A truly subversive article, James

I suspect, tyeefan, that you are far from alone among contributors to the Tyee in feeling near-helpless before the consumerist onslaught being thrust upon us.

But James Glave is absolutely correct in his realisation that the best defense/offense against The Program is simply not to buy in to it.

thanks!

Thank you for your well-written article. I think there are many of us here in Vancouver that share that sentiment and enjoyment of a simpler, less-edgy and marketed-at life.

Nice try!!

This is all a trick isn't it? You're really working for "them" and doing market research on us and our responses. Well forget it! I'm still driving my Cadillac Escalade to Whistler this weekend and staying in my slope side condo. My good friend Bill (yes that's right, Gates) will be flying up in his chopper as well and we'll all laugh about this story and the joke you are playing on everyone over a nice hot, skinny latte from Starbucks.

Turn off the Television!

Our visual cortex is like a circut cable directly into the brain, and control center of US.

The TV marketers have really begun to master this visual medium...only by taking total control of what you let in can you hope to break free.

An ole' Vancover reporter had a three-line ditty about the idiot box that is so really true:

Theatre is life
Film is art
Television is furniture

Turn the television off.

Manning Park

Great article indeed. Most of my fondest childhood memories are vacations exactly like Manning Park. We spent 10 years doing summer trips to the West Coast of Vancouver Island to go surfing and play on the amazing beaches before Tofino got yuppified. We quit going when it got too self-consciously hip and crowded, and lost touch with the idea of just being able to go out and play on the beach. And you wouldn't catch me dead on Commercial Drive. Everyone now seems to be chasing this stupid concept of "hip", which in practice means going as far into debt as you can for mediocre, over-priced and over-marketed crap or overpriced canned "fun". One of the best vacations I've taken recently was spending a week doing cow-punching on a friend's ranch. Nothing fancy, just 8-10 hour days in the saddle and on the ground, lots of hard, dirty work, good food and books and talk in the evenings.

Best thing you can do is opt as far out as possible. Don't buy new if you can avoid it, don't watch TV, or only use it for movies, become a truly conscious consumer and don't buy stuff you don't need or from organizations that abuse people or the planet, or that spend more money on marketing to the "hip" factor than producing a quality product.

I still really try to buy local food to support local farmers and just get better quality non-trucked food. I also prefer my dollars to support organizations that actually have ethics, so I tend to buy stuff I need at mom and pop or local stores. I've never set foot in Wal-Mart, and don't plan to ever do so. I wish more people could grasp that simple living and frugal living don't have to mean deprivation and a life of "second best". You can have as much fun (if not more) going hiking, finding new parks or camps to explore, and a ton of other stuff without buying into the marketing crap out there. Plus Craigslist and Freecycle are gold mines for used stuff.

Being in a rut

The author said, It's just all too much. Can anyone tell me how to disengage from branding's tractor-beam? Because I can't find the switch.

We use to refer to this situation as "Being in a rut" its a difficult, vicious, merry go round to release ones self from . Whats required is, confidence in one self, confidence to change, confidence move on to a life of meaning, some self worth. e.g. ED Deak at Big Lake, ask Ed how he made the transition, you may be surprised of how simple it can be. I did it years ago. Very likely many of the residents of New Denver, are ex riders of the merry go round, which explains their fight for not returning to what they left behind, the cell phone.

Debt

Great line. Credit Card companies are crack dealers in suits, except they're less ethical.

the problem with coolness

Great article. I think one of the big challenges is to resist the temptation of "cool," whether it appears in the form of luxury ski resorts or organic vegetables. Desiring coolness (including what Glave calls "chasing irony") is hard to get around in our culture, since even eco-friendly or low-cost alternatives often present themselves in those terms: vintage clothes, fair trade coffee, etc. Although I disagreed with some of their views, I thought the authors of the book The Rebel Sell did a nice job on this topic. I plan to look for Almost Green.

a sour note

The dilemma of the anti-consumerist do-gooder. "He encourages you break out of your own consumer ennui just long enough to buy it."

"Buy my book about not buying anything."

I guess irony is truly dead.

You can do it with more than skiing too

"I somehow manage to make a little less money than the year before"

Oh yeah. That will hit when you retire anyway - so you are just hitting it early. And when your kids turn 12 and you don't have to pay for daycare, just watch your disposable income rise.

