Yep. It's looming on the horizon. Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving in the United States. The day when most retail outlsets have gigantic sales, encouraging us to spend and spend and spend. But is this really what we should be doing? Should we be consuming this much? Do we really need to go out and buy a bunch of stuff we're just going to use up or throw away? I think that most of us in the US buy way more stuff than we actually need. I think that I have too much stuff to use. And that buying more stuff isn't going to redeem me in any way. So while I was pondering this the other day, I was surfing the 'net -- as teenagers with nothing better to do tend to do - and came across a little campaign that I am going to support this Black Friday. Buy Nothing Day. A "24 hour moratorium on consumer spending", devised by adbusters. A day that people can spend at home instead of in the malls. A day to instead spend with family and not buy more crap that we don't need. If anyone is interested in doing something more than shopping on Black Friday, check out http://www.adbusters.org . And yeah, it sounds like I'm selling this. But I'm ready to do something about our consumerism. I only hope that other people are -- tomorrow at school I fully intend to find out. So, any thoughts people may have are welcome. Any opposition is welcome too. You know me, I love a good debate.
An interesting idea, but ultimately an empty gesture. Just like organizing boycott days at the gas pump, this protest doesn't actually accomplish anything. It doesn't matter if a person buys or doesn't buy on a given day, if they don't actually decrease their total purchases throughout the year. Don't like consumerism? Don't buy so much crap.
I agree that the whole Christmas hype has gotten a tad insane - but Black Friday is by far not the worst of it - wait until it's a week before Christmas, and you have to park 3 miles away from the mall to get a spot, AAND be prepared to fight for that last singing Frosty toaster!
So do all the expensive shops, such as Tommy Hilfiger sell their stuff really cheap on Black Friday? I bet the crowds are huge in stores like that
[quote:3202540355="TheJackal"]So do all the expensive shops, such as Tommy Hilfiger sell their stuff really cheap on Black Friday? I bet the crowds are huge in stores like that[/quote:3202540355] Never have I found stuff I liked cheap Edit: I don't buy Tommy H., just meant to say I have never found something I *needed* cheap. It's the stuff you never need that is usually sold very cheap!
Apart from food, I usually only buy something about once every couple of weeks at the most, sometimes a month will pass and I'll I've bought is one computer magazine. I always find it hard to answer when people ask me what I want for my brithday etc, I always think I've got everything I need. There's probably loads of stuff out there I'd like but I can't be arsed spending the time to find out what those things might be. I would like a Playstation PSP, but I've been saying that for months now so it's obviously not that big a deal for me. The main thing I want, in terms of materialness, is a house; but that's so way out of the scope of affordability that I can't really think about it too much. I think it's a good idea to stop yourself from buying anything for a day if you're obssessive enough to buy stuff every day normally, in the same way not drinking for a day might be good for an alcoholic I guess.
[quote:f3c00387b8="Maljonic"] I think it's a good idea to stop yourself from buying anything for a day if you're obsessive enough to buy stuff every day normally, in the same way not drinking for a day might be good for an alcoholic I guess. [/quote:f3c00387b8] That’s actually a very good point...most people take obsessive shopping as a bit of a joke and as something to brag about though it can be a potential problem. If you get into the issue it is as destructive. It will use up money that could be invested in, lets say, a house or education or something you *need* not *want*. Alcoholism can do the same thing (although many affects to your body are slightly more severe) to savings and can be viewed as a serious addiction. In short, does America have a consumer’s addiction? Well then you have to look at the environmental problems such as ridiculous amounts of packaging and unnecessary items that used to be considered luxury but are now considered common necessities. Why do they do it? It's there, and it's sold to them as a necessary item and it is bought more and more until the alternative is forgotten or used rarely. Look at fast food and packaged meals…long gone are the days of chopping our own veggies and picking our herbs from the garden. Now it’s all in nice little packages sold on shelves ready to use. It’s fast and many would consider it necessary for their way of life. These things are not just limited to buying lots of fancy gadgets with lots of plastic and new clothes in plastic bags…the over consumption is spreading to everyday necessities…now people believe there is little alternative because it is not readily available. Until that attitude is changed there is little else to do.
That's a good point about the excessive packaging. Personally, the only effort I make to try and limit this is making use of the huge 'record bag' that I always seem to have- at any one time I can have two books, a diary, a work diary, my lunch numerous pens and cigarette lighters and some lip balm. Anyway - I usually do my grocery shopping on my way home from work and usually cram in whatever I buy on top of the rest of the junk, as I hate plastic bags. I like the idea that a lot of the 'no frills' supermarkets have that you have to pay for plastic bags- it makes people think a bit before they have to purchase them and also encourages recycling! I think that Individual food bags for different varieties of vegetables are mostly unnecessary also - I usually stick the price labels from the customer scales to the back of my hand and then give them to the check- out person. Hey- I'm ranting about saving the environment- when in reality I'm still going to go out and giftwrap all my presents for Christmas-, which on the larger scale of things is a huge waste of paper! - I've already bought one present to go to my cousin in Australia a 'how to grow your own Venus Fly trap’ (comes with three different varieties and little pots and stuff) as purchased in Debenhams (department store) last night in the 'Exclusive Christmas Preview shopping night'- How's that for consumerism?
Not spending everything you have is a good idea. Not buying anything in an economy largely based on consumerism might not be the best idea.
With everything balance is the key. I love buying myself things. I wish I had money to buy more nice stuff for myself. On the whole I'm not stupid with it. I don't have 17 pairs of shoes or a billion coats. I do have more threadless these are quite cheap and some of them are great art. It's all about living within your means. It's stupid to get yourself it debt buying shoes or dvds. But if you can afford it, it's fine to spend £100 on a t-shirt. Sure, it would be nicer if you bought a £50 t-shirt and gave the rest to chartity, but thats probably not going to happen. It's better to spread the wealth than to be a miser. As for what we *need* and what we *want* we need hardly anything we buy, really. We could do without most of the things we have in life. But forfilling are wants is what makes life worth living. It's just important to have material wants we can actually afford and to also have non-material wants that we can actually achieve.
Hm, I'm pretty much in the same situation as Mal... Actually, most of my fridays are black. And the weekends. And most of the other weekdays. Even when there is money I could spend, it is not money I could spend with a [i:284becc702]good [/i:284becc702]conscience... Because there's always this "Hm, you could buy a CD for this 15 Euros, but for the same amount, you could pay more [i:284becc702]useful [/i:284becc702]things..." But that doesn't matter that much. As long as the bills that mess up the monthly calculation are for the newspaper abonemment, or the TV fee (that has to be paid by everybody who owns a TV, by law), or the flatrate fee, I can't exactly feel fear of existance, either. I think a lot of people buy stuff to reward themselves, or recompensate. Just like other people eat chocolate for the same reason. Oh, by the way, I just noticed that I messed it up. I bought a book yesterday. For 3.99.
[quote:dbcd4d8884="Hsing"]Oh, by the way, I just noticed that I messed it up. I bought a book yesterday. For 3.99.[/quote:dbcd4d8884] You Capitalist shark, you...
