#OCCUPYXMAS Kicks Off with Buy Nothing Day, Nov 25/26
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 23, 2011, 10:32 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
from Adbusters:
You’ve been sleeping on the streets for two months pleading peacefully for a new spirit in economics. And just as your camps are raided, your eyes pepper sprayed and your head’s knocked in, another group of people are preparing to camp-out. Only these people aren’t here to support occupy Wall Street, they’re here to secure their spot in line for a Black Friday bargain at Super Target and Macy’s.
Occupy gave the world a new way of thinking about the fat cats and financial pirates on Wall Street. Now lets give them a new way of thinking about the holidays, about our own consumption habits. Lets’ use the coming 20th annual Buy Nothing Day to launch an all-out offensive to unseat the corporate kings on the holiday throne.
This year’s Black Friday will be the first campaign of the holiday season where we set the tone for a new type of holiday culminating with #OCCUPYXMAS. As the global protests of the 99% against corporate greed and casino capitalism continues, lets take the opportunity to hit the empire where it really hurts…the wallet.
On Nov 25/26th we escape the mayhem and unease of the biggest shopping day in North America and put the breaks on rabid consumerism for 24 hours. Flash mobs, consumer fasts, mall sit-ins, community events, credit card-ups, whirly-marts and jams, jams, jams! We don’t camp on the sidewalk for a reduced price tag on a flat screen TV or psycho-killer video game. Instead, we occupy the very paradigm that is fueling our eco, social and political decline.
Historically, Buy Nothing Day has been about fasting from hyper consumerism – a break from the cash register and reflecting on how dependent we really are on conspicuous consumption. On this 20th anniversary of Buy Nothing Day, we take it to the next level, marrying it with the message of #occupy…
We #OCCUPYXMAS.
Shenanigans begin November 25!
Support local stores and small business.
BOYCOTT corporations and franchises.
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to change America.
I think i would need to see YOUR bank statements RICO
BEFORE I WOULD BELIEVE A WORD..!!!
oh and the repetition...oh my.
I am baffled why people seem unable to evaluate an idea on it's merits alone. You DO have a mind, and you are perfectly capable of evaluating an idea without having to "trust" the author. I for one, trust your MIND.
I admitted to being part of the 5% at http://occupywallst.org/forum/one-percenter-ready-to-join-if/ . I have also been arguing for getting the money out of government/politics at http://occupywallst.org/forum/we-the-people-in-order-to-a-proposal/ . The full premise behind the shopping guidelines originated in the post at http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-power-of-the-people/ .
rico I,m a building designer here in australia, I was thinking maybe I could send you a PDF of a little job I am doing for a fee proposal.
No thanks. Between my job and the new found sense of activism spawned by OWS, I'm already sleep deprived on a near permanent basis !
well thats not good news, glad you are so dedicated to OWS though what type of engineer are you, just curious..?
Systems Engineer
Rico, my question to you is what do you do for a living? How is it you have so much time to do all this work?
I am an Engineer. I've been working a LOT of overtime to participate here while also getting all my work done. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep it up, but I'll go until I drop if that's what it takes to see change.
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You totally fail to see the irony in your statement don't you, moron.
Rather than engage in a productive discussion, you cast insults. Either you are a troll trying to tear down the movement or you are a deluded member of the movement working against it.
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Just telling it like it is. Like I said - you totally fail to see the irony in your statement. Your response only serves to reinforce my initial comment. Nice work.
Disengage, assess, re-engage, understanding.
Who do you think produces the products that local stores sell? Corporations that's who. What are you trying to prove? Who are you trying to hurt? And what are you trying to accomplish?
My city still has a local hand crafted furniture shop...it's a start. If hand crafted goods start selling better they can be produced cheaper and it will encourage other small business owners.
And then a corporation will come along and sell this product much cheaper. My respects to the hand crafted store, but their prices must be outrageous to meet their overhead. Who can afford stuff like that?
Maybe if you just bought "one" you could afford it. Think about. How many thingamabobs do you need? Spend more on better quality, and just have one. That's how "old money" used to do it. They were never spendthrifts. I'd rather have one custom tailored jacket than ten cheap made-in-China versions. Investing in quality actually motivates you to be more creative. (...as well as "learn" to save up!)
You hit the nail on the head.
Not with anything near the style or quality. Though you are right the prices are higher than you might find for furniture at Wal-mart or the others. It's a difficult position to be in...support local or buy what you can afford. I guess you have to use your best judgement and make the differences where you can.
One could argue.....would I prefer to purchase from this local guy who charges an outrageous price?....or would I prefer to purchase something that tons of hands touched and affected that many more lives? The local furniture store sounds more appealing for those who can afford it, 1%.
But I do agree......it's up to consumers judgement.
Interesting that you deem what the local guy charges for something made in America or non-assembly line crafted, as being an "outrageous price."
