Forget Black Friday- Buy Nothing

A 24 hour moratorium on consumer spending







http://adbusters.org/metas/eco/bnd/

Fortunately, I don't give a shit about tomorrow.

Fuck the gift-buyers.

:eyes:

frenzy anyways, stay home, eat leftover turkey and play video games in your boxer's.

not everyone is off today - if they were then no one could go out shopping, for one thing.

I'm working as well. people need tech support even on black friday.

I'm working tomorrow and its commission based

I hope they buy as much as possible, daddy needs a new pair of loafers, hahaha

The United Nations statistics showing the inequality in consumption are very shocking:

Today’s consumption is undermining the environmental resource base. It is exacerbating inequalities. And the dynamics of the consumption-poverty-inequality-environment nexus are accelerating. If the trends continue without change — not redistributing from high-income to low-income consumers, not shifting from polluting to cleaner goods and production technologies, not promoting goods that empower poor producers, not shifting priority from consumption for conspicuous display to meeting basic needs — today’s problems of consumption and human development will worsen.

… The real issue is not consumption itself but its patterns and effects.

… Inequalities in consumption are stark. Globally, the 20% of the world’s people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures — the poorest 20% a minuscule 1.3%.

More specifically, the richest fifth:

Consume 45% of all meat and fish, the poorest fifth 5%
Consume 58% of total energy, the poorest fifth less than 4%
Have 74% of all telephone lines, the poorest fifth 1.5%
Consume 84% of all paper, the poorest fifth 1.1%
Own 87% of the world’s vehicle fleet, the poorest fifth less than 1%
Runaway growth in consumption in the past 50 years is putting strains on the environment never before seen.

Above statistics comes from:
— Human Development Report 1998 Overview, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

but nothing else, I promise!

I didn't have much left this morning. If it weren't for that, I'd stay in my jammies all day.

we're screwn as a culture, a people and a nation.

yet i will still shop tomorrow though in other years i didn't.

however, this year there are things i need to buy and tomorrow is a good opportunity to get it done.

not that i relish shopping, usually, i do not enjoy it.

I'm always broke and have no plastic.

but I expect to be as succesful as any other boycott I have particiated in

Oh and for christ sakes if I buy a product on Friday or Saturday from a given retailer, it will not make a damn difference to the balance sheet for those who scream... but, but this will hurt small retailers

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that I don't have to do anything--no school, no work, nothing.
I have a date with my pajamas, my fireplace, leftovers, and the "Cold Case" marathon on TNT. I have no other plans. There isn't anything I want that I am willing to stand in line and fight the masses for.:D

Is because I haven't made my traditional overtime by this point in the year, and it sucks. :cry: Nothing was more fun that getting out there at 500am to get in line at Fry's Electronics. :cry:

So I do my shopping on Sunday, instead, let's say. I have successfully managed to:

1. Buy the same number of things.
2. Spend the same amount of money in doing so.

The number of Internet-advertised "protests" that involve sitting on your ass is staggering.

if only a few participate who cares?

But... if millions did and kept it going... it would be noticeable

And if that came with demonstrations it woudl really make an impact

Don't ask me... ask the French

Zarkozy realizes he has a slight problem... but don't take my word for it

By the way, what are you doing to protest the way things are?

Oh yes, I forgot, posting on an online board and don't bother me

If everyone in the entire fucking United States of America participated, you know what would happen? Nothing. They'd go buy their McShit on Saturday and Sunday, and in the coming weeks. The same number of dollars would be exchanged for the same number of MP3 players and sweaters.

It's like those idiotic "gas-out" protests. What matters is not when you buy things, it's how much you buy. You want to send a message to Exxon? Forget not buying gas on a certain Friday. Just drive less. You want to send a message to the corporate world? Forget not buying McShit on Black Friday. Just buy less McShit, and instead patronize your local independent stores.

driving less makes a difference.

not buying gas on a particular day but driving just as much --makes no difference.

they could make up for a high level of consumption by adjusting the dates of purchase. If you buy 25 gallons of gas per week, it doesn't matter if you buy it on a Tuesday or a Friday. By the end of the month, Exxon and Shell have the same amount of your money.

If you buy a Nintendo Wii, it doesn't matter if you buy it on Black Friday or a week later. By the end of the month, Best Buy and Nintendo have the same amount of your money.

if you have millions doing, it and taking to the streets...

