From Financial Post
The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute U.S.-made cartoon narrated by former Greenpeace activist Annie Leonard that bills itself as a “fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns.” It has achieved broad popularity as a teaching tool in American schools. Now it has apparently migrated to Canada. I know this because my son, who is in Grade 7, came home two weeks ago with a science assignment based entirely on the video. If this is what passes as science curriculum today, our kids are going to need help with a lot more than just financial literacy.
The cartoon format serves as a clever delivery system for a non-stop stream of outrageous leg-pullers and eyebrow-raisers. References are deceptive, misinterpreted or plain wrong. And the message is explicitly intended to make the kids watching feel ashamed of their lives and interests. (See http://www.storyofstuff.com.)
Leonard’s prejudices and deceptions are obvious from the first frames. Businessmen are drawn as Mr. Monopoly Moneybags with top hats (naturally) and dollar signs on their chest. Then a figure representing government suddenly morphs from a legislative building into a tank, reflecting the fact that, as Leonard claims, military spending comprises 50% of the federal U.S. budget. But wait a minute. Is that really true?
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This kind of child friendly messaging is nothing new for the green movement. I remember when I was younger the enormous popularity of captain planet a cartoon geared towards making kids more Environmentally conscious. of course now we are cultivating a generation of Greenpeace activists that are ecologically aware but can’t manage money to save their lives.