I'm afraid you've become conditioned to the high-volume, low-margin, Third World sweatshop price to the extent that you don't even find it suspicious that a shirt, made by human beings, with an average of 15 separate pieces of fabric and facing, could be cut, matched, sewn, darted, faced, buttonholed, buttoned, sized, pressed, packaged, carton-packed, containered, shipped, cleared, trucked, delivered, received, unpacked, shelved, displayed, and sold for only $16.99.
Think about it. Someone out there is working for next to nothing.
My mother was part of that process. Sure she didn't work in a nice A/C environment, that you and I have been conditioned to consider adequate, but it got her 8 brothers and sisters through elementary school and provided the opportunity for them to excel. The other option would have been to not have that job. Which would you chose?
I guess I'm a fan of the assembly line =]
Not sure what point you are attempting to support. Your mother, if having worked in the USA, did not slave for 12 hours a day earning $1.20 as workers in China do. Then you say you are a fan of the assembly line, which eliminates jobs for people. I think you are on the wrong forum.
She worked more than 12 hours a day at times for much less than what you and I consider to be adequate. But the other option was to not eat. She didn't work in the US. And if it wasn't for that assembly line she'd have been broke and her family wouldn't have been able to focus on school. Thank goodness that through that company she was able to progress. Through the process the next generations were able to graduate from college. What a blessing!!
Wrong forum? I thought anyone was allowed to share their points of view here. I'm just providing perspective.
On a global perspective you make a point. The question is can the US reinvent itself to survive without any production jobs, call center jobs, etc? It would be quite a challenge to not fall into a purely service based industry and surrender status as a first world country.
I try to work this problem out all the time: what the heck can Americans produce (besides "entertainment")?? I don't think there's just one answer, such as "leather shoes!"
I see a considerable return to local agricultural business-- growing, harvesting, seeds, equipment, distribution, retail, "fresh tables", agri-tourism, consulting, managing, etc... the list could go on. Everyone needs to eat, and I don't think that food is ever going to be a niche industry!
Next, it is proven, throughout history, that the ARTS generates commerce. Arts stimulates culture in communities, and arts communities attract more arts, the educated, the upwardly mobile, developers, restaurants, tourism, etc. I predict that medium-sized towns and regional small town areas will wake up and begin investing in local crafts and art producing concerns. Look at what DIA Beacon did for a half-dead upstate New York town that was riddled with unemployment, drugs, crime, and white flight. It still has a way to go, but no one can discount the renaissance that has occurred. Read about Millville, New Jersey which saw an interesting opportunity in the local crafts community. Today, the entire town revolves around the arts district called "Glasstown", and Millville can proudly say that the boom in tourism has completely turned around a downward economic slide the town was in the grips of.
The bottom line is that Republicans and conservatives who would cut funding for arts programs at every conceivable turn are in effect, discouraging creativity and killing economic potential on an organic level.
Next, and perhaps should have been first on the list, are smaller energy companies that are innovating with biodiesel and organic-based (algae) fuels, as well as entirely new technologies in electrochemical fuel cell batteries (see Bloom Energy!), in addition to the renewable energy methods of sun, wind, geo-thermal, and hydro. Better get science back into your home-school curriculum kids, or the only job you'll be qualified for is prison guard.
Other opportunities may be found in alternative and wholistic medicine health-care which could assist some people who cannot afford commercial "health" treatments or insurance, as well as a growing number of practitioners who opt to work outside of the current health insurance racket, charging reasonable, manageable prices for services.
Rising need for Eldercare and senior living facilities is spurring the fastest growing sector in real estate development, making it also a good bet for investment, jobs, and community stability.
But as far as IMMEDIATE actions, the United States has billions of dollars in infrastructure projects that require an almost emergency-level of attention. A WPA-like federal job/works program should be instigated to get millions of laid-off factory and industrial plant workers as well as returning war veterans back to work as soon as possible. Unless the constipation in congress be evacuated soon, we will not only see this opportunity pass, as premium-priced military contractors will wrangle to appropriate these projects thru political bribery (and no doubt manage to import cheap labor from other countries!), but we'll see increasing structural failures and disasters like bridge collapses, dam breaches, train derailments, power blackouts, etc. that will inevitably be blamed on whoever happens to be president at the time.
There is some hope in those points, but we would have to see some major changes for sustainability to occur. We would have to see increased government responsibility (as you mentioned with "emergency-level" attention). I am concerned that near hopelessness in that field is why this dialogue is occurring now. If the economy continues to decline, the health industry may see some balancing and price reductions as people turn to homeopathy or simply are forced suffer and die without treatments. When people cannot afford to see a physician, we may see the OTC pharmaceutical market open up (the drug companies haven't stopped selling overseas because foreigners won't pay the same exorbitant prices). Innovation is always a hope. Anything we can perfect and gain respect for may draw foreign investment as well. We are seeing a boom in senior living and elder care , but that boom will be temporary unless we see economic gains in other areas (the following generations won't be able to afford comfort in old age without savings and government assistance). Let's keep the pressure on our government (we take damn good care of them and it should be a two way street) and be conscious shoppers. Use our buying power to support our citizens rather than big companies and secure our future.
Vote with your wallet.