Oh never mind, I am sure those french workers enjoying a national strike have not changed a thing

And this is what I am ultimately talking about

shifting the date of purchase of your goods from Friday to Sunday is going to change anything at all.

Invoking the French strikers doesn't actually answer the question. They are striking--that is to say, they are providing an economic incentive for their demands to be met. If you have a one-day no-buy "strike," people will just buy their stuff the next day, and the corporations will make the exact same amount. There's no parallel whatsoever.

something

Right now what you are doing is throwing your hands up

This is not going to do a difference so why should I even try?

It is called building a movement, and chaging behavior pattersn

People around the world are familiar of the effects of this.

As is I expect a poor season since the economy is so happy that we could all dance wiht the bonuses and exra pay

:sarcasm:

Study the history of social movements...

Might be good for you

it might lead to greater and larger social movements that actually accomplish something later.

Here's a hint regarding the history of social movements: only one of them started with a grandiose, quixotic scheme that was ignored by virtually everyone and that had "accomplishing nothing" as its first goal. And that was Dada.

The civil rights movement.... the bus boycott worked, but I am sure you knew that

Gandhi started with consumer strikes... and other strikes... it took a lifetime but last time I checked India is no longer a british colony. Or did I miss something?

The french are experts at this... and so far they have avoided the excesses of the right wing... right now Sarozy is trying the divide and conquer game that reagan was an expert at,

But Americans have been trained very well in the last twenty to twenty five years that there is nothing they can do to try to change a thing... so you just don't do it... and you are a perfect example of this

Oh did I mention mexico city, which has strikes regularly? Hell even the National University goes on strike from time to time and they have been able to preserve programs and the buying power of salaries

Now in my life, I was once told by a young person that taking to the streets would not do a damn thing... ten percent of the student body at my southern california college took off from class, and marched and programs were saved. Funny huh? That was in the early 1990s... and don't expect to find too much on it... the press was MIA, even when some of us took the photos to the press... they would not publish them... since they showed a REAL demonstration.

I guess my perspective has been colored by that knowledge of history both national and personal

So yes, if only and even a million people take the day off... nothing will happen, but if 20% of the population stays home... they'll ask questions... if half the population stays home it will make the news.

But for that to happen we need people like you to realize that alone you won't change a thing, but in a group, you have a lot of power

So I stay home, hoping against hope that someday people like you will finally get it and join up.

Once again, me alone wil not do a damn thing... but me and another fifty million, or more, will have retailers and the powers that be going... hmm

And if this is done for a week, the economy can be brought to a halt.

Will it hurt people at that point? Absolutely in the short term.

Study some history... start with the buss boycott

:And I need to add this little detail, if you have a strike and only buy essential things, milk, food, water, and not consumer goods, and do this for a momth, it will show as well..

Don't take my word for it, study some history

I will be staying home with you today, I do not plan on spending a penny.

Ghandi and King's boycotts were actually boycotts. People changed their levels of consumption of goods and services. That isn't what we're proposing here, we're just changing the dates of purchase. Strikes change the level of production of goods. Shifting the date of purchase does absolutely nothing. Everyone could buy nothing for an entire week, and so long as they then at the end of the week went back to the stores, the economy would not suffer by one cent.

Yeah, a mass consumer boycott for months would have an effect. But that isn't what anyone's proposing. They're proposing people not buy things for one day. And that would have zero effect, even if everyone in America did it.

In order to be a successful mass movement, you need more than just lots of people. You also need them to be doing something to affect something. Right now, you've got Dada.

ANYTHING that shows will help to change the behavior

By the way, I actually refered to a REAL BOYCOTT in that post as well... re-read it.

I said, that it woudl be the most effective if nobody bough a thing except the essentials.

Are you missing that on purpose?

Yes, yes you are

You remind me of the YOUNG DEMOCRAT many years ago who told the student organizers that nothing will change
and we should NEVER take to the campus

He sure proved to be correct.

I'm sure he is somewhere in political life these days, saying the same thing... lets do nothing.

Try to stay on topic, dear.

life is too comfortable...

I understand.

Lets say Wiis are 50 dollars off today. If you buy a Wii today at 50 dollars off, isn't it better than buying one a month from now at full price? You still bought what you were going to, and the corporations make less money. You're right, this "slactivism" stuff is nonsense.


Also please buys Wiis everyone because I own stock in Nintendo! ;-)

Excessive Consumption

We have chosen to "live better today" at the expense of our tomorrows, and our children’s tomorrows, by depleting our reserves, borrowing imprudently, deferring critical investments, and relying excessively on foreign resources.

