The Retail Rat Race?
We often talk about the ‘fetishization of commodities’, or the idea that consumption in modern society is as much (if not more) of a sport than a practice grounded in genuine need. Sure, certain luxuries also meet true needs (iPod, anyone?) but many things we all buy (more jeans! new shoes! camera phones!) do not fulfill any need (I already own plenty of shoes) but rather are products of our habits of consumption, and nothing more. What to do? I certainly am not ‘zen’ enough to rid myself of my consumptive desires. Yet, I also worry about how my hyperconsumption affects the world beyond me. So do these people:
While many people will spend countless hours this year lining up at Wal-Mart and maxing out their credit cards at Nordstrom, a small Bay Area group has declared it will do just the opposite.
Now, I’m not making any commitments here. But I will say that their ideas present an excellent POV, and a legitimate challenge to those of us who value conservation and are not blind champions of vapid consumption. So I ask you … can you go 6 months without buying anything new?
xtina Says:
I think i orginally saw the link on anil dashes’ page. The article did get me thinking — so i’ve been pondering it for a while. We *have* fetishized consumption…we even expend far more than we can afford in the drive to acquire hence the negative savings levels we have here in the good ole us of a. Consumerism has replaced leisure. Remember after 9/11 all the commercials that reminded us that it was our duty to buy to ‘keep the economy going’.
Limiting consumption to ‘food, health and safety items and underwear’ would be very difficult for most people. One of our friends was commenting that she feels like ‘it’s all about buying’ so much so that her time spent with people somehow feels co-opted by that drive. For some people like wade it would be easier as he has not fully internalized that consumeristic urge. He buys what he needs (flat panel television? we rilly rilly need it;) and not a thing more. However i have internalized that drive and boy o boy can i shop. I drive the shopping wagon here at casawex. Sometimes there is tension bewteen us on that level. Certainly i have questioned the drive and often i do step back from the act and say ‘ya know we don’t really need this. But all to often i don’t…we try to have a good balance between new & used, but we could try harder!
’tis a good challenge tho. Can you imagine all the quiche you’d have iffin you did this & cut out all alkyhall, prepared food & restaurant purchases too?
Mebbe i can go six months but first i must have me my powerbook! Altho the withdrawal sounds scary too. Something similar happened to me after about two weeks of not having a teevee back in the fall of 1998.
Posted on February 16th, 2006 at 10:53 am