Posted on 01/07/2007 4:48:05 PM PST by fishhound
It started as a pledge over dinner between friends worried about the impact of mass consumerism and today's disposable society.
"Let's see if we can give up shopping for a year," they said. advertisement
Now, at the close of the "12-month flight from the consumer grid" — in which the 10 friends were egged on by thousands of supporters inspired by their idea — some have declared the experiment so revelatory and life-changing that they plan to continue the boycott indefinitely.
The 10 middle-class professionals living in San Francisco dubbed themselves the "Compact" after the Mayflower Compact, drafted by Puritan pilgrims who reached the New World in 1620.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
"The moment I knew you were good people is when you mentioned the important things in life and you included banjoes and fiddles. You've got your priorities straight."
As I have traveled through this world, I have found the most important things to be a pistol, a $100 bill, and a banjo. Also worth noting is that among musicians, banjo players are by far the most likely to be packing. I mentioned this one time at a music festival in a group of six men who played banjoes, and damned if 4 of the 6 didn't pull out a pistol.
Best banjo joke: How is a banjo player like a premature orgasm? A: You can see one coming but you can't do a damn thing about it.
Sorry for the hijack, but this thread is probably about played out anyway.
Amish farmers thought of this first.
It's really not a horrible idea. Like a lot of things, they are done to the extreme to make a point.
I think it would behoove us all to just cut our descretionary spending by 10% and see what a difference it makes in our lives. Pay off your bills. Save the money. Actually pay cash for stuff--I know a lot of you do this, but most Americans don't. I know I've gotten sloppy--when some stuff breaks, it is just replaced.
I think its a good lesson for everyone.
So what are they going to do to reduce the outrageous cost of living, there. And could they use the money they saved to save the homeless so we don't have to hear about them, anymore?
Browse the big chain bookstores but buy nothing (well, maybe a magazine), but note the book titles and their authors that you'd like to read. Go to the library and search thru the interlibrary loan system (ask the librarian for help if you don't know what that means), thereby finding out if a certain book, CD or DVD is available at one of the many libraries in your county. Order it online from the library, no need to buy. (Buying stuff just clutters up your house.) If you're careful about return dates, you can obtain the item for use scott-free for three weeks, with possible extensions.
If "the economy" only provides a host of things that people, on a moment's thought, decide they can live better without, what difference does it make if this "economy" crashes? Frankly, with entitlement spending ballooning as it has lately, and given that government revenues come from taxes, I think an economic crash might be good for conservatism, that is, limited government.
How much?
" Everything else would be borrowed..."
That's just living off the next guy. Who are they kidding?
"The U.S. has morphed into such a consumer-driven culture where there's a lot of pressure to keep up with the Joneses, even if it means taking on debt."
Nearly every town in this country has temples to consumerism with names like Target, Walmart, K-mart being the most popular and have a large a daily attendance by the masses of faithful worshipers.
It's amazing how much stuff we buy that we don't really need.
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Amen, and what is really amazing is how many people go into high interest debt to buy things they don't need and don't use. Think about it, working long hours to pay taxes and then spend what is left to pay interest on money that might as well have been (as my wild and wooly father used to say) "shoved up a wild hog's ass"! There is way too much of it going on. I have done it myself but I don't intend to ever do it again.
Besides, have the medical effects of depriving a woman of shopping for so long a time period been adequately documented?
I doubt there is a single person living in San Francisco the Puritans would want associated with them.
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On that subject, I do not believe the Puritans ever one went to the mall to shop.
I personally know hundreds of people who live very frugally. There are millions of devout Christians who use as much of their resources as possible to do the work of Jesus.
What is the big deal? I spent years living like that when we didn't have much money. I still prefer to make something myself if I can or to do my own repairs.
Well, that's an idea. Actually the paint is good but some drips where they got a little sloppy. I COULD use them in my dr spanning four windows and my gdaughter wanted them for bookcase doors. Even if they are a little short for my windows, I could also use them in a couple of bedrooms and make balloon curtains or something.
I DO like the table idea though. Thanks! :-).
So many ideas. So little time.
Only idiots in Manhattan/NYC or California would find managing to buy stuff second hand, or bartering for things you need "revolutionary and newsworthy".
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