Our cherished American way of life is enabled by excessive consumption, the dysfunctional behavior through which we live beyond our means in order to perpetuate our inflated lifestyles. Excessive consumption does not mean that we are consuming more than we need, which is probably also true in most cases; it means that we are consuming at levels that are NOT sustainable.



Excessive consumption is a self-induced societal disorder -- a societal addiction. Every American is addicted to excessive consumption; we are all living beyond our means -- most of us individually, all of us collectively, as the beneficiaries of the excesses perpetrated on our behalf by our political and economic representatives. We became addicted to excessive consumption by permitting ourselves to be seduced by seemingly unlimited supplies of cheap and abundant fossil fuels and other critical natural resources; a seemingly endlessly forgiving planet; a continuous barrage of "institutional misinformation"; easy credit; and seemingly infinite supplies of cheap foreign consumer goods, labor, and financing.

We remain addicted to excessive consumption because upon experiencing the euphoria associated with living beyond our means, continuously "spending more than we earn", we have been unwilling to "kick our habit" and revert to living sustainably within our means. Terminating our addiction to excessive consumption would involve painful withdrawal symptoms: significant living standard disruptions -- material living standard degradation and/or population level reductions, which we consider to be "unacceptable".

<edit>

http://www.culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=1

"Every American is addicted to excessive consumption" Oh really, even the unabomber? The unabomber was addicted to excessive spending in his one room shack in the mountains. After all he was an american and this article says EVERY american is addicted to excessive spending.

And besides, if you buy stuff you need on black Friday, and not just stuff that looks good, whats the problem? You're gonna buy it anyways, so you might as well buy it when its cheap. And the real problem is population. People need to stop having so many kids. If you're an environmentalist who has children who then have grand children and great grandchildren who abuse the environment what have you accomplished? Not a God damn thing. I don't have any kids and will not have any kids. So if you want to criticise me for buying a laptop yesterday that I needed and maybe a few games that I didnt need but wanted, well thats just ok with me.

outside of the loss lead items, a few and far between... the discouts ain't that deep... in fact they are not...

But the illusion is maintained... and people swallow it every year.

How loss lead works

You have ten units of a deeply discounted unit, that is popular such as the Best Buys Toshiba. They will take a loss in each one of those, but there are only ten of them... they got you in... you will look around, and the psycology says you believe all is discounted, so you will buy something else... and alas they don't make any loss for the day...

And this scam, and it is a scam, is very legal

I went in to buy what I wanted and got out. The Laptop I knew was on sale I got. I know a bit about computers and I know getting a dell Duo Core with 2 GB ram with DVDRW and wireless internet for $380 is one hell of a deal. I dare you to try to find one new online for that price, you cant. I also bought a few games that I wanted for only 10 bucks a piece. Again the cheapest I can find them online is about 20 bucks. Basically I went to BFads.net wrote down everything I wanted and bought that and only that. The stores lose money because I only buy only the loss leaders, and I get what I wanted. Everyone wins.

You are then the exception, not the rule

If they didn't work the way I described the practice woud have been discontinued a while ago

....the fact that the only people who could be expected to suffer even a little bit as a result of such a "gas out" or "buy nothing day" is the small business owners who have little to no control over the cost of what they sell or how much they have to charge to turn a modest profit. Such "protests" accomplish nothing of value to anyone.

as long as this attitude of don't bother me, I don't want to sacrifice a thing, continues

Rather than actually sacrifice consumption, it simply suggests changing the date of consumption, and that is what the problem is.

examining the situation very clearly. Your projection as to what the attitude of the OP is completely wrong. Your statement couldn't possibly be further from the truth.

The first point to be made is that Buy Nothing Day was brought about not simply to stop consumption on a single day but originated with the idea of highlighting the overall problem of conspicuous consumption particularly in the US. The day was chosen for obvious reasons. The message IS NOT to simply boycott consumerism on Friday and buy like crazy the next few days and/or week. The idea is that by bringing people's attentions to the insanity of consumerism on this most gluttonous of commercial days that folks will hopefully take this awareness into the rest of the calendar year.

I would also ask you to look at other posts that I have posted in this thread if you still think that "the attitude" is one of simply not buying on this ONE DAY.

Personally I find the whole notion of being "A Consumer" to be rather vulgar and reject the framework entirely.

is projecton.

