Noviembre 24, 2004
Yay, It's "Buy Extra Stuff Today Cuz in 2 Days It's Buy Nothing Day!"
On Friday it's Buy Nothing Day. Which is a great idea that Adbusters had several years ago that I wholly support as a concept. The intention is right, but it's one of those ideas that is just a stepping stone, that feels now like it doesn't go far enough. There are, according to their site, "millions" of people who take part, who refuse to consume on the day after Thanxgiving, or Black Friday, as retailers call it. But I'll bet you my (unused) copy of Quicken that most of those people go out on Wednesday or even Thursday and make the purchases they would have made on Friday. Or just put it off till Saturday. They make sure they have enough coffee beans and milk, they check that the grinder still works, so they can make cappucinos at home Friday morning. Anybody can do that kind of stuff. It's not that hard. (The fact that it's something people actually have to make an effort to do, something that seems radical to most people in this country, is a sad indictment of our culture.) But how many of those people participating are actually reducing their total daily, monthly, yearly consumption? Isn't it about time to move on to Buy Nothing Week? And on further from there? Sorry, just shifting your consumption over one day is not gonna save the world. It's a nice PR stunt, but that's about it.