It turns out that none of the stuff they are trying to sell you makes you happy. Or is even worth half what they charge for it. A new laptop running Vista may look clever, but you can get better utility out of something much cheaper running open source. The old bike in storage cleaned up nicely and only needed a $35 tuneup: a lot cheaper than a new bike, and just as much fun.

Fresh vegetables you buy at the farm market you cook yourself are way cheaper than anything that comes frozen in a red box, and not inconvenient really - just enjoy the process! They will be healthier too.

Nice one, James!

I have actually begun to look forward to my Tyee coming in and James'article is just the latest example of: There's still good stuff to read out there!

I am of the converted James, being by the sounds of it a few years older than you. My kids are 6 and 13 and I gave up on keeping up when it became apparent that our finite resources went further when we sought the authentic as opposed to the coveted.

Yes! A hot, black coffee will be fine, thanks! Why another car? Why not get rid of one? Why Roots when Mark's or Zellers is more than enough. Consume less and do more and the pay off will be big. Think Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, this is where your article took me.

No you are not at all alone, James. I have been going this way for a while and feeling better about it more and more every day. Thanks for putting in words what I've been thinking over the last ten years or so.

Thanks again, good on ya Tyee.

I agree, but fair trade...

...isn't what I'd call a luxury (if you're going to buy coffee, that is). For me, a clean conscience should never be termed a luxury, nor pasted in with ad-driven commercialized couture to be debunked and trashed away. Not sure how many people have thought I was 'cool' for drinking fair trade anymore than they thought Mother Teresa was 'cool' for feeding the starving children in Calcutta. But maybe you travel in different social sets than I do.

No-name, Nabob, or especially that Tim Hortons/Second Cup/Starbucks brew (choose your social circle) seem more likely candidates for this kind of derision.

Thanks, All

Evidently I've hit on something here. Thanks for all your comments.

ps Manning Park is more metaphor than destination. What's your own Manning Park?

Anywhere in a sailboat...

News flash! Bear Stearns is just one of the many dominos at the start of the collapse. That's THE collapse. The big one! The end of Cool as we know it. Did you think that CEO's could just keep on taking bonuses in the billions forever? Did you think that unchecked economic growth was actually sustainable? Melting pension funds, fradulent accounting, the US war economy, consummerism, melting glaciers.... I know people that still think the value of their Vancouver real estate will just continue to grow till the sea level rises to their doorstep. I'd hang onto your hats, this ride is just getting started. Who wants to go faster!!!

being real

My own Manning Park?

-Establishments where the owner works right alongside the staff, preferably with family members running the place.
-A place where common sense, a little humour, humanity, and the occasional exception-to-the-rule takes precedence over bureaucratic nonsensical regulations.
-A place where no one's worried about litigations and lawsuit, but instead where people have a small town casual attitude, locally made tasty food, cleanliness, and people being "real" who look in you in the eye when they talk to you (hard to put a finger on that one, but you sure as heck know it when you're there).
-A place where instead of discussing the economy, jobs, and the latest trendy TV show, people express a little concern about others - the disenfranchised, the poor, the disabled, and those in the world who are truly suffering.
- A place where instead of worrying about protecting their expensive cars from getting scratched, or whether their kid will make the Junior A hockey team, people put some effort into thinking about how they can protect their kids' and grandkids' future water supply.

Yes, but... 30-something?

Yes, this was a nicely written article, and so I probably shouldn't say this, but...

Many people have gone through this, perhaps for a 100 years or more (of industrialised urban culture), after gaining family responsibilities and generally settling down.

30-something? Yeah, hate to tell you, but a) it's normal; and b) those cool 20-somethings know you are no longer cool and may even occasionally laugh at you --whenever they pause to stop thinking about themselves...

On the up-side, there is life after cool, and many people, myself included, prefer it immensely. But, that said, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater: some of those cool things you did when you were younger actually were cool, and fair trade coffee (but not necessarily Starbucks...) is one of them.

Just think how uncool you will be in your forties... I know cuz I am there.

Coveters Anonymous

Yes, you have hit on something here, as I am also feeling the 'pain' of growing out of this overtly hip and unsustainable culture of ours.