I agree, vote with your wallet. If people do not buy Chinese goods, then Walmart will not sell them, rather they will sell what people will buy. Sellers will only sell what buyers are willing to buy and at prices that buyers are willing to pay. Basic economics. Don't forget that sellers have to contend with human nature.
Maybe you should try voting with your brains. That would make a refreshing change.
TROLL confirmed.
what jimmy could not articulate is that some of those small businesses are corporations. secondly, almost everything you can buy in any store, big or small, is made by a corporation. most small manufacturing companies operate under n LLC. you should ask Mr Hall, who has a corporation set up for this movement down the road, and is involved heavily in the NYCGA.
here, let me share the link with you, notice the LLC up top of the page
http://www.lghtsrc.org
his proof of membership.
http://www.nycga.net/members/tedwardhall/activity/32127/
you need to chill out little homie.
In current parlance "corporation" is generally used to represent the 1%. The inability to conceptualize or understand metaphors should provoke discussion, not insults.
a corporation is just that. the current "parlance" is derived from idiots with an IQ hovering around 90.
Thanks Richard.
no prob dude.
MORON confirmed. LOL.
Corporations are FINANCIAL PARASITES... their sole reason to exist is to usurp power from Public Institutions and then misrepresent that as their accomplishments. In 1978 the average salary for a janitor in US dollars TODAY was 38.000 a year...at that time if you and a university degree you could be hired for an average of 42.000 a year....there were plenty of UNIONS and GOVERNMENT JOBS...WHAT happened then??? Neoliberalism happened...Reaganomics... PRIVATIZATION HAPPENED... Since Reagan ALL US presidents have been Neoliberals, this means that they will try to privatize the state to run it like a corporation... so WHO will you go to for a redress of grievances??? Goldman Sachs?? Walmart's CEO??? Good luck with that one...
People are so ignorant many still want more privatization and more private jobs as our democracy slips away even further... Elizabeth Warren Harvard professor on Corporate law explains in a lecture at Berkeley... IF WE ARE TO HAVE A DEMOCRACY...THEN 99% OF CAPITALISM HAS TO BE ELIMINATED OR WE CAN GO BACK TO 91% taxation to the financial parasites:
http://youtu.be/akVL7QY0S8A
If you are/were unemployed, how would you like to be hired for at least 38.000 a year today?
Privatization, the Corporate Parasites, started big throtle with the last period of Eisenhower and the "Military Private Complex" which was a big step in the wrong direction...1961...some like Chris Hedges argue that it started when the safety net was tampered with ...HMO's and Nixon in 1972... The huge conflict here is that we cannot afford to have any middle entity between voters and their public servants... the middle men always want a slice of the pie for no reason... plus democracy is supposed to be a direct relation voter-public servant...
Reagan did attack the Unions and labeled the SAME government he wanted to run as evil..."government is the problem... inaugural speech 1981"...he called for the starving fo the beats which has a two layer component... 1) Appointing he worst administrators so they destroy institutions...like Geithner or W Bush... then part 2) Underfund government because it can't do anything right...well, except endlessness bail out the financial parasitic 1% at the top with a 27 TRILLION bail out...see last reports from the TARP commission...
We also went from having the smallest prison system during Carter to the largest prison system int he world...during Reagan due to privatization... Reagan passed the sentencing guidelines under the excuse that prisoners were given lengthy sentences BUT the sentencing guideline guaranteed that people got more time than ever before...public relations at work here... the the failed war on drugs which started during Nixon...
and Bush 41 passed the Mandatory Minimums in 1987... we now have 41 MILLION convicted felons... and 7.5 million people in prison at 0.15 cents per hour and no bathroom breaks...it doesn't get any better for capitalists... slavery at the expense of first time non violent offenders in the most failed war in history... funded at 1 trillion a year...
Please consider links bellow:
http://threetrilliondollarwar.org/2011/06/02/wars-are-one-of-the-main-reasons-why-the-us-debt-is-so-high/
By 2067 ALL US adults will have a felony criminal record att he current rate...what an accomplishment!...also:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/US_incarceration_timeline-clean.svg
Privatization costs 3-4 times MORE and diminishes all goods and services including jobs, also:
http://pogoarchives.org/m/co/igf/bad-business-report-only-2011.pdf
The US spends 100 times MORE than all industrialized nations combined but we have the worst systems....WHY? Can you spell Privatization?
http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/interactivities_04-7.php
Correct OWS isn't trying to cancel Christmas, don't get excited,but the fact of the matter is ,that if you don't threaten to take the entire Kingdom, then the King wouldn't see fit to gladly relinquish half of it to keep the remaining balance. At the very ,very least we should not use a credit card the entire season, lets see what happens to rates when they think we've lost the taste for paying a % of our own money for the luxury of spending it, I remember a time when a bank would give you a free toaster or clock radio or something added with a 5% interest rate on your savings account, now they act as if you're putting them out to have to handle your cash,,,well lets relieve them of that burden to the best of our ability....................Anonymous
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David - Small local stores sell products made locally. Do your own test. Go into a Corporate store and find any product you'd like to buy. Read the label and see where it's made. The challenge is to only buy products made in America. Even most of the food sold in Big Box stores comes from outside our borders.
