When getting or giving a gift, we often hear, "It's the thought that counts," implying that it
doesn't matter what we buy, as long as we buy something. So,
every year on the day after Thanksgiving, American shoppers hurl themselves
into malls in a frenzy, desperately hunting for Black Friday bargains. After the shelves been picked clean and the registers closed out, economists anxiously await the day's totals,
hoping to forecast a strong economy for the upcoming holiday season.
But there are some who believe that the only forecast this consumerism
points to is damage to ourselves and our planet. And if folks like the Reverend Billy have anything to say about it, we won't be
buying anything. The good Reverend is one of those critics of rampant
consumerism who urge you to participate in the holiday madness by not participating in it.
"Reverend Billy" is the nom du theatre of
performance artist Bill Talen, who founded the Church of Stop Shopping. His mock gospel of
anti-consumerism became deadly serious when he attacked a certain mouse-headed corporation for its "Disneyfication" of New York's Times Square, and Starbucks for driving out small local businesses in the name of creating
a "fake Bohemia."
It's not that Billy is anti-capitalist; rather, he
stands for a "real human experience" and against
corporations that seek to homogenize or erase the uniqueness of small mom 'n' pop stores in the name of efficiency and
profit.
But it's not just Reverend Billy. On this day of all days, there's a whole
movement that asks you to buy nothing at all -- not even gas, bread, or
coffee! Proponents of "Buy Nothing Day" claim that it serves as a
brake on the rampant consumerism that has spoiled society.
If you do decide you must shop this weekend, remember that wise spending -- such as
understanding where purchases come from and what kind of an impact they'll have
on our environment -- may make all the difference between wasteful overconsumption and practical resource conservation on our planet.
So before you make that rush to the mall over the next few weeks, ask yourself if you're
doing all that shopping just for shopping's sake. And pause to think if your
purchase will be the one that brings on the Shopocalypse.
Suggested Sites...
- Adbusters: Buy Nothing Day - information on observations worldwide.
- Reverend Billy and the Church of StopShopping - stop the insanity.
- Buy Nothing Day.org - sit around the house and get to know your family.
- What Would Jesus Buy? - official site for the documentary about Reverend Billy's work. But would it be a sin to buy it?
- Money Can't Buy Happiness, Er, Can It? - Nobel Prize-winning economist asks whether America's consumption boom is really a good thing.
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