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A hybrid model of assemblies may be the key to bringing in vast numbers of people into the process of forging a new world and governing the one we have.
Ben Palmquist
One of the central insights emerging from research on degrowth and climate mitigation is that universal public services are crucial to a just and effective transition.
Jason Hickel
Here's how to reduce electricity demand while improving quality of life.
TheLastFarm
23 min
This week’s Frankly unpacks humans’ current identification with the label “consumer.” Consumption is something much deeper and more nuanced than shopping or spending. Nate highlights the ways that it shows up across our whole lives –from basic needs and stability to status...
A study published in the Lancet Planetary Health highlights how humanity's continued reliance on plastics—which are primarily derived from planet-heating fossil fuels—is expected to harm global health over the next couple of decades.
Jessica Corbett
Christmas, once a time to gather, reflect, and renew our obligations to one another, and the social rituals that once cultivated empathy and reinforced civic responsibility, have been reduced to a spectacle of distraction, dead trees, credit card receipts, and gift wrapping.
Martina Moneke
"These corporations and their partners continue to sell the public a comforting lie to hide the hard truth: that we simply have to stop producing so much plastic," said one campaigner.
Brett Wilkins
58 min
Why does America distrust experts and celebrate ignorance? From Hofstadter to Postman to Jacoby, this video explores how anti-intellectualism shaped U.S. culture turning politics into entertainment, worshipping technology, and making truth optional.
Peak oil calls on us to imagine a lower-energy future and to start adapting now. It’s a game-changer, and a life-changer.
Richard Heinberg
How is freedom, a polysemantic term, understood by the majority today? What is the relationship between modern freedom and the perpetual growth system? And what kind of freedom would post-growth have to put forward?
Florent Marcellesi
19 min
Cities are not associated with being green, but when you measure carbon emissions per household, suburbanites have a much higher carbon footprint than city dwellers. And that’s because American-style suburbia is designed in a way that forces people to live unsustainable...
6 min
Should corporations be able to weaponize your personal data to rip you off? Well, they may already be doing that thanks to a shady tactic called “surveillance pricing.” Former FTC Chair Lina Khan explains what we can do about it.
12 min
A growing portion of climate activists and policy makers argue that reducing global economic activity - or degrowth - is the only way to save the planet. But critics say increasing economic growth ensures human well-being. Who’s right?
24 min
Help me make more videos like this by supporting the channel on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OurChangingClimate
13 min
What's it like to see the world for the first time, with a fresh pair of eyes, from a completely different perspective? In this video, we'll be taking a look at one of the most profound films of the last several decades: Godfrey Reggio's experimental documentary and visual...
2 min
Andrew Nisker is back with a new documentary, This Film is Garbage! Is the future greener—or bleaker—than before? Nisker is determined to find out. In this film, he challenges the Masons, a typical Canadian family of four to keep their trash for 3 months. Andrew compares this...
22 min
The obsession with self-improvement isn’t just a personal journey — it’s a consequence of the economic system we live under: Neoliberalism. From hustle culture to self-help podcasts — I break down how market-fundamentalist thinking has infiltrated not only our institutions...
2 min
PSC has launched an important new campaign: Don't Buy Apartheid. We're calling on all individuals, shops, cafés, and venues to engage in two key boycott actions: boycott Israeli produce, and boycott Coca-Cola. Join your local PSC branch and take action at supermarkets selling...
47 min
The Shitthropocene is a mock anthropological view of humanity's consumption habits, turning a satirical (yet brutally honest) eye on how everything is turning to shit and why the impulse towards more might destroy us all.
20 min
Most of us are aware that our profit-driven, capitalist economy is driving our climate and ecological crises. But what are our alternatives?
8 min
What if the very definition of progress we've been chasing is leading us astray?
3 min
Are we shaping our lives, or is an invisible hand steering us towards a cliff?
39 min
A rebuttal of popular perceptions of the United States.
77 min
Ecosophia means ecological wisdom in Greek and this documentary explores the meta-crisis and interrelation between energy, the laws of thermodynamics, the economy, resources, exponential growth, climate change, population, psychology and degrowth solutions.