Small retail stores, in small towns across our country, still sell products made in America, usually locally made. Purchasing those products keeps your dollar local and that supports your community. If everyone did the same, communities would begin to thrive again, as your dollar goes into local pockets, and their dollar goes into local pockets, the circle of energy grows. When you purchase a product made in China, you're supporting slave labor and all of the middlemen in-between.
If you search, you can find clothing made locally. It does exist, but requires searching beyond Corporate Big Box stores. Purchase food at local farmers co-ops instead of huge "discount" stores.
The video I posted today is a great link to share with others, as part of what is going on is waking people up to the reality that We The People are the solution. Not politicians and their rules, regulations which are driven by Corporate money under the table!
Not Americans but the Chinese produce them. Are you worried for Chinese or the exploiters?
Franchises are small businesses idiot!
Franchises are often extensions of megacorproations, limited to single source purchasing and other ways of sucking money out of local communities and funneling it into the pockets of big business. Most people are smart enough to know the difference.
Casting insults does not add strength to your already vacuous statement.
Franchises, also called chain stores, can be independently owned/operated, but they are part of a corporation; obviously fastfood restaurants are franchises, like Herman Cain's old pizza chain, what was it, Brother Pizza or something? That company would simply close down a franchise if sales were poor for it. When Cain came aboard he simply, like is usual by corporations, went into debt and layed people of in the name of profit. Capitalism at it's best.
"Brother" Pizza? Sounds a little racist to me?
Franchising by mega corporations all over the world is what fuels hatred and resentment against the US all over the world. When these spring up in foreign countries they shut the ma and pa places down. A Franchise is designed to eliminate competition.
Agreed.
Franchises are bought and run by the 99%. Once again OWS proves they could care less about us.
Depending on the requirements of the franchise, it may or may not be accessible to the 99%. We can't discuss franchises all under the same umbrella.
@ Perspective... You don't clarify the class of franchise you seek to argue for. The fast food franchises such as; Taco Bell, Subway, Popeye's, etc, require $3 million liquid to even apply for the opportunity. You might be in a time warp dude. Do some more homework. Happy Thanksgiving!
And all come with regulations - and 11-50% paid in royalities. They often have national campaign ads. Television even sometimes. You can't change what the store looks like, or sometimes can't even pick where it goes, or what days you can be open. That's NOT a small business. A small business is...small. Local. Only your city/state really even know about it. You have complete control over a small business, you own it all, can make it look like whatever you want. Franchises are somewhere in the middle of small business, and corporations...you're basically paying for the one of the hardest things to obtain in a small business - a customer base.
Only the top 5% of 99ers can afford to own a franchise.
And how much of a franchise's profits goes back to the main corporation? How much did that business owner have to take out in a loan to pay the franchise fee? What percentage of the franchise is controlled by the company?
Franchises are 1% tools to proliferate a uniform set of products across the country. They are killing our culture, turning main streets everywhere into same streets. They stifle unique businesses by using large-scale purchasing power that small-business owners cannot compete with. It is in our best interests to oppose these chain stores in order to protect the unique small businesses that still exist.
NO need for the name calling.....and although Franchises are locally owned and operated they are still corporate ran,and follow strict corporate guidlines.to adhere to the corporate agenda,dictated by who ?...ta -da ...Stockholders which can range from controlling shares being held by as few as 1 person or his family and friends...depending on the size of course.....
buy nothing day, for me its like everyday! i can't afford to buy a fucking toothpick.
Morpheus says to Neo, “All I’m offering is the truth, nothing more.” Are you ready for the truth? Will you accept the pill? If you think so, this is your moment. The moment brought to you by the very essence of what the Occupy movement represents.
“Awakening to the Nightmare” at www.josephcouture.com The truth is waiting for you.
with all due respect, we are long past "revolutions", our little private spiritual wars with our big egos. all the way through post-modernity this was going on.
what's going on today is more about puking the blue pill out.
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I am not sure that this hurts only the 1%. The biggest abusers are the energy companies and the banks.
It would seem that such an action might actually hurt the small businesses that are fast going under. I took a drive two days ago across my county to the retail areas and noticed even more boarded up store fronts that have appeared just in the past few months.
Moreover, this is the temporary hiring season that many starving families get by on even if for nothing else to afford Christmas presents for their kids.
I am a huge supporter of the OWS movement, but this would really give fuel to the ongoing smear campaign against it by the media and their corporate masters.
Perhaps there is still time to rewrite this to encourage buying only from small businesses before the corporate media begins their onslaught and wins public support for their distortion. You won't get the public to go along with this move the way it is written anyway, so it will do more harm than good to keep it in it's present form.
Modify it while there is still time. How about:
BUY FROM THE 99%
John
Well, soon, more small businesses will closing up than they are now. Big companies close down franchises and stores and move on. Walmarts, 7-11 and CVS are taking over (I heard of one town who rose up against Walmart after their one and only single-owner department store on Main street closed. The townspeople got together and opened their own department store! They are the 99%!)
