The Soul sucking world of corporate suburbia

Over my lifetime, what I have witnessed is a concerted effort by corporate interests to destroy all sense of community and structure in everyone,s lives. We have been turned into nomads, who must deal with constant economic upheaval, which for most means at the very least changing jobs every so many years. This can often lead to periods of economic hardship and all the stress that goes with it, possible relocation of one's home, sometimes destruction of ones family, and always a termination of a great number of relationships that you have developed with others.

The concentration of business activities in suburban areas artificially drives up the price of homes to the extent the couples must take on huge amounts of debt in order to buy a home, which forces them onto a tread mill of debt that completely undermines any sense of independence. Work hours are also artificially extended to to keep employees always scrambling to justify their jobs. Women as well as men are forced to join the system in order to meet the high home prices. This greatly reduces ones home life, ones ability to develop relationships outside of the work environment, and ones ability to maintain the relationships you manage to forge. Mostly, it reduces one's independence from the system.

The constant layoffs typical of most corporate work environments create a poisonous environment of mistrust. All too often the people who manage to survive the longest are people who concentrate on the politics, who are essentially willing to do whatever it takes to survive in what is essentially a cutthroat corporate environment. This means that the survivors are even more isolated than the people whose lives are being constantly turned over by the layoffs. While corporations often talk of team building, they do not want strong teams to be built within the corporate structure. Experience has taught me that the nature of corporate or institutional organizations is to eliminate any groups that form strong bounds, and thereby become a force within the corporate entity. Effective groups, while being highly efficient and capable of producing amazing results, are a threat to the corporate entity, and these types of organizations are always willing to sacrifice efficiency in order to sustain the status quo. It is the nature of the political environment in which they exist. This seems to be typical of any large institution.

Then there is the rat maze of suburbia itself. The streets and neighborhoods are set up by control freaks whose goal is to force traffic through certain check points. Drivers are forced into loops with limited exit points. The reasons for this serve many purposes.

First it makes us much more susceptible to police stops. The numerous restrictions in where we can or can not go force us to constantly run through invisible mazes. We often get trapped and forced around these loops more than once in order to successfully navigate them. These mazes are of enough complexity that we have to learn these areas before we can successfully navigate them with out errors. Any error we make provides a reason for authorities to stop and detain us. Under the guise of public safety we have all been made criminals for the mere act of making a mistake in a split second decision, while trying to navigate through the numerous mazes that trap us.

Second it cuts off our routes of escape. All those movies where is shows the masses of people stuck on the interstates, that is no accident. They have us trapped, and they want us to know. Get a map of any large population center. It is amazing how few avenues of escape from these areas exist. What you will see is that most of the ways out have been blocked. This is no accident.

they will do anything to gain complete control,

excellent post, most are to blind to see what you see

reply to post by l neXus l


Thanks, I hope this garners some attention.

I think people need to start looking at this.

reply to post by poet1b


All major cities and towns the world over are looking more and more identical, with the same globalist corporate products foisted on the people. The experience is becoming the same where ever you go. The multi-society culture is a globalist monoculture to replace the diversity of monocultures that used to make each country unique.

reply to post by concernedcitizan


Yepper, I was writing this next part as you posted your reply.

By restricting traffic flow, communities are also able to control what areas are easily accessible for commerce. By controlling exit and entrance points, new developments are able to steer traffic away from established businesses, steer them towards newly created commerce areas where corporate franchises are able to dominate commerce, all through traffic manipulation. The community citizens wind up paying, or taking on debt, to finance most of the cost of these new developments by paying for the roads and other infrastructure, which is typically more costly than the developments, necessary for these development, and the developers reap all the reward, while established local businesses are shut out of the flow of traffic. This can be witnessed all across the country, at least the U.S..

I have complained for nearly a decade about corporate America and the new white-collar assembly line! VERY nice thread - S&F!!!

I think what we have here is the second industrial revolution. Hear me out... In the late 1800s and early 1900s the corporations were exploiting women, children, the weak and the meek. These were largely uneducated people who had limited skills. The corporations played upon their fears and their survival instincts to get them to work harder, for less! Luckily, the unions were formed and helped reform labor practices.

