Make Your Damn Bed

Julie Merica
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Sep 11, 2025 • 10min

1560 || the two definitions of consumerism

"In contemporary consumer society, the purchase and the consumption of products have evolved beyond the mere satisfaction of basic human needs,[1] transforming into an activity that is not only economic but also cultural, social, and even identity-forming.""Today, people are universally and continuously being exposed to mass consumerism and product placement in the media or even in their daily lives. The line between information, entertainment, and promotion of products has been blurred, thus explaining how people have become more reformulated into consumerist behaviors. Shopping centers are a representative example of a place where people are explicitly exposed to an environment that welcomes and encourages consumption."The Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism#:~:text=In%20contemporary%20consumer%20society%2C%20the,%2C%20and%20even%20identity%2Dforming.Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 10, 2025 • 10min

1559 || history of consumerism + why it matters

Consumerism is made up. Imagined. Fake as hell. A kayfabe that we're all playing along with. Let's discuss the history, so we can better understand what we're dealing with. The source: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210120-how-the-world-became-consumerist (original here: https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/a-brief-history-of-consumer-culture/)More from Kerryn Higgs: https://muckrack.com/kerryn-higgs/articlesThe book: https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/3683/Collision-CourseEndless-Growth-on-a-Finite-PlanetResources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 9, 2025 • 9min

1558 || kayfabe economy

We've been funneled into playing into the kayfabe of our current systems, and I want out. Today we talk about what a kayfabe is and how to push back against it.The sources:Defining Kayfabe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KayfabeMore about the Kayfabe Economy: https://www.widemoatresearch.com/wide-moat-daily/the-kayfabe-economy/The BBC article I referenced: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210120-how-the-world-became-consumerist Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 7, 2025 • 9min

1557 || reducing shame around ethical consumption

“GROCERY STORES BASICALLY ASK US TO VOTE WITH OUR WALLETS FOR THE WORLD WE WANT TO LIVE IN. And in doing so, they shift the responsibility away from billion dollar corporations and onto us, as individual shoppers and consumers. Each of us doing our best to make good decisions but in a system that obscures the consequences of our choices. You shouldn’t have to choose between eating dolphin or not, slavery or not, because we shouldn’t have slavery in our damned food system. Why are YOU being asked to make the choice? It is not fair.Learn more about Human Footprint: https://www.pbs.org/show/human-footprintPBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateTerraSubscribe to PBS Terra so you never miss an episode! https://bit.ly/3mOfd77Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT JULIE (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 6, 2025 • 11min

1556 || how supermarkets rewired the planet

PBS truly offers a light in a dark world, please consider donating if you can + want!!!! "We can’t have it all. The convenience we crave comes at a cost that we don’t see at the check out." "We can do better but it means changing our ways.""We want things to change without wanting to have to do anything different," but that’s not how it works. "People are good at reshaping the world, the hard part is reshaping ourselves."Learn more about Human Footprint: https://www.pbs.org/show/human-footprintPBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateTerraSubscribe to PBS Terra so you never miss an episode! https://bit.ly/3mOfd77Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT Julie (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 5, 2025 • 8min

1555 || culture = consumerism

Consumerism is addicting, attractive, seemingly Language of economists + violence. Consumerism has literally seeped into every crack of our lives. Socially? It’s always been a signifier of success. How good of a job, how much money you make, never what a difference you’ve made or contributions to the greater good. But it’s deeper than that. Brands are so worshipped in this country ( A 2019 UK study has revealed 83% of children between the ages of five and 16 can’t identify a bumblebee. “How are we going to fall in love with the world if we don't pick berries?” — Robin Wall KimmererDivest from a culture of consumerism. Don’t shame yourself here, because well… you get it… and though there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, it doesn’t mean there isn’t less and more ethical choices. And I recommend that each and every one of us occasionally check in with our current consumerism habits. How much online shopping do you do? Maybe you can reasonably cut back on at one or two purchases this month? But not just our literal shopping habits need evaluation. Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT Julie (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 4, 2025 • 8min

1554 || murder of the middle class + cult of consumerism

Death of the middle class:  What is it: Anyone who has had to work to pay for rent, bills, food, etc. How to reestablish it: Corporate regulation, People over profit, Wage theft prosecution (no more deferred accountability loopholes), etc. (the upcoming series will contain specific examples)What’s killing it:  A system that prioritizes profits over people means: Catering to the wealthy and eliminating services + experiences for the middle class.Eliminating the working class from every direction. Culture, economics, sustainability, livelihoods, nothing is safe. Wage theft is the largest form of theft even if you take all of the other forms of theft that exist, combined. So they’re stealing our money, benefiting from corporate bailout loopholes that they lobbied for, which means their own workers are paying taxes into the system that robs them of their own profits, and THEN Pricing us out with an increase in taxes, wage theft, and manufactured inflation.They’ve privatized or are in the process of fully privatizing everything: Prisons, Healthcare, Vet care, Wellness, Dialysis, Education, Housing, Politics, and the land itself… literally everything that should be in the best interest of the public and the world at large has been bought and sold to the highest bidder.  But it is not hopeless. What is manufactured can be restructured. We can fight back, if we're strategic and conscious of the ways in which they're attacking us. This is psychological warfare, only when we recognize this, can we begin to push back + defend ourselves against these attacks. Resources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT Julie (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 3, 2025 • 6min

1553 || wheel of awareness (rerelease)

I'm suffering from severe PMDD symptoms, so I'm re-releasing an oldie but goodie. I plan to be back tomorrow with a new one! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 2, 2025 • 8min

1552 || a better option than capitalism

Yesterday I shared a few alternatives to capitalism. Things like Doughnut Economics, resourcebasedeconomy.org, degrowth, Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT), Economic Democracy, Participatory Economics, Economy for the Common Good, Firewall Economics, and today we talk about indigenous alternatives + anarchism. The Source: https://medium.com/illumination-curated/alternatives-to-capitalism-07f78fb8873fResources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT Julie (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Sep 1, 2025 • 10min

1551 || alternatives to capitalism

Maybe it's Doughnut Economics or resourcebasedeconomy.org or degrowth or Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT) or Economic Democracy or Participatory Economics or Economy for the Common Good or Firewall Economics, or maybe it's some combination of all of these models. Either way? We've got options + well thought out alternatives to our current corrupted system, and that makes me feel pretty damn good. The Source: https://medium.com/illumination-curated/alternatives-to-capitalism-07f78fb8873fResources for Resisting a Coup: https://makeyourdamnbed.medium.com/practical-guides-to-resisting-a-coup-b44571b9ad66SUPPORT Julie (and the show!): https://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bedDONATE to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund: www.pcrf.netGET AN OCCASIONAL PERSONAL EMAIL FROM ME: www.makeyourdamnbedpodcast.comTUNE IN ON INSTAGRAM FOR COOL CONTENT: www.instagram.com/mydbpodcastOR BE A REAL GEM + TUNE IN ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/MYDBpodcastOR WATCH ON YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/juliemerica The opinions expressed by Julie Merica and Make Your Damn Bed Podcast are intended for entertainment purposes only. Make Your Damn Bed podcast is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/make-your-damn-bed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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