I ran across this little diddy and thought it was a nice tribute! Part of the Prancing Ponies stuff that is so funny.

Are we allowed to talk about how our purchases do in fact give money to people who might like money, or are we only supposed to talk about how buying the stuff we need is bad and wrong?

The need to consumer is deeply rooten in the human psyche.

It is impossible to educate against consummerism, especially since the group who would consume less would have a clear economic disadvantage.

It's not consummerism that is the problem, rather production methods.

I entered the churchly site of the revered Reverend William(-y) and noted he had (ahem) FOR SALE a book and a CD/DVD. It DOES say "click here to get it" instead of "buy it," but I'm not sure if my credit card knows the difference between a $21.95 "get" and a $21.95 "buy" (maybe I should give my card more credit when it comes to such learned stuff).

Anyway, very cool site. I mean, buying stuff that tells you not to buy stuff? Ethereal and other worldly!

I had been thinking about Buy Nothing Day for a while now, and it had occurred to me that not buying anything on Black Friday isn't a very useful strategy at all. As a display of market power, it's less effective the day after Thanksgiving than it would be the day before, because even if 5% participate, it would be on a day where the overall volume is 300% what it was anyway. And as a statement of self-restraint, it rings hollow when all it means to most of the (non-)participants is that they've either already done their shopping, or will be able to the next day. And if that's the case, then it only feeds into the stereotype of shallow, self-absorbed reactionaries, which is commonly used by reporters covering BND protests.

Maybe (he said, ducking and running) they need a media consultant?

Well, it doesn't go far enough, does it? I mean, if we're going to have a Buy Nothing Day, then we should have an Earn Nothing Day, too, as a logical balance. Why be so greedy? It's only one day's wages, right? Right? And after all, isn't asking for money for services and goods tantamount to armed robbery, or something?

The idea that media "makes" you go buy something is absurd. If I'm not predisposed to buying athletic shoes, no amount of Nike ads will make me buy. It's paranoid, 1950s "mass society" theory, that posits that in order for industry to achieve economies of scale, everyone must want the same thing, be induced to buy and conform.

Except that's totally not the case. People may buy to conform within small groups (school peers, gangs, golf buddies) but in regards to society at large, people buy to *distinguish themselves.* To out-do your neighbors, to show up your friends, to trounce your office rivals. Why else does every ad on TV seem to promise that the product will help YOU be the best possible YOU, better than all the rest as Tina Turner sang?

This behaviour is known as competitive consumption. And the twist of it is, it's not Big Corporations and the Media that fuel it - it's so-called counterculture. Where do the next "it" bands come from, if not "the underground?" Where do all the "it" computer products come from, if not from the "underdog," Apple? Where do all the trends in design, art, theatre, dance, film, and architecture start out? At the edge - and then they move towards that nice fat middle of mainstream acceptance, by which time the cognoscenti, eager for further distinction, have moved on.

Big shout out to revrend Billy. he gave me a little card with the first amendment printed on it 15 minutes before my girlfriend and I got arrested on our 1st year aniversary.

I like the sentiment behind Buy Nothing Day, but I'm not sure that it does the most good in getting us closer to a better world. The big-box chains won't really care if we don't show up, and the smaller, local shops are already threatened enough without us playing such games.

Here's my suggestion for an alternative: Buy Something Meaningful Day.

I'm with AJ on a lot of these topics here. In so many ways it is the counter-culture that supposedly tries so hard to break free from the consumer culture that so devotedly feeds it. Lots of these ideas are fairly well laid out in Nation of Rebels by Heath and Potter.

We can see these effects with the people who are fighting the anti-consumer fight. Adbusters has not one but two shoes for sale right now. Their supposed goal is to uncool Nike, but isn't that what Reebok and Adidias are already hard at work at? So in the end they're offering another shoe that has a rebel-backed guarantee that the people (ie. workers in Asia) aren't getting screwed in the process. They've turned their anti-brand right back into a brand and we see a new product emerge from the counter-culture.

And I remember the first time I saw Reverend Billy. It was at Burning Man in 2003 and he had his bus and his choir right there with him, preaching that we should all stop shopping. You know what? Burning Man is all about shopping. Shopping for supplies, food, EL wire, new burnable stuff, and some extreme survivalist gear that's useless most other places. How the hell did he get out there? Did he barter for the gasoline?

So all of this anti-consumerism and yelling and screaming and preaching is all well and good and I'm sure that the protesters are having a good time in the process, but what's the point? People are still going to want to buy presents for their friends and loved ones so it seems that the best thign to do is to point them in the direction of some "healthier" alternatives. Something that TH has been doing a great job of recently.

You could also point out that most people already have enough crap and it's a waste of money to give them any more. We're drowning in this stuff as it is. So give them gifts of services like a massage or a month of yoga classes or something else that's experiential.

But getting in someone's face and yellng at them? Grow up.

Ironically, for me, it became Buy Something day!!

A purchase I'd been umming & ahhing over (asking myself: is it perfect? versatile?), to keep me warm cos I was COLD! You Tree Hugging purveyers of items of minority consumption will be pleased to know it was from a company you've featured on TH. Oh, and I haven't succumbed & turned on the heating yet either. Rugging up instead.

I've now recovered from my spree - back to buying nothing and now also looking to giving some items a new lease of life via E-Bay.

To reach out to the folks who don't "get it", I like to ask them not to buy me anything for gifts. For the past two years I've sent out a nice note with my Solstice cards that requested no material gifts. I also note that spending time with me, or even sharing a story with me would be more than welcome. It hasn't stopped most of my husband's family from going crazy with the crap, but I think it has slowed it down a bit, and my own family seems to have really gotten the message.

Last year I tried to rally my friends and family to each contribute a page for a book that I would then assemble and distribute to all the contributors, but most folks were lame and didn't do it. I might try it again this year with a more select group of more open-minded people. It seems like it could be lots of fun if lots of people contributed. (I'd had this idea first when I got married - I'd wanted to ask all our family and friends to offer relationship tips! But I never got organized enough to do it...)

By the way, I do agree that the message we should be sending should be positive, rather than aggressive or insulting. Sure, the in-your-face tactics may work well with the young punk types, but if we want to change the minds of the average middle class folks (who really are the "big spenders", so to speak), we need to talk to them on their level, and in their language. Our marketing message to the middle class can be something like: Sustainability and simple living is healthy and fun. (OK, I'm no ad writer, as you can tell, but that can be the message...) I've also always liked the New American Dream's short but sweet: "Less Stuff = More Fun!"