, incapable of responsibility.
This country was founded around the Age of Reason, a time which embraced the scientific method. That is the basis of our government, the Framers studied history critically, discovering why great societies failed.
Do you wonder why the United States lags behind the developed world in science? Because that one subject DESTROYS your fanciful ideal of governance. Because ALL of your claims end up with the destruction of a society AND it is proven in history.
Insanity is repeating an action, expecting a different outcome. Science demands repeatability of outcome. You are displaying insane thoughts.
Read your history of ancient civilizations.
September 25th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
No, Thank you! Thank you for exposing who BO really is!
September 25th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Never heard so much shit about stuff in my life
God lady you are a Moron
September 25th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
It is not the governments job to take care of you, Ms.Leonard. A government that can offer you anything can take away everything. If you were truly concerned with allowing children to think critically then you would not have made your film so one-sided. Needless to say, my children will not be participating in your curriculum.
September 25th, 2009 at 5:33 pm
What a bunch of environmental wacko, socialist/communist/Marxist, anti-American dribble.
September 25th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Hey Annie, Karl Marx called. He wants his failed economic theory back! Here’s my suggestion to you: Move into a third-world hut, and SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE!!!
September 25th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
To UNTERGRUNT: Your statements are completely wrong! The founding documents state no such separation between church and state. However, in a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802, President Jefferson used the metaphor of a “wall” separating church and state to convey the idea that the FEDERAL government could not establish religious holidays, as he considered that to fall under the jurisdiction of individual states. He wrote, “I have undertaken no occasion to prescribe the religious exercises, but have left them, as the Constitution found them, under the direction and discipliine of STATE or CHURCH AUTHORITIES.” Jefferson and Madison were anxious that the states intervene in relgious matters so as to provide equality among all religions. The joined other Founders in expressing an anxiety that ALL religions be encouraged in order to promote the moral fiber and religious tone of the people. They were NOT SECULAR HUMANISTS, which is just another term for atheist.
September 25th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
From the propaganda video “story of stuff”
“ITS A SYSTEM IN CRISES”
Why is everything the liberals don’t like “in crisis” and therefore needs immediate government intervention?
September 25th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
The anger in some of the earlier comments is far scarier than any asserted inaccuracies — small or large — in Story of Stuff.
Civil disagreement is a central pillar of American democracy. We’ll crumble as a Union without it, far sooner than any environmental crisis, real or imagined.
If we’re worried about our childrens’ values and sensibilities, why don’t we start by showing them, in this space, what civil adult behavior looks like?
September 25th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
I totally agree with previous posting
September 25th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
I would like to know if the audience blogging here would object to our asking high school students the following: Would you recommend the film THE STORY OF STUFF to your peers? Explain.
This would require them to view it, but also to form and voice their own opinion about the film’s relevence or importance.
Thanks, Caroline Lewis
September 26th, 2009 at 12:28 am
It’s amazing how you have taken certain statistics but twisted them into “apocalyptic” dimensions. Yes, personal responsibility should be encouraged, but not by your pedagogic propaganda. Shame on you for twisting truths and fictionalizing evils to convince impressionable children, and feeding the uninvolved and uninformed with twisted truths. It’s unfortunate that you’ve destroyed a positive message by drowning it in lies and mis-truths, just to push your agenda.
September 26th, 2009 at 8:18 am
That propaganda video was disgusting, and the fact that is has been shown in schools makes another case for home-schooling.
There are legitimate arguments that can be made for greener living, this video is a liability for your own cause.
September 26th, 2009 at 9:15 am
“—some of whom thoroughly disagreed with it—”
I would hope they thoroughly disagreed with it, as almost the entire video is FACTUALLY incorrect. Stating something that is incorrect is bad enough in a classroom environment, but using those incorrect “facts” to push ANY agenda is a horrid abuse of the educational system.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Beck is right. The story of stuff is a vapid diatribe that I find nauseating.
Let me be clear, I don’t like Beck. I rather dislike him and disagree with most of his views. But he happens to be right on this one. I consider myself an environmentalist, and a liberal – I voted for Obama. I’m educated, and went to rather liberal educational institutions. But frankly speaking, this video is at best extremist propaganda, and at worst an inane piece of drivel. More often than not the arguments are illogical and very often outright stupid. You very deliberately contort what little facts are presented and weave political rant with a grotesque diatribe about the “material economy”.
I’m bothered by this video because it gives legitimate environmentalists a bad name and grossly distorts the debate on what are vital issues for the world.
Shame on you.
September 26th, 2009 at 10:22 am
I just feel that if it’s intention was to open up the conversation and debate, they could of started the debate with more facts rather then (at least what it seems, to me) as spin.
That coupled with the “test” that Glenn showed that of the questions you must answer leaves no room for discussion or debate, but clearly leading questions.
Just my two cents, for what its worth.
September 26th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Excellent response to the attack.
It’s fascinating to me that Glenn Beck and his cohorts seem to see children as empty vessels to be force-fed with a single agenda. Unable to engage interactively with the material that is offered to them.
The real terror that has provoked this virulence is that Story of Stuff gets children thinking. Questioning. Learning.
Can’t have that. It would be the end of civilization as we know it.
September 26th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Annie,
You have better things to do than defend the core points of your video? You are ignoring the truth to promote your own agenda. Is that responsible?
September 26th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Mr. Maniates,
Non-civil disagreement and twisted truth has allowed the progressive movement to erode the fabric of our country and society over the last 100 years. By acting civilly, conservatives have been trampled over. Liberal absurdity must be incessantly exposed with boldness and courage.
September 26th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I’m sorry, but most of the data for this film is completely wrong. Glenn Beck may be extreme but the man is right. You’re an idiot. If you want to educate, at least use the truth.
September 26th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Why are you lying? We are not spending half of America’s income on military. You are giving false information to innocent children. Stay out of our schools and away from our children.
September 26th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Move to Africa, you kook. They don’t have as much stuff as the US. I’m sure you’ll be happier there. Right?
September 26th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Civil disagreement DOESN’T make the FAKE facts true. To whine about making our pillows fireproof (these bags of what used to be hay, and are NOW, without treating very flamable) is silly. To claim that there are only 3 trees left is a lie. For that FAT (read ‘massive’) consumer Annie to tell US how to EAT/READ/LIVE is really hypocritical. She can get as heavy as she likes, but to tell us how to live because in all of her thirteen years on the planet she’s figured it all out is plain stupid. To give her kudos is just as dumb.
The most ignorant thing though as many here have said is to throw out all of this crap and then say it’s not worth their time defending the indefensible. Glen Beck scares you? Sure, he’s crazy, but he highlights crap like yours and we can make up our own minds. Most of the “facts” (as you call them) are easily looked up (even on the evil Liberal Google) and found to be lies. I wouldn’t dismiss you, you’re too dangerous NOT to address, but you can’t prove MANY of the lies you spew. The government is supposed to have a defense for the people, but 50%? Ha! You’ve simply run out of fingers and have to make up the numbers, that’s all. Please do me one favor, just one. DON’T PROCREATE!
September 26th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
It should not be about anger — about what is right … If we do not get angry and defend our children who will, our government??? with this sort of indoctrination and lack of real education? Govt and schools are so focused on equalizing the masses that those children that are above average academically are left to fend for themselves. Hence, I have pulled my children out of public school. SOS is just another reason to support my decision.
September 26th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
So, then, Nathan, if “The real enemy then, is humanity itself”, then let’s just nuke everyone and our problems will be solved! No more humanity to screw up the planet!
Anyway, I myself am a student, and have never had the misfortune of having had been indoctrinated with this so-called educational video. All I see is an attempt to undermine one of, if not THE pillar of our society: capitalism. America was a nation founded on the entrepreneurial spirit of its citizens; those driven to make a life for themselves, their families, and drive the success of the nation itself. Without our capitalist roots (as you suggest removing), America will become but a shadow of itself; one of its core founding principles will have been torn out from under it.
Another point: I know in this video, America is the big evil corporation nation; we humiliate, deface, destroy, basically enslave and then kick dirt in the face of the rest of the world. What do you suggest we do? None of that “Oh, we need to come together and make a new system and help each other and puppies and butterflies and rainbows!” crap. I need some real, concrete solutions. You can hate our great nation all you want, but until you offer a word of concrete advice, I’m not going to listen to a word you say.
I also think you underestimate the student population of our world. If you think we’re going to bow down and listen to every word that you say just because our teachers show it in the classroom, you are sorely misguided. There was so much anti-American (if I may use the term) shit in that video, I almost threw up from the stench. I was sorely offended both as a living, breathing and thinking individual as I was as a proud, free and capitalist American Citizen.
We students are not unaware of our global predicament; indeed, I would say that we are one of the MOST aware, as we are the group that’s inheriting the Earth from the older generations. I understand that some part of your video is supposed to be about saving our Earth – that I wholeheartedly agree with. But wrapping it in anti-capitalist, anti-consumer and most importantly anti-American sentiments is simply not the way to go. America is NOT, no matter what you say, the only problem. The entire world is in on this together, so how dare you try to shrug it off on our soldiers; go ask China why they LET other nations use their territory for manufacturing – they could just say no. Go ahead. Think about it – without the support of those nations, half the stuff you said in the video wouldn’t be possible. So if you are going to blame someone, blame the entire world.