14 min
So-called "free returns” aren’t free at all. In this video, I share the surprising truth about the lies corporations tell you to make you buy more, and what REALLY happens when you send it all back. - Adam
1020 min
"One of the best things you'll (n)ever see." Separated Interbeings is a film collage of our diverse and complex world caught on camera, creatively put together to open deeper perspectives and insights on the world we live in.
41 min
As we navigate through the world, we are constantly being influenced by subtle design tactics that most of us aren't even aware of. These branding tactics can be found everywhere - in the layout of your favorite store, the colors of a pop-up ad, or even the design of your...
10 min
Consumerism is destroying our earth and our wallets - here's how. In this video essay, we're discussing the advertisement-driven world we live in, the ways consumerism impacts personal finance, mental health, and the environment, and what we can do to combat consumerism.
26 min
We are surrounded by stuff. We buy and buy and buy - it’s the foundation of how our economies run, how they grow. But all this buying, all this economic "growing", is devastating people and our planet. We are in a dangerous spiral of out-of-control resource use. In the third...
29 min
Microplastics have only recently become an issue outside the scientific world. A pioneering researcher in this field, Christian Laforsch is primarily interested in the long-term hazards they pose - something that could assume critical importance for us in the future...
22 min
In this video essay, I look at why we need a war on capitalist Christmas. Specifically, I look at the history of how capitalism stole Christmas, and how we might be able to steal it back. Christmas wasn't always a holiday of private gift-giving, it used to be based in public...
39 min
Renowned energy expert Michael T. Klare provides an invaluable account of the new and increasingly dangerous competition for the world's dwindling natural resources. Arguing that the world is facing an unprecedented crisis of resource depletion -- one that goes beyond "peak...
46 min
Economist and bestselling author Juliet Schor lays out a positive vision for rethinking our relationship to consumer goods in this accessible and timely analysis of the devastating ecological, social, and personal costs of mass consumerism.
66 min
Consuming Kids throws desperately needed light on the practices of a relentless multi-billion dollar marketing machine that now sells kids and their parents everything from junk food to bogus educational products and the family car.
47 min
Advertising & the End of the World features an illustrated presentation by Sut Jhally of the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
85 min
This documentary explores our consumer society, looking at the history, philosophy, psychology, and sociology of what consumerism really means.
5 min
The Story of Plastic pulls back the curtain on the plastic pollution headlines, revealing the true causes and consequences of the global plastics crisis.
43 min
Fast fashion has radically transformed the textile industry. These days, 56 million tons of clothing are sold every year. But cheap garments come at a high price: A precarious existence for workers and a catastrophic environmental impact. The clothing industry is currently...
16 min
“Your attention has been stolen by some big and powerful forces”
3 min
Learn how the mass production of single-use plastic has put us in the biggest environmental crisis in history.
8 min
Fishing ships in Scotland are at an all time low and so are the number of fish. This is the story of their continuing demise and how we can use this as a lesson to solve an even bigger issue: the plastic pollution crisis.
It begins with each of us.
WWF, Change plastic in...
11 min
Why (and how) Planned Obsolescence and Capitalism make terrible products.
12 min
How we end consumerism, explained.
16 min
America produces more waste per capita than any other country in the world. And recycling, which was once considered the solution to that problem, isn’t really working anymore. Recycling works, but it’s not magic. As America continues to lead the world in per capita waste...
18 min
Americans from across the political spectrum tend to agree that our education system is failing our students. In this episode, Second Thought takes a look at three of the biggest problems the system faces, and considers some possible solutions.
9 min
Smoked Salmon... it's a metaphor.
29 min
The booming global tire market is worth billions - but this comes at a high price, both to humans and the environment. Over 50 million car tires are sold each year in Germany alone. But where does the natural rubber for them come from?
15 min
Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, author and activist Chris Hedges discusses modern-day consumerism, totalitarian corporate power, and living in a culture dominated by pervasive illusion.
6 min
A story of the denial of our common humanity, featuring George Monbiot.
25 min
In Lesotho—a highland country surrounded by South Africa—an artist named Nthabiseng TeReo Mohanela takes discarded materials and transforms them into unique clothing and accessories. Teaching young people the benefits of recycling and re-creation, she calls her project “From...
6 min
JOIN US. This is what we think and believe to be true. If you feel inspired by this video please share it. I love you.
