Context: I have had recurring dreams since returning to America about either going back to the job I held there for the longest time (12 years) or simply returning there to live and work again. In each of these dreams, the situation has always been fairly chaotic in that there was a good deal to accomplish before leaving and the deadline for departure was very, very soon. Often, there were enormous amounts of items (clothes, furniture, sundry possessions) strewn chaotically about the room I had to clear and I felt considerable stress and panic at having to try and sort through everything before the deadline. This dream, or ones like it, have occurred at least four times previously.
The Dream: I was talking to my former boss, Darryl, about coming back to work at the company and I told him after he said he'd give me my old job that I loved him. This was an expression of platonic affection, not romantic. (Note: Recently, Darryl "came out" to me on Facebook after having known me since around 1991. When he told me that he was gay, but felt bad that he had never told me, I told him that I had known all along (and I had), but I loved him all the same.)
Unlike previous dreams in which I had been planning to go back to my old job or Japan in which I had to sort through tremendous, seemingly insurmountable piles of stuff in order to go, I was in a relatively clear room and there was a small pile of clothes and a few other items that could easily be picked up and put into a single suitcase.
Analysis: I think that returning to my former job/Japan are metaphors for finding peace of mind or adjustment to life in America. The enormous clutter that I perceived in former dreams was all of the psychological baggage between me and feeling okay about being back in America. Recently, I've had some revelatory experiences (more on that in a future post when I have the time as it is complex) here that have helped me progress to a state of greater understanding and peace. While I still cannot say that I am "happy" here, I can say that I'm moving closer to at least not fighting back so hard.
Interpretation confidence scale rating: Since this was a progression of a dream that I've had so many times and that started with my life in America, it feels very much that this is an indication of some psychological progress. 9.5 out of 10
Showing posts with label America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label America. Show all posts
Monday, January 12, 2015
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Why Americans Need Religion (A Theory)
Unless you live outside of a system, you are often unaware that other systems exist or are even possible. You may read about such systems and understand them in an academic fashion, but you cannot truly conceptualize what it is like to operate within them unless you live within them. In the U.S., we live under a capitalist system which is largely ran by market forces. In Japan, a country in which I spent 23 of my 50 years on this planet, they live in a system which is capitalist, but has protectionist aspects in order to keep their native markets alive and they have many socialist aspects underlying their daily existence. People operate largely as individuals in America and that shapes the culture here and people operate largely as part of a collective in Japan and that shapes the culture there.
Based on what I said in the first sentence, I know that everything I said in the remainder of that first paragraph can only be understood in the most abstract sense by those who haven't spent a long time in both countries. The bottom line is that American society largely has people responsible for themselves. It encourages people to look out for number one, to make their own destiny, and to rely on being the biggest, baddest rat in the race. In Japan, you actively want to be just like every other rat, have the support of society, your company, and your family in building your destiny. You are supposed to be looking out for everyone as well as yourself.
There are, obviously, outliers in each system. Some Americans are exceptionally interested in social harmony and helping their fellow man. Some Japanese are selfish and opportunistic about whatever helps them look out for number one. The difference is in the numbers and general tendencies. You can find all the anecdotal cases you want in each culture in order to negate my generalizations here.
Another big difference between Japan and America is that the society in Japan is paternalistic. That's a "big word" way of saying the government is, to some extent, your daddy. To varying degrees, so are companies. They promise that, if you do the right things and are an obedient child, you'll be looked after. That system has been crumbling as of late, but it's still generally in place. The Japanese government encourages this by indirect means. They don't regulate, but they do let it be known that companies that don't play ball might find themselves getting the short end of certain sticks if they don't get their house in proper order.
In America, we have no such paternalism. You're on your own, Jack. In fact, the conservative politicians of the U.S. talk about how bad "big government" is and oppose regulating anything because it'll suppress free market systems and cost more tax dollars to oversee everything. My point is not about politics though, it's about the lack of an entity that will look after you in America. Many other countries with socialist policies or other systems which look after the well-being of their citizens have a paternalistic sense about them which America does not. No one has your back here, except... well, except God.