This is just the humble view of a high-school age student. As of late, I have been highly concerned with the politically-charged atmosphere that seems to have taken over our media, our educational system and even our private lives. Your video is no exception. The amount of anti-American sentiment is sickening; I just want to let you know that if your video is shown in my classroom, I will walk out in protest. Good day,
Bradley C.
September 26th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
If you’re going to spend your time and energy making a movie, why not actually learn and understand the foundations of America! Your inaccuracies and outright lies are being used to further the indoctrination of children with revisionist, liberal falsehoods. Why don’t you go find your own country to ruin and leave ours ALONE!
September 26th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Those who live in darkness hate light. Mr. Beck reflects light onto your false and repressive notions. Like most Socialist’s, it’s so much easier to “name call” than engage in actual debate.
I say this. Thank you for helping awaken my neighbors, friends and family. You, with your own words are a great contrast to Liberty, Freedom and Independence.
I thank you. Please produce more work of such nature.
September 26th, 2009 at 4:05 pm
The reality is that most human beings have not evolved past the age of 12. Unfortunately, at such a young mental maturity, the predominant “adult” mind is incapable of true logic and bi-partisian thinking.
Therefore, the really sad aspect of these comments is not the disagreement but the inability of many to see both sides and create a real line of thought.
There is a valid argument for both sides, but also a valid middle ground. I hope we, as adults, will begin to see the validity but also recognize the propaganda on both sides in order to create a more intelligent and mature stance. John Foster, 28 yrs. old, Colorado
September 26th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Annie, dont let Glenn get you down. We have like minds & our children need to know the government will take care of them and we are ruining our planet.
We need very strict environmental laws.
Cap and Trade is a start in the direction we need to be going. More schools should buy and air the video, it is education children need to know about our world, government and depleting resources.
Yay Annie
NOO Glenn!
September 26th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Good on you for standing up and continuing to educate all of us on the harm of continuing our destructive ways.
There is no point in debating with the glenn becks of the world. Their masters are industry and have only one god = $.
His followers have been indoctrinated through fear mongering and are a very serious threat to our future. Let’s hope their children grow out of their narrow, shallow, and bigoted indoctrination and become freethinking and responsible citizens who are not so easily influenced by the brainwashing charlatans on like those on Fox “news” and their ilk.
September 26th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Invented facts and half-truths designed to support unfounded opinions really have no place in classrooms except as an example of what happens when people do op-eds as reports to purposely distort data and brand it information. Your “stuff” is one of the better arguments for mmm mmm mmm homeschooling.
September 26th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Some of the stuff in the story of stuff is simply not true or is only partialy true. Obviously slanted to fit a political agenda.
Then presented to our children as fact.
Leave our children alone let them be kids. If they must see something like this at school present counter points of view at least be fair about it.
They choose to ignore Beck and others because they are wrong and can not win the argument so instead of debate or a thoughtful response they seek to win by calling the otherside haters or racists or ignorant and not worth there time.
signed just another dumb tea bagger racist Red neck right wing wacko
September 26th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
I’ve been following the videos made by Free Range Studios for some time now. I watched the Story of Stuff within a month of its release, and I can really commend the amount of work that went into it.
Yesterday, our science teacher showed us this film in class, and told us to think of 10 negative impacts this film outlines.
I’m considering writing “producing a dishonest film with skewed facts makes you look like an idiot.”
September 26th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
STOP INDOCTRINATING OUR CHILDREN. I would bet that Glen Beck would love to debate your work with you. If you are going to present our children with this “stuff” then you should be very willing to sit down and discuss your work with Glen to at least explain why you feel your work is so wonderful.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Annie, with all due respect. Neither you or any of your comrade’s are interested in teaching children to think critically and never have been, unless citical though is simply accepting what you tell them. You keep repeating the same half truths over and over. Wearing down the oppositions determination to resist. Public (government run) schools and most colleges care nothing about critical thinking which was perfectly illustrated by Sean Hannity’s interview with the two protesters in Pittsburg. They looked like absolute fools who could not explain why they were protesting and when exposed did as all well trained liberal activists did, Demonize the interviewer and change the subject. After viewing your video several times myself I came to the same conclusion as many have. Any truth that may be there is lost by the glaring exaggerations that you engage in through out the video. Saul Alinsky would be proud.
September 26th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
i am glad to see so many people thinking the same thing i am…
STAY AWAY FROM MY KIDS i don’t want your ridiculous and slanted ramblings to affect them. why couldn’t you leave your opinions out of your production!!!????
September 26th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Thank GOD for Glen Beck!!!!!!!
September 26th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
UNTERGRUN: you have no clue what you are talking about and if you don’t like what this country was founded on maybe you would like a 3rd world country since you think ours sucks
September 26th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
We are all born equal. That does not mean, in any way, that the government should interfere to keep us equal for the rest of our lives, no matter what. Your video is teaching our children to expect handouts from the government and to hate the very ideals this country was founded on. THERE ARE PEOPLE DYING EVERYDAY UNDER OBAMA’S COMMAND FOR THIS COUNTRY – and all you can do is try to undermine its principles??? Go to Cuba or Haiti, and see if you would even have the freedom to show your face and spit your rhetoric there. If you think Glenn Beck is wrong, then say something substantive that shows you have a brain. You haven’t yet. You are an elitist hypocrite, just like your far-left liberal counterparts. You would rather kill a human’s freedom than a tree.
September 26th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
You are an ASS
September 26th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Just curious to Untergrun, if this stuff is so easily substantiated, then where’s the evidence? From a sense of morbid curiosity, I can’t help but wonder where she got all this information.
Also, I’m pretty sure she went to college, because she’d have to have a degree to be that insane.
September 26th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Also, the servers that host your website probably cause about 10 degrees of global warming per year. You should fix that.
September 27th, 2009 at 1:20 am
I will do everything within my power to have this movie removed from every school in the United States.
It is simply “Anti-American”, and “Anti-Capitalist.”
Also, get it right. We are not a Democracy. We are a Republic.
September 27th, 2009 at 4:54 am
You should be ashamed of producing this mostly false information to our children. As a primary school teacher I would fight to the death (or to my job) to expose my students to this frightening, ridiculous wrath of verbal diarrhea. How dare you think that the majority of us parents have raised such ignorant children that they won’t see this for what it is. I guess to those parents who don’t take the time to talk about our world’s situation to their kids are dependent on hearing such crap from others. Why not–isn’t it the responsibility of others to take care of us, raise our kids, foot the bill, and tell us what we can say or think—I don’t think so, not in this family. Fool yourself as much as you want–but leave my children and my students ALONE!!
September 27th, 2009 at 4:55 am
I sincerely believe you idiots think you’re right…But socialism is socialism,snd it has been proven over and over again that socialism will fail.I just thank God that this trash has been exposed for what it is,TRASH.My children are active coservatives as am I,in spite of this type of trash being taught in public schools.The great majority of Americans are not brain dead ,and will resist the destruction of this country by the left and your kool-aid mentality.
September 27th, 2009 at 7:52 am
You are pathetic. Please, please take all your socialist friends and move to Venezuala.
September 27th, 2009 at 8:27 am
I think the tea parties need to take back the public schools, and “stuff” will help with that. It would be fun to present “stuff”, correcting it on a point by point basis.
Great points can be made about how much less energy intensive the US economy is per dollar of GDP. How we now produce chips of silicon that are more valuable than their weight in gold. How we watch two hour movies in our homes in HD for about 4 cents in electricity instead of the $6 of gasoline it takes to go to the theater. How more and more Americans are telecommuting for a few cents of electricity instead of many dollars of gasoline. How the less than 25 cents of plastic in a blank DVD is increased in value to $10 with less than a cent of electricity. How middle class American homes do their laundry with a much smaller carbon footprint than the servants that do the laundry for the middle class in third world countries. How more and more American children are being educated at home and over the internet than by being bussed into public schools, and without the wasteful resources and expenses of special buildings. It seems to me that there is a trend towards less “stuff” and more value.
September 27th, 2009 at 10:18 am
I have seen The Story of Stuff video several times, and I understand it for what it truly is – a video asking us to really think about our consumption habits. It’s not anti-capitalist, it’s anti-wastefulness. Industrialized nations use a disproportionate amount of the world’s resources, and it’s not because we’re bad people, it’s because we’re disconnected from the consumption cycle. You don’t know where your stuff comes from, what it’s made from, what the working conditions are like for the people that made it, how much energy was used to manufacture and transport it to whatever store you bought it from, and then you don’t know where it goes after you’re finished with it and you put it on the curb. I love my country, but I also love the entire planet that it exists in because the two cannot be separated, and I think having some kind of conscience about our production and consumption habits is a good thing for everyone. How is wanting to maintain a healthy planet and healthy lifestyle for the most people possible a bad thing?
September 27th, 2009 at 11:34 am
Wow. ‘Story of Stuff’??? I have never seen such putrid vitriol in my life! She blabbers on and on about things she CLEARLY has no knowledge of. This video would be hilarious if it weren’t so incredibly dangerous. I can’t believe some schools are actually showing this to children. This is insanity.
September 27th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
When one of the first facts given is an out right lie, you lose a credibility.