Climate change is not your fault.
Peter Sinclair
18 min
Academy award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore and associates discuss their new documentary, 'Planet of the Humans,' a documentary that says we are selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America.
2 min
Do you know where the gold in your ring comes from?
The Shadow of Gold takes an unflinching look at how the world’s favourite heavy metal is extracted from the earth. The film explores both sides of the industry: the big-time mining companies that dig deep and lop off...
You are not crazy, my friends
Julio Vincent Gambuto
6 min
While Covid-19 is causing great suffering, it has also done something that most believed to be impossible - stopping the global economy in its tracks. What might we learn from this experience?
Our consumer culture is collective insanity and it's driving us to destruction, says clinical psychologist John F Schumaker.
John Schumaker
114 min
An inside look at how Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos built one of the largest and most influential economic forces in the world — and the cost of Amazon’s convenience.
55 min
By 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans. It’s an environmental crisis that’s been in the making for nearly 70 years. Plastic pollution is now considered one of the largest environmental threats facing humans and animals globally.
I made my way from the dark side to the light. And I hope it wasn’t too late.
Martin Oetting
7 min
“You are not a machine with broken parts. You are a human being with unmet needs.” ~ Johann Hari
43 min
From coats to handbags, the demand for brand name fashion accessories is at an all-time high. Beyond the glamorous façade lies a culture that thrives on the exploitation and abuse of its migrant workers. The DW Documentary Luxury: Behind the Mirror infiltrates these...
It will take real collective action — not just canceling your Prime subscription — to force the company to change its labor practices
Justin Ward
47 min
What do suffragettes, cigarettes, Sigmund Freud, bacon and eggs with breakfast, bananas, and a coup in Guatemala all have in common? SHOPPING FOR FREEDOM explores the answer to that question and more in this documentary by United Natures Media, adapted from the podcast...
1 min
This is the average Westerner’s life, condensed in a single minute.
10 min
Growing electronic waste (e-waste or WEEE) volumes from consumers are a challenge for low and middle income countries. Informal recycling of valuable and hazardous components creates an income opportunity for the poor, but poses major health and environmental risks and also...
14 min
In the high altitude desert of the Tibetan Plateau, Ladakhi people have carved a living from the mountains for a thousand years. Tourism in Ladakh, first commencing in 1974, has developed into a robust industry with new economic opportunities, yet has also placed growing...
13 min
#WeUnite - The 12-minute film ‘We Unite’ is a window into the lives of two organic farmers and the reasons they join the yearly ‘We are Fed-Up’ demonstration in Germany .Along with hundreds of other farmers, they drive their tractors into the heart of Berlin where they unite...
8 min
Decades ago, David Foster Wallace foresaw the problems that technology, media, and entertainment would cause for this generation. We now live in the internet/information age, where technology and media are inescapable. During Wallace's later life, he pointed out the problems...
McMindfulness is the new capitalist spirituality.
Ronald Purser
43 min
No company stores more data than Amazon, the former online bookseller. Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has become the richest man in the world. Every second Euro in online trading is spent at Amazon. Is the IT giant, with its unabated growth, about to turn our economic system upside...
7 min
Maslow's Hierarchy, (or Pyramid), of Needs is one of the central ideas in modern economics and sociology. The work of a once little-known American psychologist, it has grown into an indispensable guide to understanding the modern world. This film explains who Maslow was, what...
4 min
Ecological artists Patrick M. Lydon (USA) and Suhee Kang (Korea) infiltrate the world's largest MUJI store (無印良品) near Osaka, Japan. Inside they ask shoppers to stop shopping, slow down, and re-connect with nature. Together with shoppers, they build an interactive 'Nature...
84 min
Watch on Vimeo | 3,6 million kg of food is wasted every day. 870 million people could be fed only with the world’s wasted food (FAO). 800 million people are starving around the world. 1/3 of the food ends up in the trash while 198 000 hectares are used to produce food that is...
With Christmas coming up, household consumption will soon hit its yearly peak in many countries. Despite homely pictures of tranquility on mass-produced greeting cards, Christmas is more about frenzied shopping and overspending than peace on earth or quality time with family...