There is a strong thread of Christianity in the U.S. Eighty-three percent identify as Christian. That puts us close to Northern Island, but far from one of our nearest cultural neighbors, the U.K. The former is about 82% Christian and the latter 59%. Why are Americans so much more religious than some other Western countries and why do they feel the need to talk about their beliefs so much and to insinuate them into the daily lives of everyone?
My growing sense as I've been back in my native country for about two and a half years has been that Americans need God because they need to believe that someone "up there" is looking out for them because they sure as hell know that no one else is. The government especially isn't going to be there to help you out in times of distress or difficulty. In fact, Libertarians will often assert that private charitable organizations will pick up the slack if we eliminate entitlements for the least fortunate. No small amount of social support for the disadvantaged in the U.S. is at present provided by churches. The best estimate for the Catholic Church alone is that 17% of privately offered social services are provided by it. When the government doesn't offer enough, we look to God and those who offer help in God's name.
In Japan, people weren't very religious. I believe that this was because they had government and family. Families there were very different from those here. Children weren't expected to leave home as quickly as possible and extended support throughout a grown child's life was very common. The American family is fractured into "parents" and "kids" and often one separates from the other in early adulthood with the expectation of total independence. Japanese parents wanted their children to succeed, but they never really left a family. This is a situation which was not only embraced personally and on a bureaucratic level. The government keeps "family registries" in which you must be assigned a family and lumped with every member of that entity. A person who marries has to choose a family to "join" in a legal sense. It's not just a marriage to an individual, it's joining their entire family line.
The Japanese didn't need God because they knew they weren't on their own. Family was with them. Government was with them. Quite often, even their companies were with them. They had a strong sense of personal responsibility, but they also felt responsible for others around them. There was a social safety net, and it was less economical than psychological. Americans are much less supported in every way compared to Japanese so they need to look for a comforting concept of a "big, caring daddy" elsewhere. Many of them find it in church.
I was raised a Christian, but I gave that up after far too many stories about how some people would be saved when the book of revelations was finally opened and its first page lived in the world. I was 15 years old and I felt that it just couldn't be that "God" would punish people who never read a bible by virtue of having been born in a place where those teachings weren't a part of their cultural experience. Such a God would be playing favorites in an epic fashion. It seemed too much like winning lottery tickets instead of like divine wisdom.
Giving up on God was not an easy thing for me. Unlike many people who scoff at the notion of a supreme being, I did not suddenly conclude everyone else was being duped and I was smarter than them. It's not an easy loss. You're alone and unprotected. No entity greater than your parents cares about what becomes of you. Your smallness in the order of things is all the greater. You're not even a part of a bigger plan anymore as no one knows when you're sleeping, knows when you're awake, or cares that you've been bad or good.
As the years went on and I grew up and experienced more of the world, I embraced deist principles. I didn't find deism and then say, 'that's for me.' I believed what I believed as my notions formed and I one day stumbled upon a definition that surprisingly fit what I already believed. It just put a label on my pre-existing beliefs that would make it easier to communicate what I generally have come to believe and how I approach life and the meaning of it (or lack thereof). The part of deism which struck me as most profoundly in tune with what I'd come to conclude was that "God" does not interfere in the interests of man or the world. In essence, whatever entity is responsible for the mess we're all in set the wheel in motion and walked away. It's not looking after you. It's not answering your prayers. It's not punishing you for being bad. It's closer to the big old scientist in the sky than the sometimes caring, sometimes punishing pappy of Christianity.
One of the things which sealed the deal for me in terms of how I conceptualized "God" was my sense of all of the suffering in the world. If God were a concerned entity, his behavior would make him more like a tantrum-prone child that enjoyed pulling the wings off of flies based on the way the world is run at present than a loving entity. My guess is that God is more like an entity that let's the kids work out answers to their own problems rather than get in the middle of things, particularly when those kids made the mess in the first place.
I know that many people of varying religions have woven answers to various questions which request an explanation for why God, who is supposedly omniscient, omnipotent, and has a penis, doesn't just help us all out when we've been so very, very good. In particular, when good people suffer and bad people succeed, you have to start wondering what that's all about. Well, my feeling is "God" doesn't give a rat's ass. It's about the process, not the outcome.