Anne, you are Micheal Moore light, well kinda.
September 27th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Critical thinking development is important in the education of our children. Unfortunately, The Story of Stuff seems to be highly biased toward a left leaning agenda. Many of the statements made are heard by our students as “facts” rather than opinions. Critical thinking must be encouraged by balanced presentations of both sides of controversial issues.
Glenn Beck has indeed highlighted probable misstatements in this presentation. His initiative indeed encourages critical thinking by providing alternative ways of approaching the subject at hand. Argumentum ad hominem does little to further rational debate on either side of an issue. So, either address Beck’s concerns or leave him out of the debate. You are attempting to educate our children and not indoctrinate them are you not?
September 27th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
Glenn’s view that you cannot argue with idiots is apparently a view of himself. After seeing one of his video attacks concerning your video, I was curious and had to google it expecting I was going to find validation for his comments. Wow! The Bible says that in the last days the wicked will call evil good and good evil. Is that not what we are seeing throughout this blog? YOU SPEAK TRUTH. You should not be worried about his attacks AGAINST you. These attacks are to your advantage. The Apparent results of his attacks are that he is driving people like me to view your video in whole, thus getting the untainted message in its entire true context. I was very aware that he took portions out of context and twisted them for his adgenda. Who’s the idiot?
September 27th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
I watched your video. I was disgusted about the whole thing. There are so many untruths. Why are you doing this? Stop it. You make me sick
September 27th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Well done to the makers of this film. I have followed it from the outset,showed it to my kids and anyone that will watch and have watched it enter the school system up her in Canada. It begs to be seen how virile the Beck type followers will become as this film and its concept spread to the masses. YES! It is simplified because it is for our youth and NO! It is not going to turn them COMMIE! or anything else, just give them some knowledge base about how the system works and how it can be made to work better. The reckless consumption mentality has had free reign for some 30 years or so now and look where it has taken us so more work like this film needs to be produced to balance the scales. The loud and paranoid ramblings I find in this blog is more of the townhall propaganda crowd trying to drown out any reasonable thought or dialogue once more but eventually they will scream themselves into the night and fade away to all of mankinds betterment. I wish them well for the future as they seem to want to bring it upon themselves in a blaze of noise and eventual horror no matter what.
September 27th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
The story of stuff really got me thinking. It makes a lot of great points and could be an effective change agent.
My suggestion is to refrain from the political jabs or at least be fair about it. You turn off a large segment of your audience when you expose a political bias. Your message is important enough that you should take care to reach people from both sides of the political spectrum.
If you watch Glen Beck, you will notice that he is critical of both political parties. In doing so, he makes a more effective point. If you criticize President Bush for encouraging people to shop, then you should do the same regarding President Obama’s encouragement of people to cash in their “clunker” and go buy some shiny new “stuff”. Maybe you could point out how ironic it is that Vice President Gore didn’t seem too concerned about global warming during an 8 year period when he was in a position to do something about it.
This is an important an issue. Please don’t reduce it to a silly left/right jab fest. I’m sick of that now. The leaders on the left are no more committed to a solution than are the right. People need to solve this one. Deliver your message in a way that unites people – please.
September 27th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
If you really want to get kids to use critical thinking skills why is this video so biased? Glenn brings up some interesting points and you didn’t even address any of them? What about all the replanting of forests? Not to mention the fact that Pres. Bush did say to pray and grieve…I mean he did also tell everyone to shop but so did all other politicians.
What about teaching children to find out what they believe on their own. To look at information from both sides of the issue and to use critical thinking skills to come to their opinions.
A lot of this video is guilt based. Lets get kids thinking how horrible they are and really manipulate them to do what you want them too.
I came across this guys critique of your video and he has some good points. http://www.andybrain.com/qna/2007/12/07/annie-leonards-the-story-of-stuff-review-and-analysis/ Take the criticism to heart. Beware of the sound of one hand clapping…
September 27th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I don’t know, Annie, it’s so hard to tell what’s true any more – the rightwingers are rude, don’t make much sense, or site any actual data, but they DO use a LOT OF CAPS. It’s CONFUSING ME.
September 27th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Hello Fitz,
It’s me again! The “right wingers” are rude? Hmmm…”Ignore the sad sniping individuals…they are too foolish…”. Yep, it’s not rude to suggest that anyone who disagrees with you is foolish.
Speaking of data…the U.S. spends 50% of the budget on the military? Errr, it’s actually around 21% (less than Medicare and Medicaid…23%)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_the_United_States.
Those dern facts getting in the way again. What would Mao do?
Your refusal to accept facts would confuse me if I did understand the cloak that contemporary American Marxism hides under.
Annie, Fitz and all other advocates of the story of stuff…let’s make a deal! Be honest. Have the debate in the open. The Constitution vs. Marxism. It’ll be less confusing for all and we can probably speed the whole process up.
September 27th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Don’t you find it a bit ironic that you are peddling DVDs and other stuff under the menu “Order Stuff”? Aren’t you participating in the horrible American act of distributing material goods for your own profit? Think of all the toxins in your DVDs! Or is it ok for you to sell stuff because it’s a good cause, namely yours?
September 27th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
I dont think that the debate here is marxism vs capitalism. You people are just paranoid!
Nevertheless it would be nice to have the debate worldwide with actual facts and less ethnocentrism
Greetings fron down south
Rodrigo
September 27th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Rodrigo,
I am not paranoid about anything. Why must I be paranoid if I contend that the U.S. government is not responsible for, as the video states, “taking care of us”? Are you a U.S. Constitutional scholar? Futher, have you ever read it? In fact, are you even a citizen that is governed by it?
Ethnocentrism? Really!?! Please ignore the black President, two black Secretaries of State, a black man and a latina woman on the Supreme Court…please don’t look at the House and Senate…it’s a dang melting pot…I could go on, but you can look it up yourself.
September 27th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Ms. Leonard,
I told my 2 children when they went to college to listen to their professors, study what is required and pass the tests but when you walk out their doors forget all they told you. And they did it. They would come home and tell me what propaganda the professors was spreading.
You, Ms. Leonard, believed everything the liberal professors told you and now you are passing on those lies. But you have taken it even further, you are trying to indoctrinate the children. These children belong to their parents and they should be taught what their parents want them to learn like reading writing and math.
Come on, be an individual thinker. The biggest lie? GLOBAL WARMING! Look at Al Gore, he is a billonaire by spreading that lie. Now you are going down the same path by spreading your lies.
September 27th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
Why do you people hate this country so much?
September 27th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
thank you for doing what you do, the people need to know the truth and the people need to stand up for their lives and realize that life doesn’t just happen, there are always good and bad to consider! working towards a kinder world is increasingly coming about.. and I am thankful! yay..
September 27th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
“The U.S. spends 50% of the budget on the military?”
HUH???
It’s about 21%
More is spent on Medicare and Medicaid. You can check this yourself by searching the GAO website.
September 27th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
I just watched your video in entirety.
What were you thinking?
Your facts & figures are way off and I’m very disappointed in your invalid ingeniousness.
September 27th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
I only saw the one that Glenn Beck showed on TV.
So you should take out any mention of FACT filled, at least for that one. I’ll let you know what I think of the rest. As if you cared.
Thank God I’m home schooling my kids. However, I may show them to my kids just so I can point out the FACTual errors.
September 28th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Its amazing to watch this moive and see for myself what is going on. It is clear to me that since you can not convince adults to see things your way you will try and brain wash children by giving half truth and flat out lies as fact
Wake up the socialist market does not work. You take from those who earn more than others then give it those who have earned less, the ones earning will stop. Then where does the stuff come from. The Russians, Chinese and many other socialist governments have learned this. Why can’t you?
I will say that the point you make about trashing the planet may in fact be a valid one but there are no scientific studies that clearly show that global warming is being caused by man. I would argue for better air quality than even attempt to open that can of worms.
The loss of forest is a horrible thing, but again get your facts straight and stop using scare tactics. While it may be true to say that only 4% of old growth forest remain the truth is that there are many groups and even logging companies that replace the trees lost to logging, fires, disease, and even to nature. I have not in my travels seen a reduction in forest as you atttempt to portray. Even if it were true the largest land owner is the US government.
Finally I do not know of any single corporation in the world that has the resources and money available to spend like the government. Your portrayal of business being bigger than the government is pure trash. Should a corporation spend the way government does it would be out of business. Many of these same corporations came to the only place that they could get the financing when they were faced with bankruptcy, the government.
The fabrications and half truths shown only can lead to the conclusion that facts do not matter only advancing an adjenda that will ruin the greatest country in the world.
September 28th, 2009 at 3:10 am
Does Annie Leonard ever discuss the growing obesity amongst Americans? She’s looking quite dapper as a growing Woman, but does she have any issues with her weight putting strain upon the economy? After all, it will be us that have to pay for that extra tofu, granola bar, or whatever her birkenstock wearing self consumes. Her growing weight will need healthcare sooner or later. Everyone seems quick to place blame upon patriotic American citizens such as Glenn Beck, and then quick to play the defensive card with Obama.
September 28th, 2009 at 6:47 am
Annie –
How DARE you brainWASH our children with THIS anti-American argument that THE government exists to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty”? READ your Constitution! Science is MARXIST NAZISM. Thank GOD we HAVE Fox AND Friends to tell us the tRuTh!!!1!!1!
