Happy Buy Nothing Day

If you're a Chicagoist reader, you might have spotted my post on the Adbusters-endorsed Buy Nothing Day -- a "holiday" that counters the crowding and spending of Black Friday. Many people have responded to the post, and Adbusters linked to it on its website -- exciting. Surprise surprise, I won't be buying anything today, except maybe some groceries.

Meanwhile, the New York Times opines today that the Age of Consumption might be drawing to a close.

:(

A quote from the article: "The Obama administration needs to encourage the sort of saving that will put consumers on sounder financial footing and free up resources that could be directed at long overdue investments in transportation infrastructure, alternative energy, education, worker training and the like. This strategy would not only create jobs but would also cut America’s dependence on foreign saving and imports. That would help reduce the current account deficit and the heavy foreign borrowing such an imbalance entails."

Right on. Though it's hard to save anything when you've got no income or profits ...

UPDATE: Looks like not everyone in the NYC metro area read the NYT op-ed this morning, as a Long Island WalMart employee was trampled to death by crazed bargain hunters. A pregnant woman also got caught up in the melee. Important to remember that most people would be outraged by this, and maybe even the crowd responsible for this tragic incident would be outraged themselves once they had come down off their cheap Chinese import-fueled high, but that still doesn't make it any easier to accept that it happened in the first place. WTF.

This Gawker posting isn't so depressing -- it just features photos of shoppers Black Fridaying it up. So perplexing that people would put themselves through this sort of pushy-shovey experience. Even for an iWiiBox or Bratz doll, it just doesn't seem worth it.

Comments

[mamaseoul]

I did Black Friday in the 90's a few times and then not again until 2006. We needed suitcases and we thought,"We'll just be at Kohl's at 5am when it opens, grab the suitcases and get out of there."

We got there at 5:05am and couldn't park anywhere near it. Curt got in line as soon as we got in the store and the line wrapped around the entire store. We didn't get out of there until 8:00am. We almost had to leave without our purchases because we had to get the dog to the vet at 9:00am for her international health certificate to go to Egypt and Ian's baptism was at 11:00. People were cutting in line. It was awful and the opposite of the holiday spirit. In the 90's it was nothing like that. It was crowded, but not insane, especially if you went early.

NEVER AGAIN! It is not worth it. I would rather pay more than fight for consumer goods and watch people sneak into the line. This Wal-Mart thing is crazy. They didn't want to leave the store after the death, they wanted to keep shopping because they had been out in the cold all night. As for the management, I don't think that they didn't care, they just never imagined that people would be so crazed. Next year, though, the big stores need to make changes.

I, however, will not be there!