I believe that most Americans need a caring father figure badly because their culture doesn't provide one in any other way. Religion fills that need, and I don't have a problem with that. Part of the reason for that is that I'm not one of those people who is sure she's "right" about the nature of existence. I think what I think, and it makes sense to me, but I could be wrong. I think people need to go with what works for them and that there is already enough fear in the world without removing the loving and protective daddy in the sky comfort that a lot of people get from their religion. I'm not going to crap on it as long as they keep their dogma off my philosophical lawn.
Based on what I said in the first sentence, I know that everything I said in the remainder of that first paragraph can only be understood in the most abstract sense by those who haven't spent a long time in both countries. The bottom line is that American society largely has people responsible for themselves. It encourages people to look out for number one, to make their own destiny, and to rely on being the biggest, baddest rat in the race. In Japan, you actively want to be just like every other rat, have the support of society, your company, and your family in building your destiny. You are supposed to be looking out for everyone as well as yourself.
There are, obviously, outliers in each system. Some Americans are exceptionally interested in social harmony and helping their fellow man. Some Japanese are selfish and opportunistic about whatever helps them look out for number one. The difference is in the numbers and general tendencies. You can find all the anecdotal cases you want in each culture in order to negate my generalizations here.
Another big difference between Japan and America is that the society in Japan is paternalistic. That's a "big word" way of saying the government is, to some extent, your daddy. To varying degrees, so are companies. They promise that, if you do the right things and are an obedient child, you'll be looked after. That system has been crumbling as of late, but it's still generally in place. The Japanese government encourages this by indirect means. They don't regulate, but they do let it be known that companies that don't play ball might find themselves getting the short end of certain sticks if they don't get their house in proper order.
In America, we have no such paternalism. You're on your own, Jack. In fact, the conservative politicians of the U.S. talk about how bad "big government" is and oppose regulating anything because it'll suppress free market systems and cost more tax dollars to oversee everything. My point is not about politics though, it's about the lack of an entity that will look after you in America. Many other countries with socialist policies or other systems which look after the well-being of their citizens have a paternalistic sense about them which America does not. No one has your back here, except... well, except God.
There is a strong thread of Christianity in the U.S. Eighty-three percent identify as Christian. That puts us close to Northern Island, but far from one of our nearest cultural neighbors, the U.K. The former is about 82% Christian and the latter 59%. Why are Americans so much more religious than some other Western countries and why do they feel the need to talk about their beliefs so much and to insinuate them into the daily lives of everyone?
My growing sense as I've been back in my native country for about two and a half years has been that Americans need God because they need to believe that someone "up there" is looking out for them because they sure as hell know that no one else is. The government especially isn't going to be there to help you out in times of distress or difficulty. In fact, Libertarians will often assert that private charitable organizations will pick up the slack if we eliminate entitlements for the least fortunate. No small amount of social support for the disadvantaged in the U.S. is at present provided by churches. The best estimate for the Catholic Church alone is that 17% of privately offered social services are provided by it. When the government doesn't offer enough, we look to God and those who offer help in God's name.
In Japan, people weren't very religious. I believe that this was because they had government and family. Families there were very different from those here. Children weren't expected to leave home as quickly as possible and extended support throughout a grown child's life was very common. The American family is fractured into "parents" and "kids" and often one separates from the other in early adulthood with the expectation of total independence. Japanese parents wanted their children to succeed, but they never really left a family. This is a situation which was not only embraced personally and on a bureaucratic level. The government keeps "family registries" in which you must be assigned a family and lumped with every member of that entity. A person who marries has to choose a family to "join" in a legal sense. It's not just a marriage to an individual, it's joining their entire family line.
The Japanese didn't need God because they knew they weren't on their own. Family was with them. Government was with them. Quite often, even their companies were with them. They had a strong sense of personal responsibility, but they also felt responsible for others around them. There was a social safety net, and it was less economical than psychological. Americans are much less supported in every way compared to Japanese so they need to look for a comforting concept of a "big, caring daddy" elsewhere. Many of them find it in church.
