14 DAY TRIAL // The Buy Nothing Day movement, which began slowly in the early 1990s, now benefits from the support of millions worldwide, from Australia and the UK to Russia and the United States. In the midst of the economic crisis that now plagues the world, this movement might not be a question of choice anymore, but, rather, become one of necessity.
Advocates of the idea say that it was consumerism that pushed the economy in the hole it is in right now, by artificially increasing demand and forcing retailers to look all around the globe for a source of products. Loans and spending have been glorified by authorities, banks and the central media, while independent publications and activists kept drawing attention to the fact that the economy, no matter how strong, would not be able to stand such forced transactions.
The Adbusters website has been at the spearhead of this movement for all these years, organizing protests at supermarkets, and even wearing zombie suits between the shelves of malls such as Wal-Mart. Their protests gathered even more followers, until the first movement also appeared in other countries, though in each country the name of the initiative may differ. For example, in the UK, it's called "No Shop Day," but the basic principle is the same – no buying on that day.
This movement does not comprise sick or insane people; it's made of regular folks who realized that buying stuff for the sake of buying harms the environment, the national economy, and, ultimately, themselves. And their question is, why would you hurt yourself? Why buy a bunch of stuff, if it is of little practical use?
The post-consumerist era we are currently in at this moment is characterized by the fact that more and more people are starting to realize that their habits, of constantly buying all sorts of things, from super and hypermarkets, is not healthy and that they should stop before the situation spirals out of control.