September 28th, 2009 at 9:35 am
This is just another piece of liberal California propaganda. Can’t get the adults to believe Obamas socialist lies then send annie out after our children. I am calling my local school today to make sure my children never see this trash or sing any Obama songs. Tides foundation, acorn and all of the other Related groups are nothing but a bunch of commies, black panthers thugs and marxists
September 28th, 2009 at 9:40 am
P.S. Glenn Beck for President.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:16 am
I watched the rebuttal to her videos, it was phenomenal. Her thin guise of trying to appeal as an intellectualist was soundly beaten down. Now she appears uninformed and juvenile in her emotional appeal. Ethnocentrism? The first black minority country to ever have a black head of state?
September 28th, 2009 at 10:18 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5uJgG05xUY&feature=player_embedded#t=36 we want to provide multiple viewpoints since this is all about critical thinking..
September 28th, 2009 at 10:50 am
I wrote a blog last week, the day after watching Glenn Beck, which you didn’t post. I guess sometimes the truth hurts, and sometimes groups like yours don’t want the truth to be told or at least a very logical opinion, especially when you mention God. What is it about you guys that make you scared or angry when someone talks about the Lord. God after all, is the Creator of the world. He created it for all of us to enjoy, to laugh at when we see some of the funny creatures he created, to relax to when we sit next to the ocean or a lake, or look at the stars. God is a good, loving,caring and merciful God who extends GRACE and kindness when we don’t even deserve it sometimes. He loves us all unconditionally, which sad to say a lot of Christians, which I am, don’t portray.But thankfully a lot do!! Yes we do need to take better care of our planet, and I believe people are trying. So don’t leave the One who created the earth out of the equation, thats when destruction will happen, not from God, but from us. So the next time you guys get home after a long day of trying to change our government, just look at your beloved dog wagging its tail and being so happy to see you, and remember, God created him just for you to enjoy!!
September 28th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Awesome. I am so encouraged after reading all the comments on this “Story of Stuff” piece. Way to stand up America! My wife and I just met with the principal of our middle school today in order to protest this anti-capitalist propaganda being shown in the classrooms. I encourage everyone who loves our constitution and our freedoms to do the same. The folks pushing this stuff on our kids are not about to back down, so it is time we make a stand. Commenting on an article is a start but it is not enough. Call your school, talk to your principal and teachers, run for a position on the school board, and let’s take back our country one school at a time.
September 28th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Test
September 28th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
The “Story of Stuff” is unmitigated garbage. Inflicting this on little kids is CRIMINAL. Thank God someone took the time to debunk it. A little knowledge (and the author of “Story of Stuff” certainly has very, very little knowledge) is a dangerous thing!! The scary thing is that these bogus facts are routinely cited. It’s a travesty!
September 28th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
You should make clear that you censor (moderate) your blog. I see you removed my posts. I said nothing to merit censorship other than the fact that I think the video is inane and that Beck was right. Again, shame on you for fearing criticism.
September 28th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
I see Annie Leonard as nothing more than a sad little girl who wants everyone to play by her made-up, fairy tale princess rules. Oh! Stomp stomp stomp. Why can’t everyone just get along and wear hemp sandals, buy over priced local food and live in straw houses?
Annie, you are an idiot. Now, I don’t mean to say that you have no intelligence. You obviously are capable enough to breathe, eat, excrete waste, sleep, move your extremities, pick out clothes (that is debatable), and read. But you have ZERO understanding of economics. ZERO!!! You certainly don’t understand economic development. You should read some William Easterly and hear what a person with a brain and experience has to say. More than that you don’t understand the first damn thing about supply and demand. Go take an Econ 101 class and get a fu–ing clue.
Now, there is another issue. If you submitted your anti-capitalist, America hating tirade in the form of a paper at a university, you would receive an F. Why? You don’t cite sources. I want to know where every single one of your fantasies…I mean facts came from. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
Btw, if I find out that your crap is being taught at a school near me, I will not rest until it is gone. You should be ashamed of your dishonesty and the shame you have brought to our nation.
I’d like to end this with a compliment. You would be a very valuable asset to a propaganda arm of a government. In fact, you would have done really well in Nazi Germany.
September 28th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
you seem like a smart women, so imagine my surprise when i heard in your video “its the government’s job to take care of us”.
no it is not!! nowhere in our constitution are there words that proclaim that our government has a responsibility to “take care of us”. our founding fathers specifically put in as much language as possible to KEEP GOVERNMENT AS SMALL AND AS UN-UBIQUITOUS AS POSSIBLE.
even a cursory review of the history of mankind shows us that over and over again, big government destroys individual freedoms.
September 28th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Annie, you are a fucktard. that is all
September 28th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Haha. I like the poster “if you don’t like what this country was founded on move to Russia”
News flash buddy this country was founded for Rich Elite White Men for Rich Elite White Men. George Washington was a millionaire and so were the rest of the framers of the constitution. People like you and me weren’t even allowed to vote or hold office if we didn’t have land or thousands of dollars..Seriously get an education and come back and spew your nationalist vitriol.Until then, let the adults talk.
September 28th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I’m confused. I feel I get a lot out of both Glenn Beck and The Story of Stuff….
Both Glenn and Annie are passionate about what they believe in. And as far as truth is concerned… I’m sure that if one did a little fact checking that the stats could be backed up in Annie’s story. You need proof? Look around your own home and think about what you’ve bought and thrown away for the last 5 years.
Besides, Glenn talks about a government not in conrol and so does Annie in her own way.
Capitalism, communism, socialism, whateverism, we (Americans) have gone off the deep end. I don’t know how it’s going to end up but Annie’s point seems to be as valid as Glenns.
I say they join forces. THEN we’d get somewhere. Happy mediums people! Happy mediums.
September 28th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
One curiosity…why do people think that capitalism and stewardship of our earth and resources are mutually exclusive? It seems to me that the capitalistic spirit can do much more than make a buck selling stuff no one needs. I think when liberals realize that capitalism is not inherently evil, and when conservatives admit that we do have a problem with our environment and resources, we can work together to find new solutions. Until then we will slug it out over ideology, I guess. Also I have to agree that it’s not the government’s job to take care of us, but it is our job to take care of each other. Solid principles of sticking together, thrift, simplicity and common sense are all bedrock ideals of this country. We aren’t getting anywhere with our agendas.
September 28th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Winston Churchill said it best.
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.”
You and your socialist friends would love nothing more than to change this country into a socialist nation.
September 29th, 2009 at 12:45 am
Your video was very controversial. What many people do not understand is why you chose to target elementary school children as your audience. Although this may not have been your original intent, you are creating a generation of misinformed kids. It is easy to sway such young minds; a kid who was afraid of destroying the world by buying legos went on national news. Perhaps the end of the world will not be because of the Earth being robbed of its resources, but from an entire army of left-wing minions trying to fix something that is clearly not broken. Capitalism was a failproof system, with one minor flaw unaccounted for: the fact that there will always be people like you.
September 29th, 2009 at 12:58 am
If I find out that my son’s school plays this video I will make sure to pull him out and put him in private school. I will also getting involved in funding a substantial amount of money to back a movement against your (TRUTH VIDEO). I call it a joke video. Also my family is from Russian and what you are showing reminds me of Russia. My family and I didn’t move to the USA for what you are trying to accomplish. Thanks
September 29th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I was watching a video titled The World According To Sesame Street http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/worldaccordingtosesamestreet/film.html that chronicles efforts to create co-productions of the show in third world and war torn countries. I urge any of the Glen Borggers posting here to take a look at the success that the program has had in educating children worldwide. Take a look at Takalani Sesame and the character Kami, who is HIV positive and see the good that educating children can do. Or are you against Sesame Street too? Do you prevent your children from watching Sesame Street?
A sad question comes to mind…what kind of program would Glen Beck produce for our children? I shudder at the thought.
September 29th, 2009 at 11:58 am
This is political indoctrination disguised as an “educational film.” There are points of view in this presented as “facts” that are simply not so. Ms. Leonard says the government’s job is to “take care of us”, sort of like a Big Brother. Like all other collectivists, she refers to the “general welfare” clause like it negates the entire Constitution. Annie Leonard should move to a country where her viewpoints will be valued–how about a socialist country?
September 29th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Please explain how you came up with 50% of budget goes to military.
If you want to get your point out there, you should call Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly and ask to be on their shows. Fox news has more viewers than ABC, CBS, MSNBC, etc combined. If you are correct in what you state, you will have no problem on either of these shows because they will give you the time to hang yourself. I mean they will give you the time to prove yourself looney. Oops, They will give you the time to prove them wrong. I look forward to hearing that you will be on one or both of the shows to prove you are correct. If, however, you are not willing to go on, you prove that what you state is C R A P!!! If you do ask to go on and they don’t let you, please blog about it. I guarantee that they will put you on after that.
September 29th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
News flash buddy this country was founded for Rich Elite White Men for Rich Elite White Men. George Washington was a millionaire and so were the rest of the framers of the constitution. People like you and me weren’t even allowed to vote or hold office if we didn’t have land or thousands of dollars..Seriously get an education and come back and spew your nationalist vitriol.Until then, let the adults talk.