I was raised a Christian, but I gave that up after far too many stories about how some people would be saved when the book of revelations was finally opened and its first page lived in the world. I was 15 years old and I felt that it just couldn't be that "God" would punish people who never read a bible by virtue of having been born in a place where those teachings weren't a part of their cultural experience. Such a God would be playing favorites in an epic fashion. It seemed too much like winning lottery tickets instead of like divine wisdom.
Giving up on God was not an easy thing for me. Unlike many people who scoff at the notion of a supreme being, I did not suddenly conclude everyone else was being duped and I was smarter than them. It's not an easy loss. You're alone and unprotected. No entity greater than your parents cares about what becomes of you. Your smallness in the order of things is all the greater. You're not even a part of a bigger plan anymore as no one knows when you're sleeping, knows when you're awake, or cares that you've been bad or good.
As the years went on and I grew up and experienced more of the world, I embraced deist principles. I didn't find deism and then say, 'that's for me.' I believed what I believed as my notions formed and I one day stumbled upon a definition that surprisingly fit what I already believed. It just put a label on my pre-existing beliefs that would make it easier to communicate what I generally have come to believe and how I approach life and the meaning of it (or lack thereof). The part of deism which struck me as most profoundly in tune with what I'd come to conclude was that "God" does not interfere in the interests of man or the world. In essence, whatever entity is responsible for the mess we're all in set the wheel in motion and walked away. It's not looking after you. It's not answering your prayers. It's not punishing you for being bad. It's closer to the big old scientist in the sky than the sometimes caring, sometimes punishing pappy of Christianity.
One of the things which sealed the deal for me in terms of how I conceptualized "God" was my sense of all of the suffering in the world. If God were a concerned entity, his behavior would make him more like a tantrum-prone child that enjoyed pulling the wings off of flies based on the way the world is run at present than a loving entity. My guess is that God is more like an entity that let's the kids work out answers to their own problems rather than get in the middle of things, particularly when those kids made the mess in the first place.
I know that many people of varying religions have woven answers to various questions which request an explanation for why God, who is supposedly omniscient, omnipotent, and has a penis, doesn't just help us all out when we've been so very, very good. In particular, when good people suffer and bad people succeed, you have to start wondering what that's all about. Well, my feeling is "God" doesn't give a rat's ass. It's about the process, not the outcome.
I believe that most Americans need a caring father figure badly because their culture doesn't provide one in any other way. Religion fills that need, and I don't have a problem with that. Part of the reason for that is that I'm not one of those people who is sure she's "right" about the nature of existence. I think what I think, and it makes sense to me, but I could be wrong. I think people need to go with what works for them and that there is already enough fear in the world without removing the loving and protective daddy in the sky comfort that a lot of people get from their religion. I'm not going to crap on it as long as they keep their dogma off my philosophical lawn.
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
America, Land of the (Literally) Free
After living in Japan for 23 years, I found that there were many changes to the way things worked in America. For one thing, there is "self-check-out" in markets. It seems to betray a high level of trust, but technology (a weight-sensitive baggage area) and a watchful clerk overseeing the operation make it unlikely that anyone can pilfer stuff. Along similar lines, every gas station that I've seen has become self-service. As far as I can tell, the "service" in "service station" is a thing of the past.
There were also logical changes that I knew had happened, but had not experienced. One of them was the use of debit or credit cards instead of personal checks. It took me awhile to figure out how that worked, and then it took a bit longer to realize that it works a little differently depending on the shop you're patronizing. Japan is a cash-based society so this whole system was new to me. Even when credit cards are used, they cashier takes it from you and manages it rather than have you do the swiping.
These all fairly "expected" things that I felt uncomfortable with, but knew were coming when I left that little island country for the shores of what no longer feels much like "home". One thing which I did not expect was how relatively easy it is to get things for free. Perhaps I should qualify that by saying, "free".
Since coming back, I've been subscribed to about a dozen and a half magazines including Smithsonian, Vogue, Martha Stewart Living, Popular Science, Redbook, The New Yorker, and Eating Well. I have not paid for any of them. I also have a Starbucks card loaded with $50 of credit that did not come out of my pocket and I've gotten a few hundred dollars in credit at Amazon.com. I've also been e-mailed offers for free stuff if I just send my name and address. My internet bill is largely covered by Google even though I don't work for them in any capacity.
