Social Improvement Movement

We have world and social problems.

There is a growing concern regarding the polarized relationships of business-consumer, wealthy-poor, and an increasing commercial bias by governments.

The more commerce that is generated the more we consume unwisely resulting in massive waste. The false prosperity we have enjoyed has created a merry-go-round run amok and a degradation of true social well being.

There is evidence of increasing interest in bringing more attention to these worldly ailments and to make things better. But the voices for positive change have been extremely week compared to the massively funded corporate promotions persuading consumers to buy more. Private broadcasting media and advertising by business are the engines used, along with governments that are apparently content about it all.

There is public broadcasting with programs like Bill Moyers Journal on PBS that work for positive change. Notably in recent years numerous websites and blogs are appearing that are devoted to world issues and advocating change. They bring news and articles on poverty, the environment, corporate influence, human and consumer rights, government and corruption.

As more of us read and get interested in social improvement the better will be the chances of turning this titanic into safe waters.

A few examples of websites devoted to making this a better world.

Global Issues Social, political, economic and environmental issues that affect us all. I respect this site and the huge humanitarian effort Anup Shah has put into this large collection of detailed articles pertaining to our world problems.

Common Dreams A popular powerful online voice for change in America with millions of monthly readers. News and articles. "We are writers. Activists. Everyday citizens. We are hundreds of thousands strong." Read the posts and submit your own comments.

Shaping Youth A forum about media and marketing's effect on kids. Targeting kids is mean and conscripts them for life.. This is an important issue and needing immediate attention.

Democracy Now The web version of Democracy Now! A national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Pioneering the largest public media collaboration in the U.S. "For true democracy to work, people need easy access to independent, diverse sources of news and information."

New American Dream Helps Americans consume responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life, and promote social justice. News articles and blog.

TreeHugger is the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream. More than 157,000,000 modern, green pages served! Visit their forum and get in on the discussions.

Green Living Ideas provides ideas, tips, and information to help you improve the environmental sustainability of every aspect of your life.

Care2 An online community: green living, health, human rights, the environment.

Center for Media and Democracy An independent, non-profit, non-partisan, public interest organization. CMD's mission is to promote transparency and an informed debate by exposing corporate spin and government propaganda and by engaging the public in collaborative, fair and accurate reporting.

These are only a handful from a longer list of related resources and in the sidebar of this page check out Grampa Ken Reads Blogs.

But there is still much more out there, so start up your search engine and find those sites, blogs and forums with topics you feel will fix things that matter most to you and yours.

Related posts about our society

The Declining Business Ethic

We know there is a downward trend in corporate management ethics because it has attained prominence in the news in recent years. It is more widespread than for the personal gain of a few. The commercial marketing and retailing of goods and services has become increasingly shoddy, sometimes bordering thievery. This is often engineered by large corporations.

It seems the public has come to accept this trend towards deteriorating ethics in marketing. Casual discussions generally suggest some degree of anger and that this is just the way it is. Wise consumers are becoming much more suspicious and are exercising caution when considering purchases. Those that don't proceed carefully may pay for an unexpected unpleasant experience.

Ethics: principles, moral values, conscience.

How widespread are questionable or unethical business practices?
Very! Here are a few generalities covering some wide areas of deceptive marketing and disappointing products and services.

• Marketing to kids: morally wrong yet progresses creatively and vigorously.
• Selling unhealthy foods which are cheaper to produce and more profitable.
• Fine print advertisements and contracts that are too hard to understand.
• Inferior product quality that is often just no good but marketed aggressively.
• Sub-contracting production to hide unethical use of cheap or inhumane labor.
• Merchandising environmentally unfriendly, wasteful or useless products.
• Junk mail, spam, telemarketing - annoying, excessive, costly advertising.
• Trick labels require careful study word by word to get the true facts, maybe.
• Trick ads that make you think you're getting something you aren't getting.
• Store sales displays catch you at the checkout with the unexpected regular price.
• Shock entertainment and commercials sell, but soil social standards.
• Credit enticements and payments gouging.

And so much more greed in our free-enterprise society.

We got problems. Big serious long-term problems with commerce and society, and government.

Exacerbating the continual spread of greed in retailing is the fact that there are too many enterprises competing for the same overextended consumers' purchasing desires. And which corporations want to lose market share? Each works questionably harder to increase those consumer desires and generate more sales.

There is also the passivity of consumers. We just don't take the time to complain and seldom discuss our gripes with one another. Nor do we resist the commercial persuasions and opt for a wiser and happier social life style.

And then there are our governments, they don't seem to care, perhaps because there are too many business interests governing government.

So what to do about the deterioration of business ethics?

We need to think more about what's happening, talk it up with others, and read about the facts and solutions. It's important that we send comments and letters to businesses, associations, government officials and talk to people like ourselves. We may have gone too far in the wrong direction but we can do something for the newest generation, in education and by example.

Democracy - Yes! Free enterprise - not this way!

Other posts on ethics

This Creative Commons article is free to copy with the following hyperlinked byline.
Grampa Ken - Author of 32 Keys About Life - and blogger for change at Social-Fix.

Media-Advertising-Society

How different life and society would be today without the constant marketing drilled into us daily over the past several decades.

The pressure has been intense and most of us in the wealthier areas of the world have succumbed to becoming devoted over-consumers.

The system is so entrenched it will be very difficult to fix for the betterment of society.


An interesting series of articles by Anup Shah of Global Issues delves into the topic.

Media and Advertising - (This Page Last Updated Saturday, January 26, 2008)

Ever since mass media became mass media, companies have naturally used this means of communications to let a large number of people know about their products. There is nothing wrong with that, as it allows innovative ideas and concepts to be shared with others. However, as the years have progressed, the sophistication of advertising methods and techniques has advanced, enticing and shaping and even creating consumerism and needs where there has been none before, or turning luxuries into necessities. This section introduces some of the issues and concerns this raises.

Free media channels have a cost

Various free media such as the numerous channels available in America and other nations are naturally subsidized with advertising to help pay the costs.

As corporate competition has increased, so too has the need for returns on massive expenditures on advertising. Industries spend millions, even billions of dollars to win our hearts and minds, and to influence our choices towards their products and ideas. This often means such media outlets attract greater funds than those outlets funded through public funding or TV licenses. It can mean that such outlets can also then afford better programming of key events and programs.

The sheer amounts of money this brings to media companies is significant and in many cases the main form of support for the media company. Hence if something is reported that the advertiser doesn’t like, the media company risks losing much needed revenue to stay alive.

As a result, the mainstream media is largely driven by the forces of the market.

More sub-sections to this report
* Free media channels have a cost
* The Audience as the Product
* The Audience also as the Consumer
* Advertorials — Advertisements disguised as News!
* Advertainment — Advertisements disguised as Entertainment!
* Product Placement
* Political influence
* Military in Movies — Less Shock, More Awe
* Globalization of consumers

Read more on Media and Advertising by Anup Shah at Global Issues
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