Guest guest Posted November 25, 2004 Report Share Posted November 25, 2004 In a message dated 11/25/04 1:17:38 PM Pacific Standard Time, writes: Just playing devil's advocate here...but what is so horrible about shopping the day after Thanksgiving? It's when working people have time to buy their gifts and get it out of the way. It's the one day off for many to do their shopping....is that so bad? If no one shopped...guess what? There would be a lot less jobs out there. Many of my jobs I've had were because someone bought something somewhere somehow. One time I worked in an high end crafts store... the stuff was very expensive and not necessary to daily living HOWEVER the things did provide some beauty and it gave me and the others a JOB. Is that so horrible? This particular industry did not hurt animals or human, in fact, it supported artists. I was glad there were people out there who were willing and able to buy such things because if there were not.. there would be less jobs. And this job was pretty pleasant as far as jobs go. I kind of enjoy holiday shopping. Just yesterday I bought some silk sunflowers for me and others. I enjoy the holiday feel of stores and like purchasing some things if it makes another person happy. Why not? And I am supporting the local economy, too. There is a lovely shop in my area...called "Toto's revenge". The things in there are not necessary for living but I am glad it's there. IT adds to the neighborhood and adds to the local culture and economy. Kristina Message: 1 Wed, 24 Nov 2004 16:44:07 -0800 (GMT-08:00) fraggle <EBbrewpunxRemember Friday is BUY NOTHING DAYCelebrate Buy Nothing Day by sitting on your derriereTraditionally the biggest shopping day of the year, the Friday after Thanksgiving sends millions of Americans, drone-like, to the malls to kick-start the holiday consumption orgy. But before you foil-wrap the roast beast and stash the organic cranberry dressing in the fridge, consider celebrating another holiday: Buy Nothing Day. Officially observed Nov. 26 this year in the U.S. and Nov. 27 internationally, Buy Nothing Day calls on consumers -- formerly known as "people" -- to forego the siren song of day-after sales and protest overconsumption. Activists the world over will be staging events to highlight facts like this: 20 percent of the world's population consumes more than 80 percent of its natural resources. Americans alone throw away 5 million more tons of trash between Thanksgiving and Christmas than during any other month. Do your part to curb the waste by doing, well, nothing.straight to the source: The Herald-Sun, Muriel Williman, 20 Nov 2004<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3702>straight to the source: The Japan Times, Setsuko Kamiya, 21 Nov 2004<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3703>straight to BND info: Buy Nothing Day Central<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3708>straight to BND info: Buy Nothing Day U.K.<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3709> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2004 Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 Hi Kristina > Just playing devil's advocate here...but what is so horrible about shopping the day after Thanksgiving? It's when working people > have time to buy their gifts and get it out of the way. It's the one day off for many to do their shopping....is that so bad? As this is an American thing, and I'm in the UK, I may have missed the point, and maybe there's something specific about thanksgiving...but... I assumed it was intended as a protest at globalisation and big business. If I've understood this correctly, then perhaps a better protest would be to only "buy from local suppliers and co-ops day", which would possibly be a far greater protest as the streets would be as full as ever, it would benefit the small businesses and local communities, and would be a very powerful image of everyone walking past the big-name shops. BB Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2004 Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 As an agoraphobic, it's no test for me to stay away from malls and big name stores on the day after Thanksgiving and really throughout most of the holiday season. Me and my family stopped giving more than token gifts to each other years ago because we could all think of better ways to spend our money (mortgage, tuition, etc.) However, I do plan on making a quick stop at the local pagan store tomorrow to buy a gift for a friend who has always given me Christmas and birthday gifts every year since we met and I would feel guilty to not send her something. I also plan to pick up a Witches Almanac for myself. I have no compunction about doing this because I think it's a good thing to support small businesses. This is the same store that allows my church to meet on their premises and I think it's only fair to buy my spiritual supplies there when they have what I need. Blessed Be, Anna - Peter 11/25/2004 5:03:11 PM Re: Digest Number 1472 Hi Kristina > Just playing devil's advocate here...but what is so horrible about shopping the day after Thanksgiving? It's when working people > have time to buy their gifts and get it out of the way. It's the one day off for many to do their shopping....is that so bad? As this is an American thing, and