—————————-
News Flash…It was founded by white men. At the time, Muslims in Africa were still selling blacks as slaves to Europe, especially to Spain and Portugal. You are incorrect that most were rich. Only a few were rich. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_founding_fathers_overview.html though most live comfortably. A few of them were farmers. Some were self educated. Read about these people before spouting off your rhetoric.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
We will probably never agree with the substance of “The Story of Stuff”, but we should at least agree on some of the facts.
The figure that 50 % of our tax dollars go to defense is completely wrong, as is the statement that we have only 4% of our trees left. These are simple facts. Misrepresenting them is simply wrong. Please fix errors.
September 29th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
E
guess thats why the pilgrims stugled so much when they first came here and more would have died if it was not for the indian’s is that because they was rich white men goes to show you dont know your history and when did it become wrong to be rich? I only make 30,000 a year and I do not have problem with people being rich.
September 29th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Wow! You need to learn how American government is suppose to work. Most of us don’t want the government to take care of us. What are you thinking? I can hardly believe this is passing for educational value. I’m so glad my kids are not being subjected to this nonsense.
September 29th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
You wish you were Glen Beck’s largest target. Maybe you should invoke the name of Limbaugh to get some real marketing value.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:48 am
Those who have been attacking Annie Leonard and defending the insanity of Glenn Beck are idiots. You are not defending America’s freedom, you are enabling corporatism that has been perverting our economy for decades! SHAME ON YOU FOREVER!!!
I know the Story of Stuff is true because of the example of my own computers. I bought my first one in January of 2001. Within five years its 64 MB of memory was no longer sufficient to handle internet and game graphics, so I had to buy a new memory chip that would double the computer’s memory. I also had to replace its Windows ME operating system with Windows XP, which cost me about $100! By 2007 even that was not enough and I had to buy a second computer, one with 1 GB of memory! I couldn’t even use the old one anymore, it was SO SLOW compared to what I now needed! I was also forced to use a high speed internet connection because my simple dial up no longer was enough, but high speed internet is more expensive! As consumers, we are forced to spend more money to have what we would have been happy with a decade ago because of our being in competition with everyone else! Meanwhile, most of the world does not have nearly as much as we do and probably never will because of the system we have now to keep them poorer than we are. Even now, they would consider my old 64 MB memory computer with Windows ME and a dial-up internet connection a blessing. Many don’t even have computers at all!
WAKE UP! Glenn Beck is a fraud, like most of the other neo-con pundits you see on FOX News. They don’t care about you; they only answer to their corporate overlords, including Rupert Murdoch! STOP BELIEVING THEIR MANY LIES!
September 30th, 2009 at 2:19 am
Lisa
Wake up! Ann and those who sponsered this tripe are only intrested in one adjenda more government interference in our lives. The fact the Ann allowed the facts to be misrepresented should tell you something about what kind of people they are and to what ends they are willing to go to achieve theie objectives. The left and right will never come to a compromise for it will spell the end of both leaving a big mess for us THE TAXPAYERS to clean up. No document that was used to found this government would have allowed for this expansion of government into individual’s lives. Government of the people for the people and by the people was meant to do for the people what the people could not do for themselves not what the people did not want to do for themselves. Wake up this country is being bled dry of resources both natural and financial by people who have no regard for any one other them themselves and their “so perfect adjenda”. Johnsons “Great Society” has done more to hurt every aspect of this nation than any thing I can think of short of FDR’S “New Deal”. It is time that we the people take back the government and force the policitians to do the business of the people.
September 30th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
After reading the extremists writing in such a virulent way, crying CUMMUNISM! when they see a video talking about environment and moderation in consumption, I can see that Mccartism is well and alive. How sad it is to remember those shameful episodes of witch-hunting alleged Marxists in our country. In those days, we applied one of the first principles of dictatorships: “you are guilty until you demonstrate otherwise”. Just in case that the far right didn’t get the memo: “Communism is dead as an option, and it will never come back in the form that it was in the Soviet Union. Socialist governments like Bolivia and Brasil are far from being totalitarian, they all have the same type of freedom that they had before, all of them reached the government by elections, not revolts, and eventually they can be voted off at the end of their period. That is far from the days of the Soviet. Cuba and Venezuela are different, but still, they are not having old fashion purges to kill opposition. One more: the best friend of the U.S in Latin America is Chile, governed by a socialist party. And no, I’m not promoting Socialism, and no, this country will never be socialist, because we will swing between the two big parties, and no, Democrats are not socialist; anyone stating that does not know anything about politics.
I make reference to those governments to state that the world has changed for better in that way; WE don’t need to fear like after WWII anymore.
Now, maybe there are inaccuracies in “The Story of Stuff”, but who in the world can see it as left wing propaganda? It is true that environmentalist can cross the line sometimes; it is true that they think that they are the “saviors” of the world, but please, Marxism is something else. Do you think that “The Manifesto” contains ideas for recycling glass bottles? (The Vyacheslav Molotov way to recycle them came later…).
Please, people, get informed, and do not feed your own propaganda to the children. Please, feed them with principles, not fallacies. Teach them what real communism did in the Soviet Union with true information. You don’t need more than the truth, and you certainly do not need to call “communism” everything that is different from your way of thinking. I read the New Testament over and over, and I wonder sometimes if far right people would call the Lord a leftist for many of the principles that He taught when He chastised the rich and blessed the poor, or when He instructed that rich young man to give everything to the poor and to follow Him. When He questioned the authority of the Pharisees and Scribes, and even the Sanhedrim itself they called Him a rebel. I really wonder…
Just taking some principles about “the stuff”… Things like “be moderate in your wants and refuse to just go shopping because the TV is telling you that you need the latest and greatest”. “You do not need to replace your PC every year and your car every other year”. I hear that in Sunday School over and over in the form of “stay out of debt, otherwise you will be a slave of credit”, and there are scriptures about it. Now, a few words regarding caring for the planet… I remember that I learned that principle when I was in the Cub Scouts, and I taught it throughout my service as a Scout Master as well. It was Baden-Powell who said “Leave a place better than how you found it”. We learned how sometimes we misplace garbage, we pollute rivers, we damage trees, and how we can become predators when interacting with nature. We were taught to respect all forms of creation and kill only in case of need, not for sport or entertainment.
Anyway, I’m not writing this to defend “the stuff”. I’m sure that we can learn some points from it and then we can disregard whatever we think that it does not apply. I am just tired of people crying “Commie” to everything. Moreover I’m concerned that they would call me that just for being moderate. I think of the real dictatorships; left and right, where accusing and labeling a person is a death sentence. It happened during Stalin’s ruling, when somebody was accused of being counter-revolutionary. It happened during many right-wing totalitarian governments in the Third World when somebody was accused of being a communist. It happened when followers of fascist dictators like Hitler or Mussolini decided that somebody was a threat for the regime for being too much to the right or the left.
If we try to defend our freedom by demonizing ideas, by causing fear, by silencing people, or by imposing what we think (and I’m talking about EVERYBODY), we are just ignoring our most valuable possession as a country: our Constitution and the principles in which it is founded.
September 30th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
CORRECTION:
it is NOT the government’s job “to take care of us”.
The Job of federal government is to
1. Defend the nation.
2. Promote welfare of nation (not provide it) .. this mean regulations so we have a fair free market.
3. Perserve the liberties and rights of individuals.
You may want to check the Constitution which happens to be the highest law in land.
It is job of each indidual to use their freedoms and liberty so that they can prusue their own happiness and take care of themselves ..
On the other hand, the Job of the CUBAN government is to take care of the people.
What country are you from anyway?
October 1st, 2009 at 9:36 am
Fernando,
Wow. Do you feel better. Communism is dead huh? Errr, well let’s see now. There are totalitarian regimes in Cuba, Venezula, China and North Korea. And there was a self-proclaimed communist named Van Jones who was recently an advisor to the President. Also, you might want to read the work of Cass Sunstein, another advisor to the President. Here’s a quote from him, “There is no Liberty without dependancy”. Doesn’t sound real democratic to me.
Also, I have degree in Political Scinece and am well versed in what communism is and I certainly do not call everything I disagree with communism. However, telling small children that “it is the government’s job to take care of us” is closer to the teachings of Marx and Engels than it to the philosophies of Adams, Jefferson, Madison, etc.
My guess is that nobody on this blog that has posted something opposing the story of stuff actually wants to destroy the earth. However, the fact of the matter is that contemporary American Marxism is cloaked by other labels, because they know the majority of Americans will dismiss their philosophy based on name alone. Thus, they use names like progressivism, social justice, environmentalism, economic justice. It’s all marketing dude.
This is not to suggest that everyone that is concerned about the environment is a communist. Quite the contrary. However, communists do use the environmental movement to advance their agenda. For example, guess what Van Jones’ job was? “Green Jobs”. How convenient and very clever.
I suggest you take a deeper look. That’s all many of us are trying to say. If Annie wants to put out a video that asks kids to recycle, be responible Citizens and human beings by taking care of the earth that is based on fact…I’m all for it. However, when you tell children that over 50% of tax dollars go to the military and that the government’s job is to take care of us…I call foul. Read between the lines dude.
