Jay,

But it's "The Real Men of the West" who constructed said consumer/industrial paradigm....and invited the ladies to join them in merrily working, spending and consuming. The real reason for the rise of female autonomy in modern consumer society (aside from its mechanised nature)is that their inclusion in the "workplace" and the attendant boost in consumer behaviour assists GDP to rise.

Actually, Poirot, women have always been gross consumers, no different from today. It was the shortage of men during and after the two world wars that brought women into the previously male only workforce, where they have remained.
Jay, the final sentence in my post was unclear, I was referring to this:
"Stand Still for the Apocalypse" by Chris Hedges. It is well worth the read - not very long, commissioned from a reputable german Scientific organisation by The World Bank to better judge their prospects - not good as the report paints a world convulsed by rising temperatures, a mixture of mass chaos, systems collapse and medical suffering like that of the worst of the Black Plague.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33155.htm
However, I assure you that as a 'Real Man of the West' myself, when the crunch comes I'll be there on my white horse, sword at the ready to rescue fair damsels.

Ybgirp,
Duly noted. Well while we wait we've got Bear Grylls "Worst case scenario" and The Walking Dead on TV LOL. But you get the picture, I was going to ask Poirot to stand up ,stretch out her arms at shoulder level and turn through 360 degrees because that's the radius of her human "rights", as a woman if she's within about a metre of a man who a tactical brain and mischief on his mind she has no rights at all, you get my drift.

ybgirp,

Of course women have always been consumers...but as a society we've ramped up the voraciousness and waste since WWII.

Jay,

Oh yea!.....I'll leave you to your obsession with being a Real Man of the West. I'm sure your club will thrive and be full of other blokes with the same urgency to enhance their masculine credentials.

Poirot,
Yes...for 'tis the way of things.

Poirot, sorry, you still have no idea on men. You are sounding like a bad case of feminist brainwashing.

I have been a fighter pilot, & racing driver, a yachtsman & a show jumper, not to impress any one, but because I wanted to do things with "feel". It is a physical thing many can not understand.

But it is why I did these things you just don't get.

I wanted to join a service. In the navy I was going to be clean until I was dead, rather than crawl around in the mud as a soldier. I Joined the navy & became a fighter pilot. Please understand, when most of your friends are fighter pilots, being one is nothing special, it is just normal.

When I was invalided out of the navy, I bought a Morgan +4. I wanted a nice car. It was too fast for me, so I joined the Morgan club, to learn about quick cars.

Many of them competed, & suggested I make up a team of 3 club cars going to a country race meeting on Boxing day. I did, & that started an 8 year obsession. I wanted to do it all, & find out how good I was. Once I knew I was not going to be a world champion, I gave it up. But remember, when most of your friends are racing drivers, it's nothing special, just normal.

I went sailing. With my navy navigation training I was in demand to navigate in Hobart races. I did 7. But remember when most of your friends do it, it's nothing special.

I met hundreds of people sailing the world. It sounded great, but believe me the expectation is greater than the realisation. And still remember, when lots of your friends do it, it's nothing special.

I did the Zorba thing, wife house kids the full catastrophe. Again remember when everyone you know does it, ETC.

Continued.