Day: November 28, 2008

Some shoppers didn’t get the message about “Buy Nothing Day” and in pre-dawn darkness, a temporary worker at a Wal-Mart died in a 5AM stampede of consumerism.

“Suddenly, witnesses and the police said, the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains. One worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, was thrown back onto the black linoleum tiles and trampled in the stampede that streamed over and around him.”- The New York Times

If you are what you buy, today I am nothing. I’m sorry if I got to you too late. Too late to save you from the 5am line at Best Buy to pick up that Wii or sitting there, credit card in trembling hand gobbling up the “Black Friday” deals corporate America tells us we cannot miss. The trembling is nagging doubt of whether you can pay the January Visa bill.

For some, me included, today is “Buy Nothing Day,” although I’m finding it’s not easy to thwart the crashing waves of advertising from TV, radio and my inbox. Kyle wants an iPod for Christmas and I’ve learned in about 14 different ways that apple.com is matching competitor pricing today… That’s not exactly true, but I can save $11 on an 8G iPod nano today… I’d still be out $138, but I’d “save” $11.

The sentiment of “Buy Nothing Day” is dismissed by many as “Un-American,” and I suppose it is. It challenges our unquenchable desire to consume and that hot desire has been programmed into us Orwellian style. “Big Brother” has been overtly and subliminally telling us to buy forever. Nearly all information provided to the American public is supported by endless messaging telling us to buy stuff.

Not today.