What is the next age? (i.e., industrial age)

[fredd bear]

Well as you pointed out with attention economy shorter attention spans.  Attention economy to me is the concept of companies trying to monopolize how the brain functions to get, keep and repeat messages. I think it flows against the concepts of an informed consume. I believe it encourages more impulsivity in decisions and shortens attention spans. Maybe narrows is a better word?

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 I think the end of the informed consumer was well under way by the of the 1950's. Today it is long gone. I think that being an informed consumer, about everything one buys, is virtually impossible.

My aim today is to not be too badly ripped off, and to avoid buying products which will actually cause me  harm. Came very close a few years ago, when I was taking a prescribed drug called "Phosamax" for osteoporosis. Turns out it was released far too soon. Long term use causes necrosis of the jaw. I stop because of disturbing anecdotal evidence. My dentist confirmed my suspicions. I was very lucky.
When I was growing up, there were such things as 'consumer durables',.Expensive, but they would last 20 years and more

Today many products seem intentionally made  with a very limited life span,.Your Bluray player breaks down? Cheaper to buy a new one.

A couple of weeks ago, my inkjet printer had a paper jam. I could not clear it. Took it back to the shop, where I was told I needed a techie who would take it apart to fix it. Cheaper to buy a new one at $179. I felt both guilty and cheated.

I was appalled at the waste I saw in the US, especially food. But, being objective, I think it' sonly a matter of degree. Imo our consumer societies are  self absorbed and hedonistic, regardless of metaphysical positions. 

It's a bemusing paradox to realise that poverty and want, at least in one's own country, could be eliminated if people actually lived the  religions the claim to follow. Eg "love they neighbour" .  Jesus was asked  "who is my neighbour" His response was the parable of "The Good Samaritan" .The lesson ; every man is my neighbour.


Vance Packard wrote a book called "The Waste Makers" in 1960. It's still in print. Well worth a read. I think today, his argument about the US is true for every 'developed' nation.

The Waste Makers is a 1960 book on consumerism by Vance Packard. It was bestselling when it was released. The book argues that people in the United States consume a lot more than they should and are harmed by their consumption.

One reviewer summarized the book's thesis as follows:

American society overemphasizes consumption, especially the quantity rather than the quality of what it consumes, and that it therefore sacrifices culture, prudence, and a proper concern for the future. He blames these distorted values on the business community, especially on the marketers and advertisers who have beguiled the public into accepting false standards.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waste_Makers

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 THE SAMARITANS were a sect of Jews /Jeswish-like people other Jews consider(ed) heretics. They were not/are not considered to be Jews and were despised. They survive today.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritans