Want to really know why some of the stuff you buy is so cheap? Watch this 20 minute eye-opening video that exposes the connections between environmental and social issues. This video had a large impact on me and how I view my purchasing activity in the marketplace.

Because I am a computer geek, the part about planned obselescence using computers as an example REALLY stunned me. This is where I believe that Linux has an important role to play by combatting this phenomenon through re-cycling older hardware into production use roles where it would have normally been thrown in the trash. This business of built-in obselescence is truly an accurate reflection of the darker side of humanity. You read about the how old computer components and television monitors are filling landfills overseas, something called e-waste. A lot of this stuff is toxic too. But hey, as long as it's not in our backyard. Out of site, out of mind. I for one certainly do not respect that attitude.

This, to me, is one of the fundamental goals of Ubuntu. Not just any Linux distribution - but Ubuntu. Ubuntu is the art of being human. The word Ubuntu describes a belonging to a greater good and the genuine improvement of the community. Businesses who practice planned obselescence have lost site of what it means to be human. It truly is a shame. If they could instill some of the Ubuntu philosphy back into their core being, I think the human race would improve by even larger leaps and bounds.