Annie Leonard Vs. Fox News

[Aaron Leventman]

Yes, 2009 plenary speaker Annie Leonard, auteur of the Internet film phenomenon The Story of Stuff, has roused the collective ire of Fox News. Fox claims that Annie’s premise, that overconsumption and the toxic industrial system are killing the planet (and that we’re not even having fun doing so), doesn’t offer any solutions, and just scares kids:

“[Leonard] terrorize[s] children into rejecting the prosperity that will allow them to live into their seventies or likely eighties in America, as opposed to their forties if they're lucky in Haiti or fifties in India - these poor societies that we idolize and romanticize through philosophies like this which were disproven some time ago."

Annie will be joining us again this year with a wheelbarrow full of solutions. What you think about Fox vs. Annie?

[Andrew Fynn]

Ignore them and they will go away. Light a candle, always.

[Spencer Windes]

Annie's basic concept that a linear system can't survive on a planet of finite resources is a simple idea that really catches fire in your imagination. Once it sinks in you start looking at just about everything and saying to yourself "how much is left?" Plus her spotlight on the artificial cycle of toxins is really scary. Much, much more scary then Fox's usual ginned-up dangers of Muslim terrorism and scheming socialists. Refocusing the populace's attention on environmental threats that might lead to behavior change is the last thing they want. They like their audience in a consumption coma.

[Jeffrey V.]

I know that I am susceptible to advertising so I have keep asking myself - do I really need this product?

[Susie-Q]

Yes. My only New Year's resolution anymore is 'Enough.'

[Susie-Q]

Annie's video is so inspiring and far from romanticizes living in a third world. She touches on so many aspects of health and how it is impacted by consumerism. Consumerism contributes to depression, which is rampant in the US these days - it's the guy walking the circle of work, watch TV, shop. All meaning and vitality is stripped from his life leaving a big empty hole that 'stuff' cannot fill.

I also appreciate that she points out the reproductive and general toxins we're exposed to in the course of manufacturing. It's a topic Sandra Steingraber has also touched on in her article "3 bets" published in Orion Magazine.

I'm excited for this "new environmental human rights movement" that Sandra Steingraber describes to begin!

[Jill]

I remember being struck by something Winona LaDuke said in a Bioneers plenary speech in 2007 in reference to the statement- 'just throw it away'. She said, just where is 'away'...
I think The Story of Stuff helps kids think about the consequences of their actions, their parent's actions, and the actions of governments. Information that will likely allow them to live into their seventies or eighties....

[Gingeroo]

The Missoula Montana school board has banned the movie, saying it's against school policy. I think the teacher has resigned. It's kind of serious. Here's the story in the Missoulan. while the NY Times louds it as a great tool to use in the classroom!

[Julie]

Interesting, Gingeroo. the NY Times is right--it's a great classroom tool (in my opinion). I considered showing it to my students, but it's not quite age appropriate (a bit too young still). However, I've shared it with a few of my teacher-friends who watched it with their students and had classroom discussions related to the morals/ethics involved the activities Annie describes, and what we can do about it. Not only are the graphics great for engaging kids, but Annie's presentation is easy to follow.

[Kristina]

In response to those who banned the movie in the story from Montana, those who say the teacher failed to provide a balance; that is ludicrous in the face of mass commercialism! The teacher's choice to use Leonard's film was an effort to balance all the advertising those kids are already exposed to every day.

[Spencer Windes]

I think that you can judge a person by the quality of their enemies. The fact that Annie has popped up on the radar of Fox means she's doing everything right.

[Kristina]

Right on!