Sounds like we need to start a self-help group to overcome our fear of losing out on 'cool'. What is it about unapologetic consumerism that drives and defines us? Why does it feel so damn good?

Me? I'm sipping on a cup of my favorite, imported, premium, over-priced loose-leaf (just love that sexy black packaging).
Cut me off? Please don't!
Not... just... yet...

Damn...

You've hit the nail squarely on the head. I don't need the crap the media tells me I 'need' to have.

Those are the people that want to live in the lifestyle they're trying to sell you...

Great article.

My Manning Park

I teach people how to swim really well and be comfortable in the ocean, especially underwater. That's my Manning Park-always open always full of mystery and hidden treasures.

The trap is that people want to feel important, like they are doing something cool. The branding of life. Let's not have a name for stripping down and jumping into the water. Let's just call it fun.

A good start

Dump the plastic. Easy for me to say. Never picked it up in the first place - yet I've survived.

A week doesn't pass without mail urging me to get this or that credit card. I fear that once in hand it would be a little like casino chips. One tends to forget that they're actually money.

Clark Park

For my Manning Park, there's a nice hill in Clark Park, East Vancouver, good for tobboganing when it snows, which it does more and more each year.

I grew up in Calgary in the '60s; my parents were educated but not rich. So all my school pals could go skiing (drove up to Mt. Norquay in their MGBs) but I couldn't, or at least I couldn't enjoy it, wondering where I'd get the money to come back. Someone once compared sailing to standing in a cold shower ripping up hundred dollar bills. That's how I viewed skiing, still do. But tobboganing is fun, and free.

James, my man, you sound tired. Get some sleep. Sell your Bowen eco-trap, get off that damn Bowen ferry, buy a Vancouver Special. They're full of space and, if you get a nice one, the profile is an homage to the Haida longhouse. Total cred, not that you care about that now and more power to you.

You've found one key thing, and that is to stop trying to be perfect. Perfection is a deeply flawed concept.

Hang in there.

be cool: just smile

great article. and great to see that you/we are not alone.

My Manning Park: well, it's usually the place next to the "destination". Just proofed it this weekend: we headed for Hornby Island after many of my friends told me how awesome this place is. Maybe it is. But the Manning Park was the stop before - Denman. A hostel without bureaucracy but trust, the host who see's you as a person and not as a costumer.

And that's good, because I am a bad costumer/ consumer. The treasure hunting in thrift stores provides me with the things i "really" need, saves me money which i don't need to earn and is the beats every eco-sustainable-green product in terms of it's eco-footprint, because it is "reusing".

and as clubofrome already mentioned: the sh:")* hit's the fan. Invest in (GE-free) seeds. gardening tools and get your hand in the soil. It is the safest investment you can do. Yes, i know, most of you guys live in Van. but how long will our economy provide a "enjoyable" living for all those highly specialized people?

smile, there is hope...

You will never escape 'cool'

What you are describing sounds to me like you are just reaching for a different kind of cool...the 'authentic' cool. As in, 'this pinball machine needs some extra work to use, but it is so cool!'
I went to highschool during that brief period when cool (for some of us..) was how cheaply you could put together an outfit from goodwill... 'My socks cost more than everything else I am wearing put together'......'cool!' I've found some pretty 'cool' stuff at garage sales and in alleys. Authentic things can be cool too. Your description of the lodge atmosphere and all the outdated gear sounds o-so-cool to me.
great article.

I totally agree...

It's funny. I actually make more money now than I ever have, but have way, WAY less desire to spend any money to support excessive consumerism. I grew up going to Manning Park with my parents, and don't believe in taking my family to glitzy and over-priced bastions of excessive consumerism. My son is 12 and unfortunately is growing up with excessive consumerism all around him...so for his birthday last week we did the kind of party that only allowed guests to bring a dollar for every one of his years (ie, 12 dollars) where half of it was gonig to be given to the charity of his choice. I was so sick of attending birthday parties and seeing the excessive amounts of unappreciated gifts...that I decided to put an end to it (this is not the first time I have done this...but it used to be a toonie party when he was little)

I too have no desire to consume excessively anymore. I have huge issues with Christmas in my family...as we all are doing just fine financially, and really don't need the extra crap. I have already put a cap on spending for my husband's family who have some seriously excessive members..but I would really rather they give me nothing at all unless they want to bake me a pie or something homemade!