There are many Buy Local organizations that sprout up during the holidays.
We are Legion.
We support the 99%.
You are the 99%.
Buy from the 99%.
Feed the 99%.
EXACTLY !
We do NOT further our cause by annoying the 99% who WILL shop on Friday and who are "seasonal" employees that DO need to be called into work to make money. Rather than annoy and harm the 99% we support, let's EDUCATE them on how to shop responsibly !
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
a resource based economy must start sooner then later. by constantly coming up with clever thoughts and then repeated, on another view of why we must continue being "consumers" is really insane. Please stop your program and reboot
If you're a ZeitGeister you understand that society will evolve to the desired end-state. By getting Americans to shop responsibly, we move make an evolutionary step toward increased awareness.
I want to see a more intelligent end-state too, I just think it's best approached by 'nudging' society in that direction rather than ask them to completely change the world's economy in one swift action. As an Engineer, I also find the 'nudge' approach to be more practical.
Rico, I agree. American society is a fast moving and very long train, it won't turn on a dime. Also, making demands creates schisms as people who don't necessarily have a dog in the fight are made to feel stupid. Their natural response is to become defensive, which is counter productive. I say nudge and let your actions speak for themselves. A positive example is more powerful than a negative word.
I like your analogy, and it's nice to know I'm not alone in hoping for some positive action !
It is the mega merchandisers that hold black Friday. Walmarts, Best Buys, Targets, Kmarts, Sears etc are not your local Small Business Enterprise. These are monopolists and killers of small business, and import 99% of their goods from sweatshops overseas.
EXACTLY !
We do NOT further our cause by annoying the 99% who WILL shop on Friday and who are "seasonal" employees that DO need to be called into work to make money. Rather than annoy and harm the 99% we support, let's EDUCATE them on how to shop responsibly !
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
Thank you. Just visited your site and will spread the word. I do nonetheless see great value to the shopping boycott. I disagree with you that it will harm the seasonal employees. They are hired for the season and not the day.
Thats right, 1SiriusMagus! And thank you! We employ 20+ seasonal employees, we pay between 10 and 15.00 an hr plus bonuses based on productivity. And like the many other local producers our products can be found at LOCAL employee owned retailers! NOT WALMART.
I felt profoundly discouraged today as I read that 152 million shoppers made the majority of their purchases at the worst retailers of all: The Walmarts, Targets, and Macys' of our country. Mindlessly and senselessly eagerly filling the pockets of the most disloyal and unpatriotic US Corporations and their retailers and insuring the prosperity of the sweatshop owners in China, India and in every country were working people have no rights and no protections. What insane depravity!
Had these 152 million Americans made a commitment to shop their family owned local retailers and focused on purchasing goods made in America can you imagine what a boost and reward it would be to those business loyal to their towns and cities who do go the extra mile to manufacture in our country and to who commit to retailing goods MADE IN THE USA.
Then the glaring spectacle driven by the media response to this self defeating senselessness. Has anyone spotted an article or commentary anywhere that would provide a rundown on the wealth extracted out of local communities, the largess of the profit these unpatriotic corporations, their unscrupulous CEOs and shareholders. 152 million people behaving as if they have nothing to do with the outsourcing of American jobs!
Actually, my daughter is a seasonal employee, and they call her in on a day to day basis based on the workload and number of customers in the store. This is the only job she's been able to get after a year of applying for every possible job.
Thank you for sharing this info. I was unaware of this. An important fact to take into account in taking on this action. This is the challenge of OWS: Taking into considerations the impact on everyone. I will work on this at my end.
So if we boycott she doesn't get any work?? Does that make sense?
I don't what any given store will do. All I can say is that she and many otehrs are ONLY called in when the store get's super busy and they need staff. They usually only give an hour's notice or so.
Thats how it works even in America. So which employer would you boycott? The employer that pays a living wage and provides a quality product that was produced by Americans, or the Tightwad employer that pays sht wages and sells low quality products from abroad?
If we dont make a small sacrifice now, we will just be forced to make a huge sacrifice later. My daughter works in our Family business, I say you should at least stop by the locally owned stores and take a look around. Don't worry the parking lot was built for American cars, so there is plenty of room! ;)
EXACTLY. It's time to put our beliefs in action at the checkout register !
The shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit (where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks) are doing quite well. Spread the link !
But how many people do they employ? Also, I can't afford to pay $50 for a pair of jeans I can get from these guys for $25! There is a reason they are successful. hey sell good stuff cheaply!!
http://www.texasjeansusa.com/shop_USA_Made.html
Thats what I wear and they are better than any of the imports I have ever tried. My boots, local made, cost triple but last 5 yrs average, as opposed to 1-2 yrs, and are way the hell more comfortable.
Our small business vends 2 local (Employee owned) grocery chains. On behalf of our family and the many others I would like to thank those of you who have the presense of mind to support local family operated businesses!
