Traditionally, the day after we sit down and celebrate Turkey Day, throngs of people will descend on local shopping malls at 4:00 in the morning to save $12 dollars on a toaster oven in an event that has become known as Black Friday. This is “officially” the green flag of the Christmas Shopping Season 500, sponsored by every single freakin’ business known to man. Retailers love to see hordes of consumers flock to shopping malls after being waken out of their Tryptophan-induced comas of the day before. People will line up in the freezing cold and sacrifice their health to save an arbitrary amount of money. I, personally, do not like Christmas all that much, just for the sole reason that it is a one day holiday that consumes almost 4 months out of the year. The Thanksgiving decorations barely beat Christmas decorations into the stores, even though the holidays are celebrated over a month apart. People seem to go nuts over saving a handful of change. It is like a drug to some people. So, what are those of us that a disgusted by all of this commercialism and blind consumerism to do?
I first heard of National Buy Nothing Day a few years ago and I loved the idea. Basically, the idea behind it is to buy nothing the day after Thanksgiving. It is nothing groundbreaking or revolutionary, but it has a certain humanistic appeal to it. While the masses are out throwing elbows for a PS3, you could be at home relaxing or volunteering at a homeless shelter: anything but feeding the wolves. The principle behind it is to buy nothing for 24 hours, basically, the day after Thanksgiving to show your disdain for the over-competitive-buy-and-sell-kill-or-be-killed society we have become. This is a global movement and is not meant to really bring the corporations to their knees, but more so to remind people why we have these holidays and why it is important to spend quality time with family and friends.
Now, obviously, needs may arise in a 24 hour period that may warrant attention. The whole idea is to buy nothing that is extravagant or unnecessary. I plan to grab a few friends, a few cases of beer, and catch up on old times. I will not be outside of Wal-Mart at 5:00 a.m. Please join me on November, 24th in buying nothing.
Official Link: http://www.adbusters.org/metas/eco/bnd/
11 responses so far ↓
1 sesquipedalian // Nov 20, 2006 at 5:03 pm
So when do the Knight’s Templar get knocked off?
2 william // Nov 20, 2006 at 6:53 pm
Good article, who wrote it? I’m just curious as there is no author attached.
3 discob4thebreakdown // Nov 20, 2006 at 8:30 pm
I wrote it. It does say at the bottom ,doesn’t it? It does on my browser anyway.
-disco
4 furfeatherfins // Nov 21, 2006 at 2:02 am
Sesquipedalian,
I don’t understand the Knight’s Templar connection. Please explain.
On a completely unrelated note, but related to your last post; I realize that this is none of my business and feel free to tell me so, but have you taken the ACT or GRE and if so how did you do. I would be especially interested in your GRE verbal score. Perhaps this could be followed up by someone ranting about how standardized tests do not adequately measure anything but what someone had for breakfast that day.
5 furfeatherfins // Nov 21, 2006 at 2:05 am
3 cheers for boycotting Black Friday. I suggest an amendment that allows for the purchase of A, T, and F.
6 sesquipedalian // Nov 21, 2006 at 2:36 am
Disco4thebreakdown,
I must admit enjoying arguments such as this, they remind me of being in college–you are not involved with organizations such as critical mass, are you? In all seriousness I appreciate the spirit of your post, just do me a favor and hit the microbrews; corporate-subsidized drinking is just plain wrong! man…
‘Black Friday’, or Friday the 13th refers to the date in October 1312 when the nearly all members of the Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici (Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, aka Knights Templar) were exterminated (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar). This is why Friday the 13th is considered unlucky.
7 Rolling Stone // Nov 21, 2006 at 8:18 am
I think it’s hilarious! The only thing that comes to mind in relation to this chaos style of shopping is watching 90 year old women literally run from one rummage sale to the next, racing their friendly competitors. I mean get real people! Everyone hits the stores as if there is one bottle of water remaining on the entire planet. Let them be prideful I guess for grabbing the last pizza oven or cheap television. Afterall, they have spent all their precious time gearing up for the big day by pushing their bodies to the limit via mall walking.
8 discob4thebreakdown // Nov 21, 2006 at 8:44 am
Sesquipedalian,
I do not know of this “critical mass” organization you speak of. For your information, I hope to be bringing some fine microbrews home for the holidays with me. Maybe a little Fat Tire or Boulevard for the folks at home. So yes, I do support microbrews, or at least smaller beer brewers.
I hope this doesn’t offend anyone here, but I also have to laugh at the people who run out to buy new gaming systems on the day they come out. Some sell them on the internet, which I guess is OK. But then the people on there are paying $2000 for something that will be worth $500 in a month or so. I was especially entertained when the XBOX 2 came out and everyone clamored to get one of those and then there were all these glitches in the systems. That was comedy. I also heard of several instances (in Minot, ND of all places) where people where people were robbed outside of the store after they had bought the system. I guess I just can’t justify going through all that work, time, and money, for something that will still be there if I wait a month or so.
9 mongo // Nov 21, 2006 at 9:14 pm
I agree with furfeatherfins on the ATF ammendment.
But overall, great post. I’m glad there is a voice out there for all of us who don’t want their lives to be taken over by corporations and their evil agendas.
10 m // Nov 22, 2006 at 10:19 am
Disco,
Thanks for the post.
Buy Nothing Day is a rational reaction to the system of consumption and profit over humanity that has permeated almost every alcove of our existence (here in the U.S. and elsewhere, as well). This is only a single day but the values and ideas behind it can be applied to everyday life. Certainly, we can all consume less. We can all realize that so many of our desires are manufactured and instilled in us for the sole purpose of profit. We can begin or continue to refuse to support companies that produce products under questionable labor and environmental standards. We can quit trying to find meaning through hierarchical structures. We can quit trying to find meaning through the accumulation, display, and imagined security of material goods. We can begin the process of extricating ourselves from a hierarchically structured cycle of consumption and begin to create alternatives in the present that will offer other ways of being, other ways of existing, in this world. Through these alternatives, we can transform the way we relate to other humans, the way we relate to the environment, and the way in which we live our daily lives.
11 mongo // Nov 24, 2006 at 9:35 pm
Just to point out how obsurd Black Friday is, I live in the Twin Cities of Minnesota and was up and about at 4:30am this morning. I had a day of bow hunting deer planned with my dad. I picked him up at his hotel near a major shopping center at 4:45am and it looked like rush hour! Cars were everywhere and full of people (mostly women). We couldn’t believe how early these people were getting up to hit the local mall. It was crazy!
Although I suppose most of them would probably say the same of us getting up at that time to sit in a tree all day.
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