So, yeah, I get it. I have enough, and I am not buying into all the hype. I want let my son buy clothes at Hollister as I want him to realize value and branding are often at odds with each other...so his jeans can come from Marks or Old Navy. It's gotten so stupid for young people right now...10 and 12 years old needing designer clothes..it's all so stupid. I am not buying into any of it...even if I can afford it..I won't buy it...I won't do it...
thanks for the thought piece...

Cassiar and the Outlet Mall

I was never really “cool”, so I suppose that a lot of energy went into finding a way to do things slightly differently. In other words, years ago, I hiked the Nootka trail instead of the Westcoast Trail so I did not have to participate in all the dull conversations about the “ladders” or waiting for a trail pass. Ugh. But, in the end, I was part of the problem. That is, putting pressure for development in another area just for my experience and my use.

My Manning Park continues to be the area surrounding the Stewart-Cassiar highway. Evidence of the boom/bust economy is everywhere, and it is still a relatively quiet route because it is still too rough for those worried about getting a rock ding. However, this road will be paved all the way soon. Progress I suppose.

Oh yeah, but I am going shopping this week or weekend. Somewhere cross-border – an outlet mall. I will ask though, at some clothing stores, if anything in the shop is made in North America. I got coupons! I got deals!

I remember a time I refused to go to the US because I wanted to support our local economy.

What happened to that attitude?

Maybe I will go buy a Mac, so then I can type on this blog while people can see what brand of laptop I am using. It is still easy to appear “cool”, but it just is not as fulfilling as it used to be.

I object, Big Red

If we think we're uncool because we're in our forties (or fifties, or sixties, or nineties), we'll feel insecure and will feel compelled to buy crap we don't want or need to compensate/deny/self-sedate. Better to invest our attention in the fact that we know we are cool.

I wouldn't go back to being in my twenties for anything. The forties are the best yet. Off the treadmill, things look pretty good.

letting go of cool?

Make the ultimate statement by getting out of "cool" Vancouver where you will discover letting go of cool is just plain old thrift. Make it even better by not moving to southern vancouver island, the okanogan, the fraser valley or parts of the kootenays.

The lower mainland

Lots of great places to disappear. Just avoid weekends.

old boots, old bindings - my trails

Actually, the trails are old - only uncovered.

A couple years ago, when I lived in North Vancouver I had a great cross-country ski run across Victoria Park, en route to drop off my overdue library books.

This year I enjoyed skiing from the front door of my condo in Burnaby. ..when others were getting stuck in the snow as they attempted to drive down the mountain for a shot of Starbucks.

In my garage-sale ski boots and bamboo poles I may look like a time-machine. Yes, James, I am having fun and without the Whistler cache nor exhorbitant ski-trail charges.. Not cool - but warm in hand-me-down ski pants.

Thanks for the fun article.

Who's the uncoolest?

Love the irony of everyone one-upping each other with their 'uncoolness'. The very definition of cool is to be ahead of the curve -- not consuming the mass appeal goods.

Of course one can go too far. Make your own soup -- cool. Soup kitchen, not so much.

LOL

a nice article

I agree with Aida's comment.. that would be my ideal.

As a 20-something I relate much to what James describes - maybe I'm in trouble for feeling this, as our culture and commerce is largely based on consumption. Bleh.

To shmendrick, I don't believe "You will never escape 'cool'" - that is a pretty big generalization and quite defeatist at the same time.

I don't think its necessary not to have an aesthetic sense or preference for one thing over another, but its certainly necessary for people to put that aesthetic sense down from the multi-billion dollar pedestal its on now.

The fashion phase you do describe though, seems to be happening to my generation (20ish hipsters), so what they say about fashion cycles appear to be true.

Re: young people

why do people care what youngsters think of them?