October 1st, 2009 at 9:45 am
Hey Dale,
Gotta take issue with your personal example. I can tell you that fellas that live in mud huts in Afghanistan would not be happy with your old computer. I know, because I was there. They use satelite internet that is just as fast as yours. They also have the latest software. They also have satelite telephones and cell phones. In fact, if there had not been advances in technology (i.e. no cell phones or satelite phones) they would not be able to communicate with eachother efficiently, because there is no land line infrastructure.
Consider this. What if there were no twitter and cell phones with video capability? Weel, the world would have never known about Iranians being killed in the streets. Hmmmmmmmm.
Personally I like progress. You ever read “the World is Flat”? It’s pretty interesting. I recommend it.
Also, since anybody who would listen to Glenn Beck is enabling corporatism, could you explain to me why the CEO of GE is an advisor to our current President? Nobody on here has explained that to me yet.
October 1st, 2009 at 10:06 am
I did see your video and the critique video that followed. It is evident the political agenda that you are attempting to get across to viewers. A part of being an educator is providing factual information that is based on fact, not the opinion of those presenting the information. Most of everything provided in your video is biased and does not provide anything that proves to me that what you are attempting to get across to the viewer is fact. You also make it a point in that people should feel bad about themselves when they do not wear the right clothes, or if they do not have the most up to date technology. My goodness – the way you make it sound is that I should be feeling bad that I do not have the most up to date things like an iPhone or an iPod or that I wear shoes that aren’t in style. Consumerism is a good thing. It promotes free market and drives competition. You speak to only those things that are tangible goods and I would argue that today compared to where we were at 50 years ago (as you so often reference in your video) that it is easier for Americans as well as other global citizens, to purchase goods and services through the internet. This helps drive down the cost of one going into their car, driving to the store (which may be a strip mall that was built) and being able to shop and compare pricing online. Being able to shop and doing it so that there is greater interaction between buyer and seller drives competition and lowers the cost of goods and services. So what if we did not purchase anything and just wore the same shoes – which wear out for me every 2 years – drove the same car for 15 years (take note that President Obama is pressing legislation to have a minimum fuel efficiency standards which will effect the consumer, forcing them to buy new cars – by the way what is your reaction to this?)? We would see skyrocketing costs of goods and services as well as higher unemployment across the board. Global societies would be forced into potential war as their citizens are forced into working government jobs that offer minimum pay and a poor quality of life.
I am a believer that reduction of dependency is a good thing – especially for right now. I also am a believer that people should make good on recycling – I do it with everything that I am able to. We have created an industry that recycles which lessens our dependency. Going “green” to me is allowing me to think twice before I do something that would impact the space that was there before I came. Yes, I did build a new home 2 years ago however, I planted many trees, use energy efficient lights, and am conscience to the temperature in my home. These are all good things that save me money in the long run and beautifies my home and neighborhood – adding value to myself and my families well being. In a nutshell, you spent 10 years researching something that to me has little to no credibility to what; pursue your own personal agenda? You are a plagiarist and a self righteous individual who I feel a certain sense of sorrow for.
October 1st, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Oh just wait when bill o’reilly talks about this movie… Agreed it provides good thought for our earth! Is it bias, extremely. Are statistics in the movie that are false? absolutely.. ex govt spends 50% of our budget to the military? Ya NO, its more like 20% the 2 biggest percentages of GPD are social security and medicare.
October 1st, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Dale Don’t compare yourself to the rest of us. I am using a computer that is at least 7 years old. Your having to purchase new and better is just the kind of results that marketing agents for business target. Why are you buying new computers so often? Apparently you have more money that brains! As for me the first computer I bought over 15 years ago I resently had to get red of since it finally quit working. Can you say the same and what did you do with that computer? I know that many school districts in my area would gladly accept the donation of your old computer. Donations of older computers to schools helps us all and is one way to recycle. The purchasing of new and better in its self is not wrong. It is what we do with our old equipment that finally decides if we done the correct thing.
Finally there is more to this movie than you let on. Environmental issues presented along with political and finacial issues are also presented adn some are grossly incorrect. I am not going to mention them they are self evident to any one that has done there home work. If you can not see them for yourself then I fear that the cause of freedom is lost.
October 2nd, 2009 at 4:18 am
I have watched this debate from the UK with amazement. It seems that anyone who points out what is wrong with your system is vilified and called a communist, don’t you allow reasoned debate?
Face facts America:
1. If the whole world lived the way you do then you would need three worlds’ in order to fuel your lifestye.
2. You don’t need a PHD to see that this is not sustainable.
3. If however you have a freezer full of food, air-con, clean water on tap, loads of electrical appliances, energy pouring out of socket outlets in the wall to power this thing you are using, and a car in the garage you can ignore the above two points.
4. Around 80% of the world’s population do not live like you.
5. 850 million people, your fellows on this planet, are undernourished. 6 million children will die this year with famine being a major factor.
6. The majority of you in the U.S. don’t care about points 4&5 as long as you have point 3.
7. As for those of you that have brought God into this, as Jesus said in Matthew: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
It’s a no brainer as to what your God is to most of you!
October 2nd, 2009 at 10:01 am
Fernando,
Are you insane communism is still alive and thriving today and the whole thing about being economic and going green. Why doesn’t the current president or any politician for that matter follow their own preachings. They have their own private jets that spew out tons of toxins into the environment. Glenn beck has made probably the best arguments on this subject and i follow his program daily now you can call me a right wing nut case, but i am a concerned citizen in these united states and am worried about the future of this country. This whole video is about indoctorinization of the children of america and if you don’t believe me on that just watch the video of the kids singing high praises to barack obama pratically worshiping him. My little sister came home from school one day and started to tell me what she was learning in her class i don’t even remember on time in my whole school career of the teacher basing a whole days lesson on the current president and how wonderful he is its sad and i am scared for the future of this country. I am outraged that any teacher would show this video in their classroom to children tell them that breast feeding is probably the most dangerous thing in the world. How about serving in the united states military or any military in the world i think that is more dangerous than breast feeding. Breast feeding is still the most sacred and wonderful thing that a mother could do for her child all this video is doing is fear mongering and trying to indoctrinate our youth into a communist way of thinking. Way to go Glenn Beck keep up the good fight i fully support you and am going to pick up your new book
October 2nd, 2009 at 10:09 am
Dale,
Wow fox news answering to coporate overlords huh what are you talking about what about nbc and abc and cnn they are the worst at it. Glenn Beck by the way has probably the best arguments towards this issue you are crazy for even thinking that other news stations can do no wrong when the other news stations are fabricating their stories to fit the way they want to show it and they won’t even air half the news that fox does so you can stay in the dark with your other news corporations. oh yeah and maybe you should look up the facts for yourself and don’t believe everything that someone tells you in a video
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:35 am
Peter,
You obviously skipped paragraphs three and four in post number 83 above.
Here’s a reminder….”This is not to suggest that everyone that is concerned about the environment is a communist. Quite the contrary.”
Mike
October 2nd, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Mike,
You missed out the part in para 3 where YOU said
“Marxism is cloaked by other labels, because they know the majority of Americans will dismiss their philosophy based on name alone. Thus, they use names like progressivism, social justice, environmentalism, economic justice”.
So you link ‘environmentalism’ with Marxism.
Incidentally after ‘Quite the contrary’ YOU follow this with the words… “However, communists do use the environmental movement to advance their agenda”.
So environmentalism = Marxism = Communism then.
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Mike writes: “Also, I have degree in Political Scinece and am well versed in what communism is and I certainly do not call everything I disagree with communism”
Sorry Mike, you are just not believable. You don’t have a degree in Political SCIENCE. If you did, you would at minimum, spell it correctly! What phonies all you Glen Beckkers are.
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
“One thing that I have noticed about the numerous pro-Glen Borg comments is that they all appear to have been written by the same hand. Anyone else notice the similar spelling errors and sentence structure that is consistent across all those posts?”
October 2nd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Peter
You had your chance on top now back off and let us work out our own problems. Further, we (the United States) do our part to help the world can you say the same? Inspite of all efforts on the part of the world the power mad rulers of many third world countries and criminal gangs that are allowed to run rampant contribute to the problems that you mentioned. What percentage of the world lives like you? what have you done to solve these problems? the United States is not the savior of the world inspite of what many of you may think. This country is filled with and governed by the same flawed human beings that reside every where else. Wealth can not be divided up and spread around the way many seem to think. All you do is create universal poverty. There are finite resourses and not everyone will benifit equally from them. That is just how it is and has been through out history. It is how many countries come to be (even the UK).
October 2nd, 2009 at 5:02 pm
As a democrat, I have to be honest and say that Annie is full of crap. 50% of the US tax money does not go to the military. Using data from Mr. Obama’s Whitehouse website, you can see for yourself that 30% of the budget goes to the department of defense. Shame on you Annie for propagating lies, you’re not doing the party any favors. It appears that Annie is one of the liberals that have hijacked the party.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/fy2010_new_era/Summary_Tables2.pdf
October 2nd, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Don’t you find it a bit ironic that you are peddling DVDs and other stuff under the menu “Order Stuff”? Aren’t you participating in the horrible American act of distributing material goods for your own profit? Think of all the toxins in your DVDs! Or is it ok for you to sell stuff because it’s a good cause, namely yours?