P.S. You won't find these high quality products at any Walmart stores.
Because the stuff they sell is made in foreign countries were workers are paid slave wages. If I can't afford a USA made pair of jeans I just shop at a thrift store. At least then it supports people in my community who help others. Then the money I save I use to buy made in the USA. In terms of the number of people the big box stores employ: It is a fraction of those who lost their jobs through outsourcing - the main reason why poverty in the US is growing.
China and India both demand that the goods that will be sold in their markets be manufactured or assembled in their country by their workers. I'm not willing to sell the lively hood of American workers for a short term "good deal". It is self evident that in the long term it is turning America into a third world country. Our economic recovery is sluggish because the production of goods has been outsourced.
That's too high a price for me to pay to just get a "good deal". Also the majority of the big box stores pay at best minimum wage and frequently give no benefits to the majority of their employees. For years the tax payers were paying for the health care costs of Walmart employees because Walmart offered no Health care coverage. Most employees at Walmart were paid such a low wage that they qualified for food assistance. This is a form of corporate welfare. The State provides the support so that the corporation can have a guaranteed fat profit margin.
I don't know, how do you define "local" and all that, they find ways to co-opt this sort of stuff. And I don't believe that alternative consumerism is the answer. When the economy was at its best in the postwar era, people weren't consumerist, they were frugal. I'm in favour of across-the-board spending strikes like this. One day will have no real impact on anyone's bottom line, not even the small businesses, and that isn't the point of this to my mind. The point is to get people to wake up: if you can't not spend for just one day, you are an addict and you have a problem. There was a time (and our economy was actually doing better) when stores here couldn't open on Sundays, every Sunday. Every week there was a Buy Nothing Day. People managed, businesses managed, the economy certainly didn't go in the crapper every week, in fact it was doing pretty well. Not that I support religious influence on secular laws, but a weekly Buy Nothing Day was a fact for quite some time.
"One day will have no real impact on anyone's bottom line, not even the small businesses"
Actually it won't have as big of impact on the large Corporations as it will on the small local owned businesses. And since a much larger proportion of your money would be going back into your local community, this would likely have a noticable effect on the community far before it would even begin to hurt the multi billion dollar Corporations.
So I fail to see the downside! We don't actually need Importers, We have internet! So what the fk makes these large Corporations so damned important to people?
Well, you know, the "Buy Local" thing has been done. Alot. I'm not against the idea I'm just saying it generally goes nowhere.
You don't think there is any difference between purchasing goods from a neighbor, and purchasing goods from a large Corporation?
Which entity would be more likely to be supportive of your business, employer, or even your community? Not the large Corporations, they can get it cheaper elsewhere. They dont care about quality, the products are manufactured to last just long enough for you to loose your reciept.
IMHO if you don't see a difference, you probably are not looking hard enough!
You don't think there is any difference between purchasing goods from a neighbor, and purchasing goods from a large Corporation?
What part of "I'm not against the idea" caused you to think that?
"[-]Edgewaters1 points 51 minutes ago
Well, you know, the "Buy Local" thing has been done. Alot. I'm not against the idea I'm just saying it generally goes nowhere."
The last 7 words of your post: "I'm just saying it generally goes nowhere."
And you are all for it? Maybe you feel it goes "nowhere" for you personally? The practice of local commerce has always done quite well for America, and played a big role in pulling the USA out of the last depresion! Obviously I am wasting my time here, take care.
No, I am not saying it goes nowhere for me personally, I am saying it isn't making much of an impact at this point in time. That's just a simple fact of reality. There has been a Buy Local movement around for quite some time now. It's done some good, I'll agree, but very little profound change has come of it. None of the box stores are going out of business because of it.
And yes, I can be all for it while recognizing that as the reality. I don't have to live in a world of make-believe to support something.
I guess the fact that our family business along with many others would likely not exist without the support of local retailers/consumers and the fact that I can now sell directly to the local retailer (no middle man) kind of makes our veiwpoints differ.
I have always thought of "buy local" as a way of supporting local business, more so than a tool to destroy large corporations. I chose this thread because I think I have something to share, no one is forcing you to listen!
Support your local communities!
Time to start building sustainable local communities.
I do think you're right about the small businesses and the temporary hiring season. Somewhere I read that most businesses make most of their money for the year during December.
And with a poisoned planet from all the crap we buy, what good will a few family owned store do ? purchasing items is not what life is about and the training must change. Stop thinking "shopping" is some kind of human right. Cant you see that the times are a changing?
itsjustdad, I don't think there is any reason to take it to the extremes of literal. Many small markets sell stuff like food, blankets, stuff that people need. Just do not buy - invest in handmade stuff that is made to last. There is enough for everyone's need, but not everyone's greed. Next time you think of families though, consider the ecological damage that will harm children's futures. No amount of money can fix that once it's done.
I don't think he's being too literal. If the message were just to buy handmade, locally produced goods, why would it only be for one day and not all holiday spending? Seems to me the message is to, well, not buy anything for a day.
