Upselling

Money-making is the life force of corporations. It is their one and only reason for existence, at least in the structure of capitalism that we function under. I just had to rent a truck through Budget Rental ... I'm not happy about it, but I need a one-way rental and only the large companies offer this. Just for kicks I clicked on their "Moving Tips" section, and this caught my eye:

"Buy quality boxes and moving supplies. Don’t pack your valuable possessions in used, dirty boxes. Invest some of the savings from doing the job yourself into doing the job right. Visit your local Budget Truck Rental location or buy some new, high-quality moving boxes and supplies on-line now and have them shipped right to your door."

Are they making this wasteful suggestion of buying new boxes rather than re-using old ones because they care about your move going well and your possessions being safe? No. They're suggesting it because they want to make money. Observe the psychology at work in their statements: they imply that you are entitled to new, clean moving supplies, flatter you by reminding you how thrifty you are by "doing it yourself," and rope you in with the convenience of on-line ordering and home delivery. This is just one small example, but if you open your eyes to the bombardment of messages like this, you will begin to see why as a society we have adopted this unhealthy attitude of "deserving" new things at the expense of valuable resources. Listen to these messages with a critical ear, and you will begin to disengage from the programming to which we've been subjected since birth.

"The world owes us nothing. We owe each other the world."
-- Ani DiFranco