My very first experience with free stuff came with my Safeway card. For those who don't live on the West coast, that's a chain of supermarkets that has a loyalty card which occasionally will give you a shot at a free full-sized product. They started off with a dozen eggs just for signing up. Since then, the selection has been spottier, and they do have a tendency to offer free items and then not stock them at all, but they do come up with some goodies here and there and, since I use the loyalty card for discounts anyway, any free stuff is gravy.
One of the things that modern technology has done is make personal data a commodity which you can choose to "sell" in various ways provided that you want to look around and take the limited risks involved. I say "limited" because the main issue is whether or not spammers and marketers get their claws stuck in you. No one ever asks for your social security number. It's only your name, address, e-mail address, and telephone number, though sometimes it is not even that unless they need to physically send you something.
In terms of how you do this, you can start the way I did which is by searching for "freebie" sites. There are no small number of them out there doing the work of tracking deals and posting them for you to take advantage of or pass on. You can follow them on an RSS feed or Facebook for the most up-to-date information. I follow a pretty good one called "Freebie Shark". They're the ones who put me on to the fact that the Coke I was buying had a number on the inside of the box that I could use to collect points and get free stuff. Since I'm buying the Coke anyway, it's gravy. I'm currently saving points for a wireless mouse, but I already got a water bottle from them that my husband uses when going to the local pool.
That was how I started to get onto all of this potential for free stuff, but another part of it was a lead my sister gave me years ago. She told me about a site that she had used called "MySurvey" that allows you to get rewards for completing surveys. Yes, the surveys take time. Yes, you sometimes do not qualify to complete them and some of your time is wasted. No, they are not fake or a rip-off. The aforementioned Amazon credit came to me from accumulated credits from taking surveys. I probably make about $25 in credit every two months pottering around with the surveys while watching videos on YouTube. I imagine that, if you are someone who messes about on the internet at work because you have down time, this would be a way to earn a few bucks while you're bored.
In terms of the Starbucks credit, there are two freebies attached to that. First, Starbucks will give you a free drink or food item on your birthday just for having a card. Second, there is another survey site which I take part on which offers credit of a different sort including Starbucks and iTunes credit. That site is e-Rewards. A lot of their rewards include hotel and air fare discounts, but I'm not exactly the flying and traveling sort these days because, if I had the spare cash for those activities, I wouldn't be trying to get stuff by taking surveys.
The free magazine subscriptions sometimes are just completely free and sometimes require a short survey and writing a few brief reviews. In addition to magazines, I got a subscription to the Wall Street Journal from them (the print edition). It was supposed to last 42 weeks or something like that, but they never cancel it. In fact, the subscription ended in mid-August and I got a letter in October saying they extended it a few months as a courtesy, but it would end on October 14. I'm still getting it. Frankly, it's one freebie which I wish would go away, but apparently not badly enough to call someone and arrange to cancel it. Those come to me through intermittent e-mail messages from some place called "Rewards Gold".
Once you tap into these sites, you start getting other offers as well. Through "MySurvey", I've been sent real products to sample and fill out surveys about including a full-sized bottle of Mr. Clean multi-purpose cleaner, full-sized shampoo and conditioner, and one single roll of toilet paper. The last was hardly worth the effort, but the others were worthwhile.
If you're a reader, there is also a service called "Bookbub" which will take your profile in regards to your reading material interests and send you a list of ebooks to consider. Nearly every day, there is a free book on the list (provided that your reading material scope isn't too narrow). My sister has a voracious appetite for books and was incredibly happy to add to her collection from their offerings.
Local libraries are well-known for their potential to mooch from them temporarily, but some of the bigger ones will do you one better. Our local library offers three free DRM-free songs from an enormous library (including everything released by Sony) per week. My husband is like a kid in a candy store about this. He can get free, legal downloaded music (six songs per week with both of our library cards). This is through something called "Freegal" (free and legal). I don't know if just anyone can use it, but it's worth looking into in connection with your local library if you want to build a collection.
