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Buy Nothing Day

buynothingday.co.uk

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61–70 of 88 posts

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#61

Post by paulryanrogers »

nntwozz wrote: post #41

The problem with consumerism is a function of money and capitalism, in a perfect world where everything is made 100% free and fair and with no environmental impact the consumption behavior would be the same (or even worse). Would we still consider it a problem then? In Star Trek there is no money and you can replicate whatever you need/want. Is that utopia or are we still doing something wrong?

> In Star Trek there is no money and you can replicate whatever you need/want.

Where does the replicator input come from? What happens to all the matter that's produced? It's a fascinating idea, and I appreciate the exploration of a moneyless society. Yet even in that fiction they so often complain about the replicator quality, trade disputes, and resource wars.

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#63

Post by nozzlegear »

portaouflop wrote: post #7

Some people find it such a challenge to not excessively consume they have to dedicate a special day for when they manage to not buy something for 24 hours - we’re so cooked

> we’re so cooked

What does this mean in this context?

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#64

Post by milesvp »

Kwpolska wrote: post #16
Scene_Cast2 wrote: post #9

I actually found Black Friday to help me be less focused on consumerism during the rest of the year. When I want to buy something, I typically jot it down on my "thoughts for BF" list. Then, when everyone is having sales, I can dedicate time and through the yearly purchases. Also helps prevent impulse purchases as well.

That assumes that Black Friday deals are actual deals and there was no sneaky price increase two days earlier.

Or worse the same SKU but “for black friday”. It was common for things like TVs to be marketed in such a way as to think it was the same product as previously, but instead was a lesser product like a tv with fewer ports and a shorter warranty (which would imply cheaper life limited components like capacitors).

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#65

Post by Vinnl »

Freak_NL wrote: post #40

Black Friday is one of those imported things we could do without. Did you know shops in the Netherlands are now massively participating in Black Friday? We didn't even have this 'event' ten years ago. Because of our Sinterklaas gift giving event on 5 December people would have been out shopping for presents in any case (like Xmas presents, just earlier and with the OG Santa instead of the Coca Cola dude), so in terms…

Seriously, we import all the hyper-commercial "holidays" from the US, and then skip the one fun one (Halloween).

(Yes I know (I think) that it did not originate in the us.)

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#66

Post by prokopton »

nicbou wrote: post #53
Freak_NL wrote: post #40

Black Friday is one of those imported things we could do without. Did you know shops in the Netherlands are now massively participating in Black Friday? We didn't even have this 'event' ten years ago. Because of our Sinterklaas gift giving event on 5 December people would have been out shopping for presents in any case (like Xmas presents, just earlier and with the OG Santa instead of the Coca Cola dude), so in terms…

In Japan too. Black Friday has become a meaningless global sales event.

Is it any worse than Singles Day?

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#67

Post by drdeca »

nntwozz wrote: post #41

The problem with consumerism is a function of money and capitalism, in a perfect world where everything is made 100% free and fair and with no environmental impact the consumption behavior would be the same (or even worse). Would we still consider it a problem then? In Star Trek there is no money and you can replicate whatever you need/want. Is that utopia or are we still doing something wrong?

It would at least be significantly less of a problem, if items purchased didn’t have such negative externalities as part of their production.

I don’t see why a culture significantly less prone to desiring items that aren’t actually all that beneficial, would be incompatible with capitalism?

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#68

Post by mkipper »

Kwpolska wrote: post #16
Scene_Cast2 wrote: post #9

I actually found Black Friday to help me be less focused on consumerism during the rest of the year. When I want to buy something, I typically jot it down on my "thoughts for BF" list. Then, when everyone is having sales, I can dedicate time and through the yearly purchases. Also helps prevent impulse purchases as well.

That assumes that Black Friday deals are actual deals and there was no sneaky price increase two days earlier.

In my experience, retailers will do this to make their “special” Black Friday sale similar to regular sales that roll around every few months, but I have never seen or heard of a company pulling this to the point where they’re selling stuff for higher than the normal full price.

So you’re right that Black Friday might not be the best time to buy something, but it’s fine if you want to get something at a good price and don’t feel like putting any effort into tracking prices throughout the year.

Re: Buy Nothing Day

#70

Post by potsandpans »

nozzlegear wrote: post #63
portaouflop wrote: post #7

Some people find it such a challenge to not excessively consume they have to dedicate a special day for when they manage to not buy something for 24 hours - we’re so cooked

> we’re so cooked What does this mean in this context?

It means, "were fucked." Toast. Were done for. Stick a fork in us.
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