Fast forward... Today, much of our production is automated and there is a decreasing need for people to man the assembly lines. Today, we have an information economy driven by an army of better educated working drones. Just as the assmebly lines of the early industrial era compartmentalized people and stole their worth, todays' cubicle world is doint he same.

Think about this... In the 1800s transportation was supplied through the artful crafts plied by the blacksmith, the carpenter, the leatherman, the horse trainer etc... Each a specialist, but moreso an artist. It was their mutual cooperation and mutually exclusive benefit that allowed each to make a good living, striving to surpass standards of excellence as regarded by their customers. Enter Henry Ford and Fischer Auto Body and the advent of the assembly line. By breaking down the artful and complex tasks of each of the craftsmen into bite-sized pieces, under-trained and inexperienced people could create the same product for a fraction of the cost in a fraction of the time. No longer was the artfulness of the craftsman appreciated or desired, save for those who could afford it. This signaled the demise of the indpendent craftsman and the rise of mass labor.

Fast forward... The modern corporation has now learned how to automate these same artful tasks on an administrative level. Armies of somewhat better educated factory workers now wear ties and work within polyester-lined cubicles plying tiny pieces of administrative work - not too removed from industrial assembly lines, but with different and more technologically advanced tools. When the corporations who have perfected these modern assembly lines are certain of the efficacy of the process, they then feel comfortable outsourcing the white-collar assembly line to a third world country less demanding of wages, benefits and satisfactory working conditions.

Ultimately what is required a second industrial revolution - a call to arms amongst the working drones of the world to demand better wages, benefits and working conditions. I fear that this cannot be accomplished due to the continual programming which keeps these workers isolated, in fear of ther jobs and at constant competition with the person in the cubicle next to their own. Yet I hoep and pray that every single day, more and more people will make a the same conscious decision I have made - to drop out of the ranks of the modern assembly line. I have said "ENOUGH!" and left to start my own company in the tradition of our forefathers - the craftsmen and artisans. I have selected a profession that connot be outsourced or automated and one that everyone is dependent upon - a professional building inspector. Won't the rest of you stand up and fight for your future and that of your children???

reply to post by poet1b


Interesting take on things, this thread.

Anyone see the Oscar-winning short "Logorama"?

Might be relevant --- and it's interesting to note it was made by French filmmakers....

It's in the link, don't know how to separate it from the others:

ticklebooth.com...

Thanks for the excellent replies.

kozmo

I completely agree. It is my current goal to become completely independent from corporations and institutions, or at least as much as possible. I am working on building my own business. I think these issues are things that need to be solved. The net is closing in upon us.

weedwhacker

Interesting video, I really enjoyed it, even though part of me was rooting for Ronald McDonald. You won't ever see anything like this winning awards at the Academy.

I can't decide which of the last two reasons I am going to post are most likely the biggest reasons why I think the way our communities are being organized.

reply to post by poet1b

You won't ever see anything like this winning awards at the Academy.

??? 'anything like this'?? Do you mean this thead, or "Logorama"?

Because, it won an Oscar last Sunday evening.....

reply to post by weedwhacker


Wow, no kidding, I did not know this. I guess I should have paid more attention to the name of the website.

I need give the academy more credit.

The foundational argument for technology is that it eases life. Eases and eases, all the easier invention by invention. Easy, easier, easiest. In reality man has been a sovereign creature on the globe without rivalry since the stone age, a thing whose life has been unnaturally and hopelessly cushy. Since then the actual problem of man has been physical ease, meaninglessness, rootlessness and frustration.

Forests that are home to thousands of species, and form an essential part of the ecosystem, are being destroyed. All around the industrialized world this destruction is becoming increasingly evident. Landscapes that once teemed with greenery and life are now bare eyesores. Forests and wetlands that once functioned as sponges for heavy rains are paved over and developed, so floods become commonplace in nearby towns. Forestry companies and businesses often claim, 'we replant all the trees we cut down', or 'our activities are extremely sustainable', and yet these trees take many years to properly grow to the strength of what the forests of old were. These people only hold the dollar as their ideal, so their motivations will always be in this regard and never towards a holistic, sustainable approach.