I'm in the UK, I may have missed the point, and maybe there's something specific about thanksgiving...but... I assumed it was intended as a protest at globalisation and big business. If I've understood this correctly, then perhaps a better protest would be to only "buy from local suppliers and co-ops day", which would possibly be a far greater protest as the streets would be as full as ever, it would benefit the small businesses and local communities, and would be a very powerful image of everyone walking past the big-name shops. BB PeterTo send an email to - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 26, 2004 Report Share Posted November 26, 2004 Right... It's a protest against corporations and capitalism. Xmas has become a big commercial affair and the day after thanksgiving is a huge display of overconsumption. I do as much as I can on this day (as I do most other days) to reduce the amount of money exchange as I can. I dislike the day after thanksgiving anyway, with all the madness of greedy parents trying to get the newest toy to satisfy their child for a few hours, and their SUVs filled with thousands of dollars of worthless materialistic crap that won't be remembered in a few week's time. In the US, it is the day that really magnifies the superficiality of the world we live in. Stores open at 5 in the morning to offer shoppers the "hottest new items" for the shopping season. It makes me ill to think of these people circling all the things they want in the catalog and then pushing and shoving their fellow human out of the way so they can get the one last toy on the shelf. What has happened to our humanity? As far as buying things from co-ops and eco-friendly stores on Buy Nothing Day... well, if you are going to buy something (on any day, not just BND), it's best to buy from your friends and neighbors. Corporations suck! Support your community and your fellow human by buying locally and compassionately. ~z - Peter Thursday, November 25, 2004 6:02 PM Re: Digest Number 1472 Hi Kristina > Just playing devil's advocate here...but what is so horrible about shopping the day after Thanksgiving? It's when working people > have time to buy their gifts and get it out of the way. It's the one day off for many to do their shopping....is that so bad? As this is an American thing, and I'm in the UK, I may have missed the point, and maybe there's something specific about thanksgiving...but... I assumed it was intended as a protest at globalisation and big business. If I've understood this correctly, then perhaps a better protest would be to only "buy from local suppliers and co-ops day", which would possibly be a far greater protest as the streets would be as full as ever, it would benefit the small businesses and local communities, and would be a very powerful image of everyone walking past the big-name shops. BB PeterTo send an email to - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 its a protest against the rampant consumerism here in the US, and spreading globally.. every year, the day after thanxfernuthin is touted as the BIGGEST SHOPPING DAY you must get out and buy buy buy!!! consume.. like we are all one giant bacteria... you are encourged to just go out and buy, with no thought to where the stuff comes from, where its made, who made, why in hades you are buyin it just get out there and spend... regardless of the obscene waste this all produces...asd we trundle from place to place in our noxious pollutiong metal boxes, happily downing our chemical laced fast food as we toss the wrappers out the window to mix at the feet of the detrius of humanity.... sorry...went off on a tangent there... face it...we live in society(most of us anyways..whether here, er you brits, er wherever) where we are pushed to consume more and more... and, as long as we can go to Wal_mart to buy our cheap crap, we are happy... but..no one stops to think about wot this over-consumption is doing....sure, ya'll like you can buy that gee-gaw at wal-mart fer $10 cheaper then down the street..but..how about the 12 yr old indonesian gurl who got 12 cents to make that fer you??? this is only one planet kiddos..and once we use it up...guess wot, ain't no more...we can just sit on our landfill and watch the cockroaches engorge themselves... saying that going out shopping creates jobs is akin to starting forest fires to keep smoke jumpers employed... maybe if we had a hurricane every day...think of all the employment then... cheers fraggle lv2breathe Nov 25, 2004 3:51 PM Cc: Lv2breathe Re: Digest Number 1472 <HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content= " text/html; charset=US-ASCII " > <META content= " MSHTML 6.00.2800.1476 " name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style= " FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff " > <DIV>In a message dated 11/25/04 1:17:38 PM Pacific Standard Time, writes:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Just playing devil's advocate here...but what is so horrible about shopping the day after Thanksgiving? It's when working people have time to buy their gifts and get it out of the way. It's the one day off for many to do their shopping....is that so bad? </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If no one shopped...guess what? There would be a lot less jobs out there. Many of my jobs I've had were because someone bought something somewhere somehow. One time I worked in an high end crafts store... the stuff was very expensive and not necessary to daily living HOWEVER the things did provide some beauty and it gave me and the others a JOB. Is that so horrible? This particular industry did not hurt animals or human, in fact, it supported artists. I was glad there were people out there who were willing and able to buy such things because if there were not.. there would be less jobs. And this job was pretty pleasant as far as jobs go.