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 ...
And when the economy completely crashes you will look back on this and finally see what a capitalistic society requires.
There's nothing wrong with common sense and frugality when it comes to spending one's money but why does this have to be made into a self-righteous fashion statement?
Interesting home page...I have your link thingy saved in Notepad, just copy and paste and insert correct info..done!
Wackos. But let 'em be wackos if they want; it's just more for me.
sustainable alternatives to new shoe polish
And not everything about the Puritans was great, either.
I think you have to fix your car when it breaks down.
But I like the fact that these people were not spastic consumers, oh i need this or that or that other thing.
I think Socrates said something about the value of living an examined life...these people seemed to have done it in respect to using thier money wisely.
I think they can see an impulse buy a mile away.....LOL
I do, but it doesn't have to be purchased very often. A big tin of black shoe polish will last for years.
You are the one that seems to be seeing self-righteousness out of these people. They could have started doing this merely for themselves.
There was an article this past year about how some people of means who managed to live by going through the garbage. The woman said she found a lot of designer clothes in the garbage that were perfectly good to wear.
I don't remember if the found food like that.
ping
You are correct.
But there's a fine line between being overly consumeristic, and being a totally anti-materialistic "commune" San Francisco type that thinks we should all live like Thoreau.
Needs what? Folks perpetually in debt? Folks trampling each other to get at Black Friday sales to get the latest gadget that will end up gathering dust in the closet anyways?
I'm not suggesting that everyone abstain from buying, all at the same time, however, common sense and frugality (as the poster in #22 suggests) can be good things.
I don't "need" one but sure as hell want to get one as soon as I can!
And the prices will come down another 40% this year I hear.
When I need a 'shopping fix'....I go to the Goodwill 2 blocks from work....
I can spend $5 and come out with bags of books, kithcen gadgets, crafts stuff and just fun stuff.
And I don't feel guilty if in a month, I bring it back :)
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.
This story/cause is being printed and reprinted everywhere. Their message may not be "consumerism is evil" but Guardian-minded people will trumpet that interpretation.
The fact of the matter is that some of worst qualities of New England Puritanism actually gradually morphed into self-righteous busy-body leftism. The constant itch to meddle into other people's affairs and prove one's superiority over the 'unenlightened' survive to this very day.
For example, the direct descendants of the Puritan churches, the United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalists, are excellent examples of this.
My husband turned in his lease two years ago and since then we have been sharing one car.
Let me tell you what it is like for two people, both work, sifferent schedules, sharing one car.
IT FREAKING SUCKS!!!!!
That's what I was trying to get at!
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