Experiments in Living

Heads up: Buy Nothing Day will take place on Saturday 24th November this year.

This event has been going on for years and it’s the most effective way of fighting the net of consumerism which engulfs us all. The event was originally timed to coincide with one of the busiest shopping days in the US, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but similar events are popping up all over the globe. Like all these Days, the idea is to heighten awareness, not to change the world by not shopping on one day and then going back to mindless consumerism the next.

Following a recent shopping trip, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not very good at shopping. After a few hours I just want to go home, and if I don’t see anything I want to buy, then I don’t buy anything. I’d rather go home empty-handed than buy something just because I’m shopping and therefore ought to. The temple of Capitalism that is Meadowhall served only to reinforce my many prejudices about the life that we are living in this distorted modern age. Maybe I am a killjoy, but when I think about what lies behind some of our consumer goods, in terms of sweatshop labour, air transport and the sheer fact that they are so superfluous, my appetite for such things sickens and then dies. If I had known that being more aware of the planet and its animals would save me so much money I would have done it years ago.
No wonder factory farmed animals and processed foods have become the norm, we as humans are just as far removed from our own natural behaviour as they are, thanks to social conditioning, perpetuated by governments and the media. In our boxed up lives where hamburgers grow in hamburger patches, is it any wonder that we are losing our true human nature into a pit of avarice? To be fair though, I think it is more insecurity than genuine greed in most cases. People are searching for answers more than ever, lulled into thinking that these lie in consumer goods and services. No wonder personal debt in the UK is so high. Civilisation as we know it depends on this, our whole economy needs us to perpetuate the lie upon which it is built. Surely it all has to end somewhere though?

Please excuse me, I’m ranting now. Of course I will be buying presents for my nearest and dearest. I am considering some of those “send a goat to Africa” type presents, but I think that you need to consider the recipient, and some of my entourage are more enlightened than others. I like to do my Christmas shopping early so that I can avoid the town centre on a weekend between now and the end of December, this is probably more due to the fact that I can’t stand the crowds than any deep seated protest!

Tags: buy nothing day, Christmas, consumerism, shopping