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I kind of enjoy holiday shopping. Just yesterday I bought some silk sunflowers for me and others. I enjoy the holiday feel of stores and like purchasing some things if it makes another person happy. Why not? And I am supporting the local economy, too. There is a lovely shop in my area...called " Toto's revenge " . The things in there are not necessary for living but I am glad it's there. IT adds to the neighborhood and adds to the local culture and economy.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Kristina </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 27, 2004 Report Share Posted November 27, 2004 Fraggle , you certainly had a good rant on that one! Glad we don`t celebrate Thanks for whatever day here. On the subject of going overboard, we were only the other day in work discussing how big some of you yanks are when we visit the tourist crap like D*sney etc, it comes as quite a surprise. I hope this isnt contagious! Wots wrong with watching cockroaches anyway? The Valley Vegan.....fraggle <EBbrewpunx wrote: its a protest against the rampant consumerism here in the US, and spreading globally..every year, the day after thanxfernuthin is touted as the BIGGEST SHOPPING DAYyou must get out and buy buy buy!!!consume..like we are all one giant bacteria...you are encourged to just go out and buy, with no thought to where the stuff comes from, where its made, who made, why in hades you are buyin itjust get out there and spend...regardless of the obscene waste this all produces...asd we trundle from place to place in our noxious pollutiong metal boxes, happily downing our chemical laced fast food as we toss the wrappers out the window to mix at the feet of the detrius of humanity....sorry...went off on a tangent there...face it...we live in society(most of us anyways..whether here, er you brits, er wherever) where we are pushed to consume more and more...and, as long as we can go to Wal_mart to buy our cheap crap, we are happy...but..no one stops to think about wot this over-consumption is doing....sure, ya'll like you can buy that gee-gaw at wal-mart fer $10 cheaper then down the street..but..how about the 12 yr old indonesian gurl who got 12 cents to make that fer you???this is only one planet kiddos..and once we use it up...guess wot, ain't no more...we can just sit on our landfill and watch the cockroaches engorge themselves...saying that going out shopping creates jobs is akin to starting forest fires to keep smoke jumpers employed...maybe if we had a hurricane every day...think of all the employment then...:)cheersfragglelv2breatheSent: Nov 25, 2004 3:51 PM Cc: Lv2breatheSubject: Re: Digest Number 1472 In a message dated 11/25/04 1:17:38 PM Pacific Standard Time, writes: Just playing devil's advocate here...but what is so horrible about shopping the day after Thanksgiving? It's when working people have time to buy their gifts and get it out of the way. It's the one day off for many to do their shopping....is that so bad? If no one shopped...guess what? There would be a lot less jobs out there. Many of my jobs I've had were because someone bought something somewhere somehow. One time I worked in an high end crafts store... the stuff was very expensive and not necessary to daily living HOWEVER the things did provide some beauty and it gave me and the others a JOB. Is that so horrible? This particular industry did not hurt animals or human, in fact, it supported artists. I was glad there were people out there who were willing and able to buy such things because if there were not.. there would be less jobs. And this job was pretty pleasant as far as jobs go. I kind of enjoy holiday shopping. Just yesterday I bought some silk sunflowers for me and others. I enjoy the holiday feel of stores and like purchasing some things if it makes another person happy. Why not? And I am supporting the local economy, too. There is a lovely shop in my area...called "Toto's revenge". The things in there are not necessary for living but I am glad it's there. IT adds to the neighborhood and adds to the local culture and economy. Kristina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 28, 2004 Report Share Posted November 28, 2004 , fraggle <EBbrewpunx@e...> wrote: > its a protest against the rampant consumerism here in the US, and spreading globally.. > every year, the day after thanxfernuthin is touted as the BIGGEST SHOPPING DAY > EXCELLENT POST !! Thanks for sharing the original post and all that info. I spent a good portion of my weekened on researching/exploring several sites in this regard and learned a whole lot. Vijay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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