Sorry if there was confusion in my message. I often take Buy Nothing to mean one day but also, to boycott holiday spending. Not shopping for one day is symbolic. If we stick only to what we need, we can skip a day as a gesture, and buy the few things we actually need during the holiday season. And skip the long lines and traffic! :)
NO !
We do NOT further our cause by annoying the 99% who WILL shop on Friday and who are "seasonal" employees that DO need to be called into work to make money. Rather than annoy and harm the 99% we support, let's EDUCATE them on how to shop responsibly !
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
It is symbolic ... like I mentioned in response to itsjustdad, we used to have a Buy Nothing Day every week, it was called Sunday. We didn't get rid of it here til 1985 (I'm Canadian). It didn't stop the advance of consumerism or the multinationals.
I think the point of the whole thing is that if you can't not spend for a day, you have to wake up to the fact you're addicted to something about spending. There's no practical reason why you can't not spend anything for a day (and, I would reckon, no particular damage to business either, since no retail on Sundays didn't collapse the economy when it was law, and that was a Buy Nothing Day fifty-two times a year, every year, and the economy was just fine).
HA, yes that would be a wake up call that someone was addicted. On that note though, most Americans DO seem like they cannot help themselves on Black Friday. It is beyond belief. Again, the boycott day is a show of solidarity, a message to the corporations, and maybe a way of detoxing too! Maybe it does not put a dent in the economy - but is sure sends a much-needed message.
Every year people get injured trying to get into stores/wrestling for deals. I'd say that's pretty clear empirical evidence of addiction.
Yep, that's what it's all about I think. Wake up to the fact consumerism is an addictive and damaging drug, its a kind of economic abuse. Once the denial around it is broken we can start trying to fix it. We need to detox from it bad, and alternative consumerism is not the answer, that's just like methadone or something. I know a fellow, a CEO, who thinks if he just buys fair trade coffee and local organic food and all that, that he isn't part of the problem, it washes his conscience. He is deluded.
So sad that labels are given that are not backed up by evidence. I am friend with a coffee farmer in the Philippines, the government could sell his family farm to anyone at any time because there are no titles. Shade grown certified at least ensures it is grown under a canopy and keeps the environment healthy. Labels are okay, but better to reduce and buy from people we know personally. Swaps and bartering are the best!
@ 'ijdad' : Paradigm Shifts are needed and as FDR said "There's nothing to fear but fear itself".
A One Day Action has real value and re. "this would really give fuel to the ongoing smear campaign against by the media and their corporate masters." - well 'dad', The Corporate MSM (ABCNNBCBS / FUX SNEWzzz etc.) hate OWS and all things 'Occupy' anyway, so pandering to their whims and opinions is self-defeating and counter productive.
fiat lux ...
Boycott cheap Chinese made junk. Buy American ! Help bring the jobs back to the U.S.
EXACTLY ! Stopping buying and interfering with those that do (and will) only hurts our image and the 99% we claim to support. Take POSITIVE action ! See my post at http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-power-of-the-people/
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
Banks make money off of credit card sales and holiday spending debt. Boycott black friday and their sales of useless trash to reap big christmas profits. Give money and services to your loved ones this Christmas instead of high priced worthless garbage. If you are going to buy presents, get them from artisans who make them locally.
For those of us in NYC, instead of venturing into the nearest Macy's, Saks or Bloomingdales, venture down to St. Mark's or head into Brooklyn and support the small, locally-owned shops. You'll find great gifts and they will greatly benefit from your purchases, much more than chains and retail outlets.
Yes ! EXACTLY ! Stopping buying and interfering with the 99% who do is a NEGATIVE move that only hurts our image. There are also POSITIVE moves. See my post at http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-power-of-the-people/
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
[Removed]
PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU THINK BUY NOTHING DAY IS HARMFUL
I am a 42 year old Texan. Like many, I felt and watched as things got worse over the years, watching the news, going through life, every year things getting tougher. From Bush Wars to Bush Meltdowns. From Obama Change to Obama Crawl. If you're like me, you watched, mostly a passive witness to history.
I'm average. Occupy Wall Street people are extraordinary. For one thing, they changed everything we talked about. They changed the way we look at our politics.
I came here to get in on the debate. I've talked to many. It's confusing, this leaderless movement thing.
Then, it came to me when I saw this post.
I thought back to when Occupy Wall Street burst onto the scene and pointed their combined fingers up at top of the chain. Everybody! Look at the top!. We finally woke up and looked. We learned some shocking things. Up there, we cried, that is where we need change. Because, oh boy, it's worse than we imagined. Yep, we've been getting screwed for quite some time now. Chief complaint among the 99%. The very top got rich while everybody else got poorer. But plenty other. Energy needs, Health Care, etc.
There is a saying. "Be careful when you point the finger of blame at someone, for there are always three or four pointing back at you."
It is time to look at the fingers pointing back at us.
Imagine, if you could get someone at the top alone to talk to you openly and candidly - off the record. What would you ask. You might simply ask, "Why didn't you get us off oil like we asked?"
