The Power of size

Is it just me, or is everything becoming driven by size - celebrity power and corporate power.

The irony is that we as individuals are driving it. By us always opting for the easy option, we are making it harder for freedom and choice. We all know that the things that are the hardest to get and are the most rewarding, yet we now have a massive middle class that expects and needs to keep up with 'The Jones' and wants things on demand. This creates a massive Tesco and celebrities running the world. It will be hard, but try and stay with me on this .....

It was my brothers birthday recently, and I gave him a pasta making machine that my sister had given me. I already had one. I was totally open about it. I told him that I had been given it from her and that she had said she wanted one and therefore if he did not want it, then to give it back to her for her birthday in a couple of months. He did not want it, and was telling me not to worry about getting a replacement.
We then started to talk about how hard it was to buy presents. It used to be the case that if you wanted something, you would have to wait until a present opportunity to get it. This built a sense of excitment and also cemeted the fact that you actually wanted it. Nowadays, when you want something you get it. You do not wait, we are living in a world which is all about immediacy and therefore when birthdays and Xmas comes along, you do not need/want anything. This makes the days less special and the people's jobs who want to buy presents hard.

Everything has become disposable or not valued. This increases demand as people buy without really knowing if they want. Producers try to encourage this (maximise sales) and therefore make things cheaper which in turn sqeezes margins, which in turn decreases quality of product and means greater economies of scale are needed which in turn means that Tesco will take over the world.

Same with celebrity - we no longer really read or take time to consider. We are satisfied with receiving news and information in an immediate fashion. We have short attantion spans pictures and images become replacements for words. Rather than taking time to appreciate, we want speed. Entertainment is immediate and this means the deliverers of this become powerful. We empower the celebrity and in turn with this power loose any freedom of speech. The individuals voice becomes less valid and can be quashed by money which is in the hands of the celebrities or Tesco.

What ever has happened to the Schumacher 'small is beautiful' vision. Arrhh!!