I recently mentioned that I’m getting rid of a lot of book in the process of trying to simplify things in my life. One of the realizations I’ve had from this process is that I don’t find I have the need to go shopping nearly as much. When I am more consciously reflecting on the things that bring real value into my life, there are far fewer things I actually need.
Buy Nothing Day is a movement that I’ve taught about in my Philosophy for Living course before. The campaign urges people to buy nothing on Black Friday, in a sort of protest against commercialized overconsumption. Check out one of their more infamous ads here:
Books like One Nation Under Goods detail the addiction to shopping Americans have, and others like The Story of Stuff explain the tremendous environmental impact that this addiction has on the planet. That’s an interesting topic on itself, but one I’d like to save for another day. What I’m most interested in is a comment I ran across on an article about Buy Nothing Day, which I should note, has been unfortunately recently rebranded as Occupy Christmas
I’ve edited out the beginning and end, which is mostly a rant, but left everything else unedited. Take a minute to read through it:
Black Friday is something great… For the poor persons of the USA. The article is not even relevant to a good idea, but has a observation of someone that never had to live without food or electricity for a month. If those “Occupy” , Anonymous hacks try to block a door on Black Friday. No police will be called just a few ambulances for those who blocked the doors at first.
Black friday is the middle to poverty class, Christmas Shopping day. People save money the entire month — Will evenly buy `just enough food to save for Black Friday.
I don’t like Black friday because its way to many people, its ass to elbow… I can’t even really afford it, either… I don’t like a lot of people — I like nice and quiet for that is why I am often on at late hours. I have many friends that do the whole Black Friday and if I showed them this… They probably say the same thing — Those Occupy people that think they can stand in the way would be tossed aside and trampled on, if not beat to hell.
Black Friday is a good thing for MANY people that can not afford Xmas shopping. I know many in here probably never have the problem with buying stuff in that median of days to Xmas, but middle to poverty class do… Especially when they have families to take care of. I tried to argue with the fact that… People don’t realize how tough it is when you live pay check to pay check. They think poverty is a myth as they have their computer set up to pay bills and never had to buy anything with lose change.
The entire idea behind Buy Nothing Day and the blog entry this comment was posted on is that overconsumption is bad on many levels – most notably that we spend money we don’t really have on “things” instead of doing more important things like actually spending time with the people for whom we’re buying presents.
Clearly, the commenter doesn’t get this – they are skimping on food and time with their family so they can buy gifts, and goes so far as to physically threaten anyone that would attempt to stand in their way. They argue that Black Friday is good for the “poverty class.” Yet, the very concept behind Black Friday is most harmful to those who can’t afford to make these types of purchases. The overzealous advertising creates a sense of “need” so strong that people will eat less to save money, leave their homes and possibly even families, and go stand in line in freezing weather so they can buy stuff.
Let me say now that I know there are some things going on sale that would be considered “needs” in our day and age, but I’ve been out on Black Friday before just to experience what was happening, and I can say confidently that at least the very large majority of shopping that’s taking place has nothing to do with needs. Our culture focuses heavily on the newest gadgets and latest deals.
And I’ve been caught up in that cycle myself, but honestly – what are we giving up to have these things?
One criticism of Buy Nothing Day is that it doesn’t offer a “bigger picture.” Sure, we can buy nothing on one day, but there will be things that we truly need to buy. How do we address those things? Once we’re ready for that, then perhaps we can start thinking about things like Shift Your Shopping campaigns. I say one thing at a time though.
Do you think you can resist buying anything on Black Friday?
On this Thanksgiving Day, which might more appropriately be called “Black Friday Eve”, I leave you with these thoughts:
- Will you be shopping on Black Friday?
- What will you be shopping for?
- Why are you buying these things?
- Could you do without them?
- Are there other things you could do with the time you’d be standing in line or shopping?
I am going shopping tomorrow, probably even leaving tonight. Black Friday is a tradition or my grandmother and myself, so actually I am spending more time with my family by participating in Black Friday.
There have been years were we have gone for the “big ticket items.” Examples? I got a printer/copier/scanner for 20 bucks 2 BFs ago. My grandmother has gone to get my younger cousins Christmas presents. Most people I know who participate in BF do so because they can’t afford the items that they (or their loved ones) want for Christmas. Yes, want. We are a culture of mass consumption, and it one thing to say that you (or I) are cutting back and living a more minimalist life style, but it is something else entirely to ask a person whose life is minimal without even trying to deprive themselves of a luxury that might only be attainable to them on BF.
Not every situation is like that, but a lot are. Tomorrow I am going to Old Navy to get 15$ blue jeans. My friend needs a new coat. My grandmother wants to get my 4 y/o female cousin some sort of doll at Toys R Us. No big ticket items, but it will be a fun bonding experience.
Kristi needs a coat, and her monetary funds are limited. I need larger jeans as I have gained 10 pounds due to stress this semester. Chloe Cannon does not need a new doll, but it will bring my grandmother joy to get it for her.
And the standing in line question is sort of BS, like designed to make you feel bad. And it is like, no, really there is not anything better I could be doing. I could be asleep but I was in a coma so I’m pretty stocked up on that. I am polite and courteous to workers. I know it sucks to be them. That’s why I am not going to Wal Mart. 🙂
Thanks for the comments, Megan! I’m really interested in the idea of Black Friday as a family tradition – I did some more research after reading your comment and have discovered that this is a fairly common family tradition. I feel like a discussion about this with JustHeath would be fascinating!
All I meant with the question about standing in line was would there be better ways to bond? One example I had is that in recent years, my family has begun to develop the tradition of playing “analog” games as JustHeath would call them- various card or board games. I’ve found this to be a lot of fun, and much more rewarding than going shopping with them, which I have also done in the past.
I don’t every recall going shopping on Black Friday. However, I know for some it is a tradition which might have its place. Personally, I am disappointed that Black Friday is transitioning into Black Thanksgiving Night. Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday because it’s actually a holiday. There is not any pressure to send out cards, to purchase presents, to buy anything, it is simply a day to slow down and be. I think about how much we all could benefit from a few more days where instead of trying to do more we intentionally focused on doing less and being more present.
I agree that the consumeristic culture doesn’t change by simply not shopping on Black Friday but intentionally not shopping on Black Friday does help to start to change.
I think a good way to refocus spending habits might be to pick a month or a set period in which you strictly focus on buying only essential items. Most religious traditions have a season or a period of slowing down for Catholics this season is Lent. I think a good Lenten practice might be to be disciplined about shopping. Focus on what is truly necessary and limit purchases to that. As an added gesture, perhaps the money that you saved by selectively shopping good be donated to a local charity.
I like the idea of an extended period of time focusing on spending. I think it would be very insightful for anyone to do something like this.
I agree with Father Jimmy, I hate how almost everything started on Thursday night this year. It was also super inconvenient that some stores opened had their stuff at midnight while other stores didn’t open until 6. I would prefer a 6 AM opening!