I find it funny how many folks need to DEFEND this day, and their consumption

Never mind that those sales are led by loss lead items meant to get them in... after that the "sales" are all but deep and the joke's on them

But that is from a practical point of view

In reality it is about changing a whole way of life

Talk w/ your family. Both branches of our family do not give 'corporate purchased' gifts. All gifts are locally produced, handmade or perishable (salad dressing, moles...).


It feels really good.

Our Christmases have been great!

of course, that was always the plan....:evilgrin:

it's easier to shop on my days off and tomorrow is a day off and there are things I need to look at and possibly buy.

i think not being materialistic is an all year thing. i'm not on board with the supposed greater meaning of "buy nothing" day.

i have plenty of buy nothing days.

At all.

made a few gift purchases online. I have to take advantage of the coupons and free shipping offers I've gotten in order to make my dollar stretch. I'd love to buy nothing at all, but it's either buy it now online from the comfort of my home than to be forced to wade into a store during the holiday season.

Instead, I'm sleeping until noon, then going to a friend's party tomorrow night.

Our families don't buy corporate, so its a moot point.

The Commercialization of Christmas: What Would Jesus Buy?
By Emily Wilson, AlterNet. Posted November 23, 2007.

A camera crew followed the Reverend Billy across the country as he preached against our shopping-hungry culture. His message is just in time for the holiday frenzy.

Bill Talen, known as Reverend Billy, doesn't mind making a fool of himself. He is happy to throw himself on the floor in a fit of religious ecstasy, perform cash register exorcisms or go caroling with the 35 members of the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, singing such favorites as "Fill the malls with wealthy people," to the tune of "Deck the Halls." He does all this and much, much more in the new documentary about him and his Church of Stop Shopping, What Would Jesus Buy?

Ten years ago Talen came to New York and, struck by the commercialization in Times Square, wanted to do something. He saw the people getting the most attention were the street preachers, so getting into his role, he bought a clerical collar to go with his white caterer's jacket, dyed his hair blonde, combed it into a tall pompadour and started preaching against over-consumption.

Now Talen is known for his protests against, among others, Disney (the "High Church of Retail"), Victoria's Secret, and Starbucks. The coffee chain has banned Talen from going into any of the stores in California, and he is the subject of a memo to its employees, "What Should I Do If Reverend Billy Is In My Store?" When he decided to take his church across the country in two biodiesel buses in December 2005 to face the Christmas season head on and preach against the Shopocalypse, Filmmaker Rob VanAlkemade and his crew tagged along.

If people can change how they act at Christmas, Talen says, that could bleed over into the rest of the year. And he thinks people are ready for change. He sees it with all the emails the church gets supporting its anti-consumer message and in other ways, such as the dozens of communities across America that have successfully resisted Wal-Mart. He points to the town of Hercules, in California, that used eminent domain to take the land that the giant retailer planned to build on. In the city council's definition, a Wal-Mart store is "urban blight."

Article continues:
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/68485/

christmas this year is going to be on a diet...i simply cannot afford to purchase more than the minimum, rising energy costs...no raise in 3 years, no healthcare, etc...have effectively made my decsion for me.

as if to make the circle complete i have asked my friends and relative to buy me nothing.

to do us till Tuesday, we're not going out of the house this weekend.

It's my money I work for it, I'll spend it. Well at least the 50% the government has allowed me to keep.

We bought everything off the net this year so far.

What does it say when they can take a 90 buck item down to 39 bucks, then if you order it online take it down to 29 bucks and throw in free shipping?

I'll tell ya, they're still making money on the 29. So why protest "black" Friday and get hosed on Saturday for 89? I'll pocket the "savings" and smile.

Because consumption is so central to many economies, and even to the current forms of globalization, its effects therefore are also seen around the world. How we consume, and for what purposes drives how we extract resources, create products and produce pollution and waste. Issues relating to consumption hence also affect environmental degradation, poverty, hunger, and even the rise in obesity that is nearing levels similar to the “official” global poverty levels. Political and economic systems that are currently promoted and pushed around the world in part to increase consumption also lead to immense poverty and exploitation. Much of the world cannot and do not consume at the levels that the wealthier in the world do. In fact, the inequality structured within the system is such that as Richard Robbins says, “some one has to pay” for the way the wealthier in the world consume.

Eggnog instead! :toast:

And, WOW, do I ever prefer non-participation in that group mania!!