Many would say that today our industry and technology are changing to care more for the environment. Look at the great effort to stem global warming, the use of green products and technologies! However none of these address the core of the problem; they merely clip at the various effects we see visibly popping up around us. Linkola attacks the typical 'Green' mentality which supposes we should change what we buy, instead of why and how we buy. Various activities manifest themselves over time, yet all are subject to the same mindset. Simply changing what we buy or produce will not address why we made and utilised it in the first place.

There is much to be had in the basic things around us, the beautiful sunset, ancient texts, and our families. People have been living in this manner for tens of thousands of years, and they rarely became suicidal or lazy.

I will arrive at an amusing observation in the end. Besides guaranteeing its main goal, the preservation of life, the formulated model of society would provide surprisingly also an incomparably better standard of living. What are those sweet, dear things of the modern world that man would lose? They are: record statistics of suicides, panting competition, unemployment here, job stress there, renovations and insecurity in work life, alienation, desperation, mountains of psychological medicine measured in tons, the decline of body and diseases of the living standard, the unbelievable arrogance of the individual, quarrel, corruption,crime.
What man would be left with: unhurried socialization between people, the endless spectrum of arts and hobbies: singing, music, dancing, paintings, sculptures, books, games, plays, riddles, shows; all of enormous museum activity, research of history, home region, dialect, family; the millions of biologist's themes, handcrafts, gardens; clear waters, virgin forests, marshland plains and fells; the seasons, trees, flowers, homes, private life - by definition: life.

reply to post by poet1b


You indicate that you live in the USA but you are full of angst.

Be grateful; try a years sabbatical in Somalia and see how you feel.

Suburban sprawl more than anything forces us to drive more and more in order to get anywhere. This vastly increases our dependence on our automobiles in order to function in the corporate controlled world of suburbia. The more we drive, the more often we have to replace our vehicles, the more gas we have to buy, the higher insurance we must pay. Everything becomes more costly due to the increased cost of transportation. If oil is excluded from U.S. imports, the U.S. would be a running a trade surplus, rather than a deficit. Not only does this mean more money to the auto manufactures, oil producers, and insurance companies, it is more money to the banks who get a slice of every transaction that is not done with cash. This of course drives up the cost of everything, efficiently transferring wealth from the producing working class into the bank accounts of the investment class that through these manipulations succeeds in gain ever more control over the worlds wealth.

reply to post by Alfie1


I am well aware of the advantages to living in the U.S.. I have traveled in third world countries. Dealing with traffic in the U.S. is no where near as bad as Manila.

The fact that things are worse in third world nations doesn't mean that everything is peachy here in the U.S., and it shouldn't stop us from trying to make things better.

I think we have it better here in the U.S. because we insist on working to make things better, and we shouldn't stop working to continue to make things better.

My observation is that currently things are not getting better here in the U.S., but that they are getting worse, and these things I observe I see as major problems that need to be solved.

I don't think we can continue on with this disposable society that has been created, or that we should ignore this trap that has caught us up in a rat like maze.

Just because things are currently better here than in Somali doesn't mean that we are heading in the right direction.

I can only wonder about how much of our current situation of being trapped in this situation contributes to the problems all over our planet, including Somali.

Another purpose or result of the maze of suburbia is that it exhausts us. The maddening onslaught of traffic that we must face each time we go anywhere not only steals our time, but our health as well. Dealing with traffic is a highly stressful activity that we are forced into numerous times a day. While walking, running, riding a horse, or riding a bicycle is good for us physically, sitting in a car dealing with the insanity of suburban traffic is extremely bad for us, Commuter rage or driver rage are a well known occurrence, experienced by probably everyone, caught in this environment, on a regular basis. This additional requirement necessary for our survival in modern times works to seal our fates. It is a barrier of phenomenal proportion that keeps us locked into a system that perpetuates itself.

reply to post by poet1b

Then there is the rat maze of suburbia itself. The streets and neighborhoods are set up by control freaks whose goal is to force traffic through certain check points. Drivers are forced into loops with limited exit points.