In terms of Google's paying my internet bill, I have to say that I just got lucky on that one. I was solicited to take part in a program called Screenwise which monitors my internet usage stats on multiple devices and pays me for it (I get $55 per month for it). This was actually more of a hassle to set up initially as I had to install hardware and go through a pre-screening process, but they did pay me about $250 upfront for the trouble. I don't know how long this will last, but I'd be happy if it went on forever. Unfortunately, I think they'll stop after a year and that little gravy train will end its journey.
Getting free "stuff" is also something that I didn't expect, and it does require a bit more effort. If you are inclined to do the things which will bring freebies your way anyway, then it's not such a big deal. For one thing, if you write lots of Amazon reviews because you enjoy that sort of thing, make sure that you fill out your profile on Amazon and include your e-mail address. There is a chance that someone will contact you through the profile and offer you things to review. This is what has been happening to me.
I've been offered a kid's heart rate monitor, baby vitamin supplements (both of which I didn't take as I have no children), an armband for iPad, a choice of various cables and adapters for tech items including computers and iPhones, and a flashlight that charges USB-powered items. I was also offered something by a Chinese company which I'm still not sure of what it is as they linked to the wrong reference page when they offered it to me.
If you're not an Amazon reviewer, but you are a blogger, the gravy train can be similarly rolling through your town. I used to blog about Japanese snack food and people offered me free snacks. I also know for a fact that book review bloggers are offered free books (as are those who post lots of reviews on "Good Reads"). I haven't tried it, but I'd wager that if you have a site which has a focus and that site has a decent readership or has been around for several years, you could probably contact a company that sells things related to your blog and solicit items of interest for review.
Obviously, there is a risk when you allow your private data to be tracked as I do. However, I think the risk is often smaller than people think. My name, address, and telephone number are already out there whether I released them or not. My ISP has already sold these things off to various entities and yours likely did so as well. They wanted to charge me $5 more per month to prevent them from doing so. I was already screwed in this regard just by living in a place with one option for internet service. If your ISP hasn't sold your data, there's a pretty good bet that some other unavoidable entity (utilities, telephone, etc.) has sold you out.
If you do a white pages search online, you can get anybody's address, name, and phone data (and often e-mail). What I'm doing is giving nothing more than is already out there (except for Screenwise, which is getting a whole lot more). I never give credit card data or social security numbers. If an entity even asks for these, it's a red flag that it is a scam.
If I were rolling in extra cash, I wouldn't be pursuing these options. The truth is that I've got time, but not so much money. Very poor people who want to augment their lifestyle a bit may want to take advantage of such things as they are easy ways to get a little extra wiggle room in your leisure budget. I daresay the Amazon money I've gotten would buy a few really nice Christmas gifts or a lot of little so-so ones. I've had people balk at meeting me at a Starbucks for a drink and a chat because they don't want to waste $4 on a cup of coffee. Well, I don't either, and I don't have to. However, I'm not going to pretend that I don't spend time doing things to get these "freebies", but the time I spend is generally not quality time. Most people are sitting in front of the babbling television texting or playing little games anyway. I'm just taking surveys and earning credit while I do that instead of pecking at my device like a deranged chicken that is interested in the boring details of other people's lives.
I don't really find it amazing that there is so much that you can get for giving people opinions and personal data because America is a consumerist culture. Buzz is more important than the trivial cost of merchandise. Personal data and opinions are commodities that can be sold so someone is going to be out there and willing to "buy" these things from you in exchange for things like Amazon or Starbucks credit. It is a direct reflection of how our culture values consumerism that this sort of system exists for me to take advantage of, or for it to take advantage of me (depending on your perspective). I had no idea that it was like this, but I can say it has been one of the few pleasant surprises of being back in the U.S.
There were also logical changes that I knew had happened, but had not experienced. One of them was the use of debit or credit cards instead of personal checks. It took me awhile to figure out how that worked, and then it took a bit longer to realize that it works a little differently depending on the shop you're patronizing. Japan is a cash-based society so this whole system was new to me. Even when credit cards are used, they cashier takes it from you and manages it rather than have you do the swiping.
These all fairly "expected" things that I felt uncomfortable with, but knew were coming when I left that little island country for the shores of what no longer feels much like "home". One thing which I did not expect was how relatively easy it is to get things for free. Perhaps I should qualify that by saying, "free".