I can never understand it. I mean, I wonder how shifts have occurred in the way different generations think and feel, but thinking about being "cool" - whether its chiding yourself or chiding someone else - is plain contradictory. The origin of cool is to not GENUINELY not care.

a well-written and

a well-written and thought-provoking article, james. just a few comments, here. the article talks about being under a 'crushing mortgage' (hands up out there!) and eschewing 'cool' products to achieve some kind of peace with the material world, and hopefully balance the family budget, as well.
one question that begs to be asked is - if your mortgage was manageable, or paid off, would you feel the same way about these products? no one likes being tempted by items that they know they can't afford, but marketers (and finance companies) are sneaky, indeed - there is always a way to amortize a payment, especially on a quickly depreciating asset - so that you can get what you 'really want.' exhibit A - car leases, the most fantastically profitable financial vehicle (bad pun) known to any car dealer.
but... let's stay with this 'cool' idea a bit longer. many products are cool because they are actually really, really well designed and in fact provide value, enjoyment, and even durability to their owner. why are macs, for instance, worshipped by techno-geeks and students, alike - because they actually WORK and do what they are supposed to. let's not trivialize good design by simply relegating it as 'cool' - it's more than that, many so-called gadgets become, in fact, items that we can't - and don't want to live without.
as for the crushing debt/mortgage department - well, we'd likely all be better off if we moved from BC to Winnipeg, Fredericton, or Thunder Bay. in fact, that would be the true test of 'cool' - would we in fact enjoy our lives if we lived in distinctly uncool places where they DON'T ram hipster lifestyle down your throat at every turn?
that said, i find that generally speaking, starbucks sipping latte drinkers seem to come from all walks of life, and appear to be a pretty broad range of consumer society. here in the Okanagan (especially outside of downtown) REALLY good indie coffee shops are difficult to find, so there is the two-tailed siren in the odd mall. and i'm telling ya, thank god for that. if you stick to the short dark roast, you're not paying a whole lot of money and you're getting a nice cup o' joe for about $1.65. and if you can score a free section of the globe and mail in the newspaper bin,it's an even better deal.
look, all of us need stuff. some of it matters, some of it doesn't. truly cool people are like frank sinatra who once said 'i don't give a damn about anybody.' that's not a very nice way to live, especially when you've got kids who are looking up to you.
i do like the above suggestion that james decamps from island life to help gentrify east van. james is a true cultural creative, right out of a richard florida book, and vancouver's magazine scene badly needs a person of his intellect, wit, and talent.
good luck with the mortgage, james.

Matt Hern...

http://www.vancouvermagazine.com/articles/08mar/Hern.shtml

- a pretty good article on Matt Hern, someone who's trying to make life a little more livable.

Relates to what Aida said in fact, about lawyers, extraneous systems imposed on us for our "safety"... worth a read!

Cool

James

I agree with almost everything you said except your definition of cool which differs from mine

IMHO, cool is Miles Davis; cool is Dylan; buying a $6 extra hot soy milk small whip cream mocha from Starbucks ain't no cool dude ... it's stupidity and yuppiesm (TM).

Yuppiesm is a social disease.

I've lived in Vancouver for

I've lived in Vancouver for 7 years and never worked more than 30 hours a week. I'm totally minimalist; drive an '86 Toyota (contrary to what people say, an old car is VERY reliable) but mostly commute by bike, wait for all my friends to pass on the nice-clothes-they-don't-want-anymore-but-are-still-cool to me, make my lunches except for Thurs when I "allow" myself to buy lunch, am totally debt free (though this also means I don't have a mortgage and therefore still rent- ah!), and spend my Friday mornings at the dog beach in Kitts... while everyone else is working. I don't really like shopping, would rather be outside in empty wide-open spaces, which helps. I do, however, buy a Starbucks coffee pretty much every day- nothing fancy, dark roast, and if I forget my travel mug I don't "allow" myself a coffee.
I never forget my travel mug.
I think I may actually be a bit neurotice about things. But it's fun. And it works.

COOL = RED STATE/BLUE STATE

The fascination many voters under 50 feel with being fashionable is palpable in Vancouver, and Toronto as well.

It infects our federal politics and has led to the approximate importation to Canada of the American Red State/Blue State cleavage, to the very considerable detriment of the NDP. The only Canadian twist has been to reverse the colour scheme, and even that small distinction is based on the assumption that the Liberals are actually to the left of the Conservatives in any meaningful sense. In this fashion obsessed climate, anything that smells like hard-assed working class politics is far too gauche to be marketed successfully with the urbanista set.