Let’s begin by talking about people. People exist all along the system but do not benefit from the system equally or equitably. In theory, the government should watch out for the people’s interest. Make the system as equal and equitable as possible. However corporations have grown more powerful than governments, and they have corrupted governments and captured politicians and bureaucrats. Laws and policy are instead made to benefit the corporations and not the people.

Annie Leonard defines extraction as natural resource exploitation, or in her words 'trashing the planet'. We deforest, mine, pollute, and destroy habitat to get at the raw materials we need for the materials economy. These resources are limited, and we are running out of them. Moreover, some countries, and certainly some corporations, use more resources than others and take from other countries, without sharing in an equitable way with the country’s people, or cleaning up after themselves. Sometimes they also poison the land and exploit the people.

In this system, if you don’t own land or a means of production/distribution, can’t be exploited for labour, or in a position to consume, you have little value. This system also destroys local economies and forces people into low paying extraction and production jobs that are often dangerous.

At the production stage, factories consume large amounts of energy, usually in the form of fossil fuels; raw materials are often mixed with poisonous and harmful substances; and greenhouse and toxic gases are emitted into the atmosphere. Water and land is also poisoned.

We’ve reached distribution. In the case of a store like Walmart, or another box store, the goal is to keep prices low and inventory moving as fast as possible. Sell, sell, sell. Corporations keep prices down with low wages and poor benefits for employees. This is aided with government -set minimum wages that often do not meet a basic standard of living.

People must work multiple jobs just to make enough for basic needs. Corporations externalize the cost of production with the hidden costs of poverty among their labour-force and environmental damage.

Annie tells us about the ‘golden arrow of consumption’. The belief among those that benefit the most from the materials economy that the system must be driven forward at all costs. Just like the Oncler believes from Dr Seuss’ Lorax, progress, consumption, and profit must push forward even if it means the loss of the last Truffla tree and its immediate disposal. The average US person consumes twice what they did 50 years ago, and ninety-nine percent of what we buy is trashed within six months.

Our values have changed. We used to value thrift, resourcefulness, and stewardship. In a materials economy, we value consumption.

Corporations have worked into products planned and perceived obsolesces. Products are made to be disposed of in a short period of time, so the consumer must keep buying. Designed for the dump. The media pushes this and our perceived need to stay modern and acceptable. We believe we must buy our way to modernity and progress.

All that stuff, if its not recycled, is either incinerated or buried in a landfill. The land, air, and water is polluted. Recycling is not enough. It reduces the stress of the disposal and extraction stages, but much more waste occurred upstream in the system, and not everything can be recycled.

Ironically, the more stuff we have acquired, the less happy we have become. We work hard to accumulate and have less time for the things that truly enrich our life experience. Friends, family, and leisure time. Annie leaves us with an impassioned plea that we work to reclaim our governments, create a circular and sustainable economic system, and improve equity for everyday people.

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We began with Seuss PhD and so let's end there too. The Grinch makes it plain: what we buy almost always ends up in our garbage, and if we are not careful, eventually we end up living in the stuff.