Since coming back, I've been subscribed to about a dozen and a half magazines including Smithsonian, Vogue, Martha Stewart Living, Popular Science, Redbook, The New Yorker, and Eating Well. I have not paid for any of them. I also have a Starbucks card loaded with $50 of credit that did not come out of my pocket and I've gotten a few hundred dollars in credit at Amazon.com. I've also been e-mailed offers for free stuff if I just send my name and address. My internet bill is largely covered by Google even though I don't work for them in any capacity.
My very first experience with free stuff came with my Safeway card. For those who don't live on the West coast, that's a chain of supermarkets that has a loyalty card which occasionally will give you a shot at a free full-sized product. They started off with a dozen eggs just for signing up. Since then, the selection has been spottier, and they do have a tendency to offer free items and then not stock them at all, but they do come up with some goodies here and there and, since I use the loyalty card for discounts anyway, any free stuff is gravy.
One of the things that modern technology has done is make personal data a commodity which you can choose to "sell" in various ways provided that you want to look around and take the limited risks involved. I say "limited" because the main issue is whether or not spammers and marketers get their claws stuck in you. No one ever asks for your social security number. It's only your name, address, e-mail address, and telephone number, though sometimes it is not even that unless they need to physically send you something.
In terms of how you do this, you can start the way I did which is by searching for "freebie" sites. There are no small number of them out there doing the work of tracking deals and posting them for you to take advantage of or pass on. You can follow them on an RSS feed or Facebook for the most up-to-date information. I follow a pretty good one called "Freebie Shark". They're the ones who put me on to the fact that the Coke I was buying had a number on the inside of the box that I could use to collect points and get free stuff. Since I'm buying the Coke anyway, it's gravy. I'm currently saving points for a wireless mouse, but I already got a water bottle from them that my husband uses when going to the local pool.
That was how I started to get onto all of this potential for free stuff, but another part of it was a lead my sister gave me years ago. She told me about a site that she had used called "MySurvey" that allows you to get rewards for completing surveys. Yes, the surveys take time. Yes, you sometimes do not qualify to complete them and some of your time is wasted. No, they are not fake or a rip-off. The aforementioned Amazon credit came to me from accumulated credits from taking surveys. I probably make about $25 in credit every two months pottering around with the surveys while watching videos on YouTube. I imagine that, if you are someone who messes about on the internet at work because you have down time, this would be a way to earn a few bucks while you're bored.
In terms of the Starbucks credit, there are two freebies attached to that. First, Starbucks will give you a free drink or food item on your birthday just for having a card. Second, there is another survey site which I take part on which offers credit of a different sort including Starbucks and iTunes credit. That site is e-Rewards. A lot of their rewards include hotel and air fare discounts, but I'm not exactly the flying and traveling sort these days because, if I had the spare cash for those activities, I wouldn't be trying to get stuff by taking surveys.
The free magazine subscriptions sometimes are just completely free and sometimes require a short survey and writing a few brief reviews. In addition to magazines, I got a subscription to the Wall Street Journal from them (the print edition). It was supposed to last 42 weeks or something like that, but they never cancel it. In fact, the subscription ended in mid-August and I got a letter in October saying they extended it a few months as a courtesy, but it would end on October 14. I'm still getting it. Frankly, it's one freebie which I wish would go away, but apparently not badly enough to call someone and arrange to cancel it. Those come to me through intermittent e-mail messages from some place called "Rewards Gold".
Once you tap into these sites, you start getting other offers as well. Through "MySurvey", I've been sent real products to sample and fill out surveys about including a full-sized bottle of Mr. Clean multi-purpose cleaner, full-sized shampoo and conditioner, and one single roll of toilet paper. The last was hardly worth the effort, but the others were worthwhile.
If you're a reader, there is also a service called "Bookbub" which will take your profile in regards to your reading material interests and send you a list of ebooks to consider. Nearly every day, there is a free book on the list (provided that your reading material scope isn't too narrow). My sister has a voracious appetite for books and was incredibly happy to add to her collection from their offerings.
