Future Economy: The Real Reason Why I Didn’t Shop on Black Friday

I did not shop today.  Well, I did have my husband stop for some milk; I figure that doesn’t count.  Will I be shopping tomorrow?  Nope.  Not unless it’s for a necessity.  Cyber Monday?  No again.

Am I totally un-American?  Do I want the economy to fall even further down the hole?

No.  What I’m looking for is total transformation, although I don’t know how to bring it about (collectively; of course I can’t do it myself).  I wrote about this previously on my other blog, giving the spiritual underpinning to my decision not to shop.

You see, I don’t think our current economic model is sustainable.  It depends on constant growth, for one thing.  How can we have constant growth without eventually using up our resources?  But if a company doesn’t show increased sales, or if an organization doesn’t show increased membership, it’s not a success, regardless of anything else it may have accomplished or contributed to society.

Our current economy also depends on consumerism.  It’s dependent on people producing, selling, and buying things that they don’t really need.  This is supposed to create more jobs for everyone, so that we can all earn money to spend on things we don’t really need.  Does that sound like a healthy basis for an economy?

Black Friday is the High Holy Day of consumerism.  Sure, some people are buying things that they actually need.  But I would guess that most are not.  And the stores aren’t advertising huge specials on fresh produce and toilet paper.  They’re advertising hot electronic items.

Therefore, I decided not to participate.  Many people call this “Buy Nothing Day.”  I’m just calling it a choice that’s in line with my values.

Critics say that not shopping for one day accomplishes nothing.  This is a valid criticism.  If you choose not to shop on Black Friday, but spend heedlessly the rest of the year, that makes no sense and does no good.  If I were to refrain from shopping today, but go all out on Cyber Monday, that would be meaningless.  Not shopping in Black Friday is just symbolic, so we have to be sure to make it a symbol of the way we live our whole lives.

But what is this new way to live?  There are things you can do to start living differently right now; you probably know some of these already:

• Buy used
• Buy local
• Barter for the things you need
• Buy with cash only
• Spend mindfully, not indiscriminately
• Use Freecycle to give and obtain items
• Share things like tools, books, and magazines with friends, family and neighbors instead of everyone buying their own.
• Share meals (and their costs) with friends, family and neighbors.

These are good and necessary steps, but they will still not be enough.  We will need community-wide changes and support systems as well.  Co-operative systems already in place (like the People’s Food Co-op in Portland) are part of the future economy, and the co-op model can be applied in many ways.  Basically, we need to develop systems that support local economies and use local resources wisely.  This could include:

• Food-buying co-ops
• Food-preparing and eating co-ops, or community kitchens
• Community gardens in which people work together and share in the bounty (rather than just having individual plots)
• Local currencies that can be used to buy products and services in the community
• Communal living and co-housing, in which people pool their resources so that all can have a decent, affordable  place to live
• Community tool libraries
• Community car-sharing (or increased availability of ZipCars)

What about reforms to the government/society as a whole?  That’s a good question.  Should the government even be involved in our economic lives?  Or should problems like health care, hunger, adequate housing, and joblessness be handled at the local level instead?

I’m starting to think that might be the way to go, IF people will actually do it.  See, we got into all of these government safety nets because people (elderly, poor, children, disabled) weren’t being taken care of.  So is it really reasonable to expect that if federal or even state safety nets are taken away, the local communities will spread out their own nets?  It’s a conundrum, for me anyway.

There are other governmental issues to consider as well, like tax incentives to support and incentivize these lifestyle changes.

How will we do all this?  Hey, I’ve got to save something for future blog entries!