No doubt it will end up in the trash in a day or two.
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Most of your “facts” are wrong and that is proven by your own footnotes. Glenn Beck is the only voice of reason for us radical left-leaning culture. You will find you have awoken a sleeping giant when you begin to try and indoctrinate our children with bogus propaganda we do not support. Good job Annie, you just made our fight a little easier by pushing it into our neighborhood.
October 2nd, 2009 at 9:01 pm
My second sentence should have read “for us conservatives in a radical left-leaning culture.”
October 3rd, 2009 at 12:44 am
It`s great, thank you !!
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:32 am
So ignore my entire post (85) then Mike. That way you can ignore the holistic situation, as do so many others.
October 3rd, 2009 at 7:10 am
Peter,
I haven’t ignored your entire post. I was simply trying to point out a fact. Not everyone concerned about the environment is a communist. I am not sure how up to date you are on American politics, but another fact is that Socialists and Marxists are infiltrating our system through other means, such as the environmental movement. It’s unfortunate, but true.
As for your other points, I think you might be able to win over more Yanks if you weren’t so negative. I don’t want to destroy the environment. In fact, America is a beautiful country and that beauty should be preserved. However, mixing concern for the environment with Marxist ideology is not acceptable to me.
As I have said before, if Annie wants to produce a video asking kids to recycle, not litter, conserve energy and be good Citizens and inhabitants of the planet…I’m all for it. It’s just when you start suggesting the government’s job is to take care of us is where I smell a rat.
You ever read our Constitution Peter? Know anything about the philosophies this nation was founded upon?
If you want to influence us you should try doing it without lecturing and sweeping generalizations. For example, the majority of you in the U.S. don’t care about the rest of the world. That’s about as inane a statement as the majority of English citizens should come to America and see a real dentist.
You can rant about American gluttony all day long, but you start turning people off when you don’t acknowledge that as a single nation we committ aprox. 25% to the U.N. budget and about the same to the NATO budget. We’ve spilled more blood and spent more treasure in Europe defending tyranny than any European nation has ever done in support of us. Don’t forget that we are often blamed for all the ills in Africa and the Middle East when much of the problems stem from the colonial interests of Europe.
No real American will ever say that we are a perfect country, but we’ve certainly done a lot of good for the world as well.
Maybe you’d pique our interest by thanking us first and then making some suggestions for improvement. Just a thought.
October 3rd, 2009 at 9:52 am
I was unaware that I ‘ranted about American Gluttony’ Mike. It was after reading through and digesting the many comments that are above this post that I came to my conclusions regarding the environment concerns and debating methods of those that are involved.
I must point out that we are discussing the present situation regarding the Story of Stuff video and the present situation in the world. If you now wish to bring past history into the equation then, as far as I am, concerned this is not truly relevant to situation in question. However, if you wish/need me to acknowledge, with thanks, the sacrifices of your sons and daughters in past years I will certainly do this just as I most certainly acknowldge the problems caused by past European colonial interests.
But the facts still remains that it would need three worlds in order to maintain the average U.S. lifestyle while millions around the world starve.
In case you wonder, yes I am also critical of the U.K. as well, but at least no one calls me a ‘Communist and a Marxist’ and tells me to ‘move to Russia’ when I show concern, question and debate the situations here.
As for ’suggestions for improvement’, how about more overall reasoned debating skills?
October 3rd, 2009 at 11:32 am
Peter,
The dentist comment refers to the notion that people in the UK have “bad teeth”. It was in comparison to the comment that the majority of Americans do not care about the rest of the world. You follow now? That’s also where the history comes into play. If we didn’t “care” about the rest of the world we wouldn’t have a history of national sacrifice for others.
I’m glad nobody in the UK calls you a communist. The problem in America is that contemporary American Marxists do not call themselves Marxists, because they know they would dismissed for the name alone. Thus, they use other names…progressive, environmentalist, etc. You can see for yourself if you visit American Socialist and Communist websites. They talk about it openly. As a result many of us do not want the real debate cloaked in something it is not. If we want to talk about the environment let’s leave social justice, economic justice, nanny state garbage out of the debate. We can discuss political philosophies in another debate.
As for your health care system…I’m sure it’s fine. However, I will take our cancer survival rates over yours all day long. In addition, I believe our “evil capitalist” system has produced more technological advances than any other nation on earth and at a very disproportionate rate. I work in health care here in the U.S. and am pretty certain that is correct. Again, if you like your system, good for you. However, we have different views in our country about what should be provided by the government and what is the individual’s responsibility…i.e. The Constitution.
October 3rd, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Mike,
My ‘dentist’ comment was irony, not personal and who mentioned ‘evil capitalist’? Certainly not me, where, may I ask, did that come from?
Re your nations history of sacrifice, I have visited the WW1 & WW2 cemeteries in France, Holland, Belgium and Italy only too often not to be aware of this; that I promise you.
Peter
October 3rd, 2009 at 4:26 pm
You are absolutely mistaken when you say that 50% of tax dollars are going to the military
October 4th, 2009 at 12:22 am
I would like to know where you got all your fact for this video. The biggest one that stick out to me is that 50% of our national budget goes to defense spending? No, it’s a lot less than that. So if you could point me in the direction to correct my views with solid, independent facts that weren’t generated by the TIDES foundation please do so. This propaganda saying that I’m not happy unless I consume something is so far off I don’t know where to begin. Please show me where you got your facts. I would love to see them.
October 4th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I’m happy to hear Glenn Beck has inadvertently done some much good for your cause!
October 6th, 2009 at 6:06 am
Hi,
love the way story of stuff explain things!
way to go, this blog opens eyes to europeans, sure thing.
but, I am AMAZED of some of the comments… “communism”?? do you even know what it is???
how can you even interpret this film and the meaning of it, as politics??
that using to much of the earth reservs is a HUMAN RIGHT? not to speak of “liberty”???
these arguments are impossible to understand. you are free to live, but not to destroy. and you have to share. so even the Bible says. and by the way, the Bible doesnt even mention the US. Big secret: it is not a property of the republicans…
Jeez, cool down, some of you.
we have but one planet, let’s do for the best for us all!
Go Annie Leonard, GO!!
October 6th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Glen Beck just lost all his credibility in my opinion, all his comments were low blows and stupid! of course the goverment is here to protect us and our general welfare, thats their job. All it did was make me believe in ‘The Story of Stuff’ more and gave me more to back up my arguments in my article! stupid Glen Beck
October 8th, 2009 at 7:13 am
I see the QuickTime MOV download. I have instead opened the flash movie object directly so that it can fill the screen. Flash cartoons scale much better than videos can.
Visitors with wide monitors; please try pointing to the URL of the flash object and entering full-screen mode on your browser. You will not be disappointed.
My father was considering a system upgrade after I told him moving to 4GB RAM from 2GB was probably not a good idea. This technique proves my point. Why would you chuck a system that animates a cartoon perfectly fine at 1920×1200? Is it because it had its second birthday, two years ago? No. It is because the operating system renders the entire computer defective.
See how pirated business models deal with competition:
http://www.fastfortunenow.com/
October 8th, 2009 at 7:16 am
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Halloween_documents_leak
The evidence has been out in the open for decades. Stop spamming these forums.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:40 am
How can this be argued, it’s a fact we are stripping the planet for money, could we not still produce money and save the enviroment at the same time. How can this be disputed. I just shake my head. I hope this touches our youth and they see what is involed in producing our stuff; and the next generation makes a change before its too late.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I must’ve hurt this stupid bitch’s feelings, or destroyed her moral premise for her video. Haven’t heard shit about her.
Maybe she realized that since her life is worthless she should just kill herself and end it.
October 10th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
I am not surprised to see so many people outraged at this video. But why are you guys (the ones against) being such a hypocrite. You don’t even need to think critically about anything when the evidence is right there in your face. Can it be because you who are against are guilty of the same things the video is talking about. Isn’t it more then a case where you are too ashamed and afraid to admit it. “Beware those of you that call right wrong and wrong right”. and for those crying out about indoctrination of children, indoctrinating children!!, well lets put it this way, 25 years from now, you won’t be the one who will have to deal with the mess that is being created by this day generation. Don’t be mad, just take heed.
October 11th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80pE5hnFpRs
October 12th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
“Thank goodness for Glenn Beck and others for exposing this transparent attempt to demonize the very good and fair system of Capitalism and the free market.”
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! The “good and fair system of Capitalism.” That’s funny!
Got cancer yet? Think you’ll be immune from the poisons these companies spew into the environment? Think it’s OK that kids in other countries work 12 hour days so you can get a great price on your big new TV? Uh huh, real fair.
Commenter Michel Metrick, you’re a greedy pig, and stupid to boot.
October 15th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Are you Nuts. So many facts are wrong. Yes, the government is for the people by the people…NO WHERE DOES IT SAY THE GOV”T is to “TAKE CARE OF THE PEOPLE” Gov’t needs to get out of the way and reduce taxes, so it is no longer beneficial for companies to out source, while being punished by the gov’t in high taxes for keeping it here.
Polluting another country on purpose… come on.
This is so outragious, I have two more question…
Annie, how much did George Soros pay you? and why does your “Cause” need donations?? Doesn’t George have more money than GOD?