Local libraries are well-known for their potential to mooch from them temporarily, but some of the bigger ones will do you one better. Our local library offers three free DRM-free songs from an enormous library (including everything released by Sony) per week. My husband is like a kid in a candy store about this. He can get free, legal downloaded music (six songs per week with both of our library cards). This is through something called "Freegal" (free and legal). I don't know if just anyone can use it, but it's worth looking into in connection with your local library if you want to build a collection.
In terms of Google's paying my internet bill, I have to say that I just got lucky on that one. I was solicited to take part in a program called Screenwise which monitors my internet usage stats on multiple devices and pays me for it (I get $55 per month for it). This was actually more of a hassle to set up initially as I had to install hardware and go through a pre-screening process, but they did pay me about $250 upfront for the trouble. I don't know how long this will last, but I'd be happy if it went on forever. Unfortunately, I think they'll stop after a year and that little gravy train will end its journey.
Getting free "stuff" is also something that I didn't expect, and it does require a bit more effort. If you are inclined to do the things which will bring freebies your way anyway, then it's not such a big deal. For one thing, if you write lots of Amazon reviews because you enjoy that sort of thing, make sure that you fill out your profile on Amazon and include your e-mail address. There is a chance that someone will contact you through the profile and offer you things to review. This is what has been happening to me.
I've been offered a kid's heart rate monitor, baby vitamin supplements (both of which I didn't take as I have no children), an armband for iPad, a choice of various cables and adapters for tech items including computers and iPhones, and a flashlight that charges USB-powered items. I was also offered something by a Chinese company which I'm still not sure of what it is as they linked to the wrong reference page when they offered it to me.
If you're not an Amazon reviewer, but you are a blogger, the gravy train can be similarly rolling through your town. I used to blog about Japanese snack food and people offered me free snacks. I also know for a fact that book review bloggers are offered free books (as are those who post lots of reviews on "Good Reads"). I haven't tried it, but I'd wager that if you have a site which has a focus and that site has a decent readership or has been around for several years, you could probably contact a company that sells things related to your blog and solicit items of interest for review.
Obviously, there is a risk when you allow your private data to be tracked as I do. However, I think the risk is often smaller than people think. My name, address, and telephone number are already out there whether I released them or not. My ISP has already sold these things off to various entities and yours likely did so as well. They wanted to charge me $5 more per month to prevent them from doing so. I was already screwed in this regard just by living in a place with one option for internet service. If your ISP hasn't sold your data, there's a pretty good bet that some other unavoidable entity (utilities, telephone, etc.) has sold you out.
If you do a white pages search online, you can get anybody's address, name, and phone data (and often e-mail). What I'm doing is giving nothing more than is already out there (except for Screenwise, which is getting a whole lot more). I never give credit card data or social security numbers. If an entity even asks for these, it's a red flag that it is a scam.
If I were rolling in extra cash, I wouldn't be pursuing these options. The truth is that I've got time, but not so much money. Very poor people who want to augment their lifestyle a bit may want to take advantage of such things as they are easy ways to get a little extra wiggle room in your leisure budget. I daresay the Amazon money I've gotten would buy a few really nice Christmas gifts or a lot of little so-so ones. I've had people balk at meeting me at a Starbucks for a drink and a chat because they don't want to waste $4 on a cup of coffee. Well, I don't either, and I don't have to. However, I'm not going to pretend that I don't spend time doing things to get these "freebies", but the time I spend is generally not quality time. Most people are sitting in front of the babbling television texting or playing little games anyway. I'm just taking surveys and earning credit while I do that instead of pecking at my device like a deranged chicken that is interested in the boring details of other people's lives.
I don't really find it amazing that there is so much that you can get for giving people opinions and personal data because America is a consumerist culture. Buzz is more important than the trivial cost of merchandise. Personal data and opinions are commodities that can be sold so someone is going to be out there and willing to "buy" these things from you in exchange for things like Amazon or Starbucks credit. It is a direct reflection of how our culture values consumerism that this sort of system exists for me to take advantage of, or for it to take advantage of me (depending on your perspective). I had no idea that it was like this, but I can say it has been one of the few pleasant surprises of being back in the U.S.
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