Anja Lyngbaek
As growth-driven consumer culture spurs on planetary destruction, why don’t we spring into action? Psychologist John F Schumaker says a frightening erosion of human personality lies at the heart of the problem.
John F. Schumaker
The Outside View is a new way to look at the world. To realise the cultural simulations we live with and work to change them.
10 min
A minimalist breaks down the biggest shopping day of the year.
23 min
A sequel to Ancient Futures, giving examples of Local Futures' systemic approach to the problems of the global economy. The 23-minute film challenges the commonly-held belief that globalization is inevitable or "evolutionary" and argues that we need to reduce the distance...
There’s nothing they need, nothing they don’t own already, nothing they even want. So you buy them a solar-powered waving queen; a belly button brush; a silver-plated ice cream tub holder; a “hilarious” inflatable zimmer frame; a confection of plastic and electronics called...
George Monbiot
How to make simple living go viral.
40 min
With images obtained during an investigation carried out in fifty eight slaughterhouses in Mexico between 2015 and 2017, Slaughterhouse is a documentary that takes us into the hermetic world of the meat industry. The footage shows the systematic exploitation and violence...
120 min
Dominion uses drones, hidden and handheld cameras to expose the dark underbelly of modern animal agriculture, questioning the morality and validity of humankind’s dominion over the animal kingdom. While mainly focusing on animals used for food, it also explores other ways...
49 min
The hidden truth behind UK animal farming - featuring approximately 100 facilities across the UK and never before seen undercover footage. Activist Earthling Ed produces and narrates this 'UK Earthlings documentary' with over a decade of undercover footage and Animal...
Environmentally, socially and psychologically our society is unsustainable. If consumption continues to increase at current rates, by 2050 we will need 3 Earths to sustain us (United Nations, 2015). Socially, income inequality is at the highest level in 50 years in OECD...
Soul is often defined as the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal. This definition is not without its critics, as it arbitrarily stops at animals. What about plants and trees? Do they have souls? Indeed, it could be argued that plants and trees have some...
6 min
Welcome to the fake society. The world is dying. This is humanity... - James Scotmore
3 min
George Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, author, and social critic. This quote is taken from his last stand up routine, "Life Is Worth Losing" (2005).
9 min
Our society has definitely become masters at increasing the amount of things we can measure - more and more money, more and more floor space per capita, more and more GDP, and less and less of the things that we can’t measure - how happy we are, levels of intimacy, the...
Important official legal disclaimer: This is a short work of fiction. Any resemblances to real people, people you may know, people you think you may know, etc., is entirely deliberate.
John Savage
Chasing economic growth gains us nothing but global warming. We should follow the lead of tiny Costa Rica, where life expectancy is soaring
Jason Hickel
The Northern California Fibershed aims to skirt the rampant waste of resources in the apparel industry.
Araz Hachadourian
Fifteen thousand scientists have issued a dire warning to humanity about impending collapse but virtually no-one takes notice. Ultimately, our global systems, which are designed for perpetual growth, need to be fundamentally restructured to avoid the worst-case outcome.
Jeremy Lent
Why infinite growth on a finite planet is impossible, and why the alternative can actually be beautiful.
Jason Hickel
54 min
The Illusionists examines how global advertising firms, mass media, and the beauty, fashion, and cosmetic-surgery industries have together colonised the way people all around the world define beauty and see themselves. Taking us from Harvard to the halls of the Louvre, from a...
4 min
We interview people camping out for the new Iphone X to gain some insight into what it is like sleeping rough on the streets of sydney.
3 min
Consumerism is ruining our lives and the world, and unless we change our way of living, we're soon going to face the tremendously negative impacts of our consumer behavior.
Now that there are thousands of films on Films For Action, we realized the very best gems have really become buried all across our library, and for people new to this information, we needed a more guided way to dive in. Spread across 15 core themes, this collection aims to be...
The modern 'throwaway culture' was born in response to the needs of industrial capital. To move beyond it, we must rediscover the beauty of repair.
Steven Gorelick
1 min
Zero Waste Shops are opening all over Europe. Dozens have opened and many more are coming. Each Zero Waste shop is unique. In Zurich, Switzerland, FOIFI launched 2 months ago and is making a huge splash. FOFI is both a bulk grocery store and café. You fill reusable containers...