October 15th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Glenn Beck is correct. I watched your video and it is indocturnation.
Not a single one of us can destroy this earth, we can not raise it’s temperature due to our prosperity. The government and folks like you in the education system need to keep your hands and thoughts away from my family. In the end, we all become food for the worms that feed the birds and so on. This does not mean we need to be irresponsible. We need to be good stewarts of the planet.
This means I can make my own decisions and teach my kid to do the same without help from extremists like you.
I love and respect this planet, I am in awe every time I see its natural beauty.
I also respect the balance of things. You cannot have life without death, peace without war. We are still ignorant in the knowledge of all things. This is why we question all science, all of which are theories anyway, including that for the argument of climate change.
October 17th, 2009 at 9:58 am
Glad that Glenn Beck has weighed in with his eloquence and utterly simplistic view. Glad also that his minions have equally weighed in with their goose-stepping dittos.
Really. They couldn’t do more to support a cause than to spill their swill and show the rest of us how not to be. Like euglena, the single-celled protists, they will go wherever their master shines his light.
Hopefully, he will shine his light on Russia. They seem to know all about that as they recommend it to the rest of us ad nauseum.
October 19th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Dear “civil inhabitants of the world”, we should be much more and start to develop this contents in all the languages not only in english. Here, in Italy, some people think like us and knoiw what we’re talking about, but majority of them are totally ignorant because they’re just consumistically oriented or don’t think about the situation of our earth. I’d like to start developing these ideas with a site in Italian, then in all the other languages; I’m sure that there are many lovers of the earth and respectful of what we received when we were born.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:52 am
UGH! u people need to lay off the FOX news and all the fear mongering bullshit they spoon feed into you. dictatorship, communism, patriotism…who cares! point of the matter is that your children, my childrena dn their children’s children are being handed a horrible, disastrous mess to call home. we are killing all the good that was given to use. period. u people really need to get your heads out of your asses.
October 22nd, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Well, reading through these comments has proved little more, at least to me, than that the world is full of charlatans.
I think that a lot of people would do well to get off of their high horses and pratice humility.
But then, what do I know.
Anyway, I’ve enjoyed reading many people’s comments and thank them for their input, their links. Though I’m not quite sure where Patriotism and/or Anti-Americanism factor in here. (Are ‘cultural challenges’ not global?)
As to my own beliefs, I think that there will always be two sides to every argument of course, every story, and that choosing which side is correct can be one of the most challenging and maddening exercises one can put oneself through. And maybe neither ’side’ is correct. And hey, maybe we all think too much, which might be what got us into this mess.:-)
At any rate, I believe that both sides of this argument make some valid points. And while I do feel that Annie Leonard has some important information to convey, I also feel that she hurts her own argument in that she misinforms the viewer here and there throughout her video argument, which is unfortunate because when someone does this, they of course open themselves up to scrutiny, criticism. They paint themselves an easy target, and what’s worse, they discredit their overall argument. And as I’ve stated, I believe hers to be an important one, so most unfortunate in my opinion indeed.
The flip side of this of course is that many people are quick to jump on such misinformation and are willing to use it to dismiss the entire argument made by Annie Leonard, which might say something about their own agendas, perhaps even their own insecurities. Maybe. Either way, it is my opinion that these folks, in doing this, discredit their own counterargument(s) easily as much as Annie Leonard does where she misinforms.
A prime example would be pat 1 of 4 of the youtube critique of Annie Leanard’s video where it becomes evident that the person doing the critiquing allows emotion to get involved himself, and in doing so, commits the very same mistake that he’s accusing Annie Leonard of committing – misinformation: “The United States uses resources more efficienly than any place on the planet, we use resources more producively than any place on the planet, and we happen to feed half the population. We should be using thirty percent of the world’s resources because half the world would be dead if we didn’t.”
Really?
And is it just me, or does this guy sound a lot like a lawyer?
Anyway…
For me, at the end of the day, getting the percentage of forests remaining wrong, or the percentage of tax dollars contributed to military spending wrong is small potatoes in the grand scheme of the overall argument, but evidently they are critical, self-defeating errors in a world largely populated by know-it-alls, as is unfortunately evidenced throughout this commentary.
Here’s a question: How do any of us truly know that any of the information on either side of the argument is accurate?
Having said all that, it is certainly Annie Leonard’s right to choose not to contribute to the commentary and defend herself, or admit guilt where she may have been wrong, but it is my opinion that her doing so would result in at least some people being at least as bit more open to her overall argument. Hell, it might even make for a highly productive dialogue.
At any rate, those who disagree with Annie Leonard can likely rest assured that she is considering their comments… well, at least those who have offered more than mudslinging.
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Another perspective…
Environmental and political arguments aside, is it actually possible that anyone out there is just peachy with the reality of our condition, that the once beautiful lanscapes in our respective countries are being or have been transformed into naionwide shopping malls, that a large portion, if not the majority of our lives, is filled with consuming goods–very few of which are actually essential to our survival, that we have achieved nothing short of the most laborious lifestyle in human history where we work harder and expend more energy than ever before just to live?
Is it actually possible that anyone out there is a-ok with this?
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Reading through a good portion of the counter-commentary–much of which warns ‘Stay away from my children’–contained in this blog has caused for me to draw one simple conclusion: It is apparently not OK for children to be indoctrinated by something that their parents disagree with but it is OK for children to be indoctrinated by something that their parents do agree with.
Is that accurate?
It smells like fear of loss of control to me.
One question… when do you stop attempting to shield your children’s eyes from both sides of every argument and trust in their ability to make up their own minds about what to believe and what not to believe?
Civilization.
We’ve got to be the only culture on this planet that delays the maturity of our young adults for as long as we possibly can. Why?
October 25th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Met some people from Free Range Studios yesterday at the 350.org event. Their shirts showed a chicken with a word caption/bubble saying 35O.
I didn’t know anything about the publishing company but am very intrigued and appreciative of their creative endeavors and efforts. I am grateful for their generosity and vision, sharing shirts with us and others in the crowd as well as working to demonstrate that Glenn Beck is not the only one who can compete in this world. Compete comes from the Latin Root – COM PETARE – Strive Together. They will help show that this comment is unfounded.
“Thank goodness for Glenn Beck and others for exposing this transparent attempt to demonize the very good and fair system of Capitalism and the free market.
You will not prevail, because we are watching.”
Thanks Free Range – For Sprouting up all over the place.
http://www.freerangestudios.com/
Ryan
October 26th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Annie & friends,
Thank you for your film & your opinion, I greatly appreciated it. Don’t lose heart – you have my support! I speak for many more people that I know as well!
October 29th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Doah but u did respond annie leonard. Hey aren’t computers stuff, stuff that fill landfills?
I am not going to apologize for the stuff of my life. But if you want to live a minimalist life like the hippies of the communes go ahead, just dont impose your ways on the rest of us. Global warming, climate change whatever you want to call it is not accurate science, you know that, but it feels good to be green doesnt it? And that is what its about for environmentalists like you. I am thankful that i work for a level-headed school district that doesnt indoctrinate the students with this garbage.
October 30th, 2009 at 8:35 am
I think Joseph said it best when he talked of “misinformation”. This video has too many lies to address here, so I will debunk the underlying premise of the video with a three letter word “SUN”. The video states the earth is a closed system, that we have limited resources. Not true. In fact, the SUN gives the earth energy 24/7 and will do so for billions of years. This energy help plants and animals grow. It helps clean surface water. We have harnessed its energy through photovoltaics. Constant ocean waves are now also providing us energy 24/7. We can extend our oil use by a factor of 6 by extracting cellulosic ethanol from switch grass (prairie grass) to create E85 fuel. This is a constantly renewable energy source that can be grown on land currently unsuitable for conventional farming.
Plants live, then they die, but new plants come from their seeds. Plants produce multiple seeds to grow their species.
Have you ever been on land that was burned in brush or wild fires? Plants start anew no matter the degree of burn out.
I could go on…
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Annie oh annie, how convinient it must be for you to ignore the real faqts of the world.
You are evil, even though you haven’t realized it yet.
November 3rd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
this is ridiculous. I’m tired of all this liberal bull crap brainwashing the future generations of America. Some people deserve more stuff than others. Keep your socialist opinions to yourself you liberal imbeciles.
November 5th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
¡Hola Annie!
Que gran trabajo, te admiro sobremanera. Espero pronto lograr aportar algo a este gran cambio.
Beso,
F.
November 7th, 2009 at 10:09 am
If I had kids, I would absolutely let my children watch this.
You have successfully provided simple, clear examples of almost every form of manipulation, thinking mistake, propaganda, and bias that the media, politicians, and advertising industry use in a more sophisticated way daily.
I hope that you succeed in getting wide distribution in the education system. What a great critical thinking primer this would be! You have created a video that even an 8 year could deconstruct.
Perhaps then, there wouldn’t be so many adults who are so easily misled.
November 11th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Socialism has never worked in any society you would have to be an imbecile to think that brainwashing children was going to change that. You should realize that your liberal views are what got us into the mess where in today.
November 14th, 2009 at 9:56 am
I’d like to point out to Jon H. that most “thinking mistakes” are what led us to where we are today. Without the free will to go against “conventional wisdom” we wouldn’t have many inventions, like electricity and teflon.