There are a number of good books on this subject, however, they all contradict your thesis. The circulinear design of streetscapes in the suburbs predates the automobile and was first seen prominently in the "Main Line" suburbs of Philadelphia.

There were a couple of reasons, all of them basically dealing with looks, not control. The suburbs sought to differentiate themselves from the city with its grids and diagonal boulevards. Also, this layout allowed one to view fewer homes from a single point leaving the impression of less dense housing, a very important difference from the cities. The Main Line, being one of the first and most successful models for suburban planning, was then the blueprint for the automobile suburbs that later followed, even to this day.

reply to post by hooper


Hmm, "circulinear design of streetscapes" did not come up with any matches in google, so I can't confirm or deny your claim. Got any links to all of these books.

However, what I am talking about I think is quite different from that to which you are referring.

These street designs do not restrict your view of anything, they only restrict access. It is not done only in residential neighborhood, but in business areas as well. I thought I made that clear.

I understand the whole aesthetics of the Cul de Sac, but that is not what I am talking about. What I am talking about are the subtle changes in the way access to areas has been changed., not to mention the way the whole suburban environment has been set up.

I am not even sure if this is something that was done intentionally, except for the obvious profit motive of concentrating industries which were not nearly so concentrated only a half a century ago.

Here is an article about the subject. Apparently I am not nearly as wrong as you claim.

www.vabike.org...

The New York Times has named Virginia’s cul-de-sac ban one of their design ideas of the year for 2009. We agree! While cul-de-sac neighbornoods are perceived as safer, they force cyclists and pedestrians onto busy arterial roads, and make trips within the neighborhood much longer — undoubtedly contributing to the decline in biking and walking over the last 30 years. We’re very pleased that Virginia is taking the lead with this issue.

Bueatiful thread and I agree with most of everyting in your thesis. This phenomenon can along be observed in the mass consolidation of schools and school districts that has happened all over the country in the last 10-15yrs. This effort has been aided by the no child left behind program, which has created more traffic and pollution as kids who used to go to school right down the street are bused 45 min to an hour away. And the class sizes in some cases have doubled making individual attention a thing of the past. While the private and perochial schools are squeezed out due to increased cost burdens by the parents. Not to mention the cuts to any school program dealing fundamentally with creativity.

reply to post by poet1b


Fascinating! I was unaware of the ban on cul-de-sacs in Virginia...I assume that only applies to future design and layout planning.

I'm having some trouble seeing the evolution of Suburbia as a "conspiracy", though. How much of the spread of cities away from Urban centers a result of increasing populations, and rising prices near City Centers? If I missed it in your thread, sorry if you mentioned it already.

I grew up in LA, for example....the building of new homes could only be accomplished farther and farther out, into once empty land. Same in Denver, and its Suburbs (lived there from 1984-1989, bought a house in Highlands Ranch, a brand-new Suburb. Planned, and all residential roads gracefully curved, I assumed for aesthetic reasons?) And, farther out, prices were lower, even than older existing homes closer in (vareid by neighborhood, of course).

Maybe planners and developers are just getting too creative for their (and ultimately our) own good? I don't know.

Here in Virginia, very similar thing is happening around the Dulles Airport, to the North and Wes now.... Former empty tracts of land? Huge McMansions, (still over-priced, even this far out), retail....TWO Harris-Teeter grocery stores not two miles apart!!! Crazy! (AND, the horrid thing....trees are virtually clear-cut....)

As a kid I saw what the corporate world did to my father; made him an angry, mean drunk that died drunk. I consciously chose the counter culture Bohemian lifestyle and found to my astonishment how easy it was to make a lot of money as a freelance entrepreneur.
I always lived in the Rocky Mts. or on the beach somewhere.
I don't mean to rub it in. It's never to late to change.

S&F

[edit on 11-3-2010 by whaaa]