He responds, "Simple, you didn't stop buying it."
That is the genius of Occupy Wall Street. It was never the top that needed to be changed, they know this. It is us. We are the real engine that allows all the things to happen at the top with our actions. Do you individually really want to protect the environment? Do you want giant corporations who take our jobs overseas? Put your money where your mouth is. We still have to discover that we are the ones who must occupy change, if we want change to occupy the top.
They supplied us with what we want. We purchased it. Oh, don't get me wrong, they hire the best of the best to manipulate and stimulate us. But we allow them to continue to do so at our own peril.
So, we created the Holiday Machine through are own actions. You simply have to choose. Do you really want to change?
The Holiday Machine is waiting for you. What will you do?
EXACTLY ! But stopping buying is a NEGATIVE move. There are also POSITIVE moves. See my post at http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-power-of-the-people/
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
But stopping buying is a NEGATIVE move.
The move does not suggest stopping buying, only to delay buying. Do you really believe the economy is going to flat-line if you skip two days of buying? Bah! It is an artificial hype machine promotion.
If you see a hyped up movie, must you go see it? This is advertising. Nothing else, Nothing more. It is your money, spend how you see fit.
If what you say is true, then we won't actually hurt the corporations, we will only irritate and annoy the 99% trying to shop. How does that help our cause exactly ?
Because we're sending a message to them that we're tired of being manipulated and can think for ourselves.
I think American understands we're frustrated. We keep demonstrating our power to disrupt things, and we have their attention, but we've yet to tell them what it would take to make us stop. I personally think we need to start taking some positive action, at least until we can tell America what we want.
First) Occupy doesn't have the necessary leverage to enter into negotiations and tell them what we want. The brass, guys in the big house and the elites who dump tons of cash to influence politics, would be negotiating from a position of very superior strength.
Second) Occupy seems to have adopted a bank robber's strategy - take hostages (Zuccotti Park, Black Friday, etc.) and it gives you at least a little leverage to use against a superior force. At least their hearing we're frustrated. But the odds are in their favor to get the outcome they want. Bottom line - we need more leverage or they will simply tear us to shreds at a negotiating table.
Agreed. I am more than a little worried that our disruptions combined with our "demands" puts us into the same category as terrorists. If I were Karl Rove, I would accuse any Democrat willing to speak to us of "negotiating with terrorists."
I support this movement. I just wish we had more political sense. We are losing or have already lost the independents and blue-dog Democrats. We refused to feed the homeless even though the money was donated. John Stewart even noticed we have broken into upper and middle classes, and our decisions are made in the lobby of Deutsche Bank ( see http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-november-16-2011/occupy-wall-street-divided ). All of these things were/are well intentioned, but the image of us they project hurt us badly. [sigh] So much people power mismanaged.
P.S. The OWS shopping guidelines we hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks are starting to show signs of going viral. Spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possible using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc !
disruptive protesting is a far cry from terrorism by any stretch of the imagination.
I support this movement, too. I just wish - people - had a better moral compass and understood the true nature of the movement. From the beginning, this movement has refused to be a leader driven political movement. Asking them to have political sense is as pointless as asking our politicians and bankers to have an ethical sense. Clearly, neither is going to happen.
Occupy is and remains a Robin Hood's call to action for the people to impose their will against a rigged system. To replace it - not negotiate with it - with a fair, democratic system that works for all of the people. Who gives a rat's ass what a political comedian, Jon Stewart, says about anything. Give credit where credit is due and bitch where bitch is due. Occupy gained some ground with some events and lost ground with others. It's called life. When you get knocked down, get back up and keep fighting.
God Bless Occupiers.
I am not saying that I personally hold the view that what OWS is doing is terrorism, I am saying that some could draw that analogy and hurt us.
I understand what you're saying. I'm just worried about whether we'll actually be able to get anything done. We're up against very well oiled political machines, we lack political sense regarding the image we project, and I'm worried we're already being dismissed as a radical fringe movement. That image doesn't help us change anything.
I'm just one of the 99%, and this is just my opinion.
I like to think in bottom line terms - we have two candidates sparring over the future of this country, Occupy vs the Machine. If you're savvy and not fooled by the media, like us, you know who really has the better image. Even if we know our side isn't perfect, we'd pick Occupy over the machine any day of the week.
As for the image problem and our chances to get anything done. I think it may be a bit premature to dismiss the will and strength of the movement into a fringe corner to be forgotten. We're witnessing history unfold, not watching it as if it has already happened. Momentum swings like a pendulum and our moments to improve the image will come back our way. So keep your hopes alive.
Don't worry, I get down, but I never give up.
Awesome Sauce.
I understand what you're saying, Jadedcitizen, but I buy oil because I have to. Because it heats our home. If I made a living wage I'd be off the grid faster than you could say Santa Claus. And many are with me on that. We lost heat twice from the extreme storms here, the governent has been bought by the oil companies, and they do not have to answer for their environmental destruction. A limited income person can only do so much. Freezing to death seems a bit unreasonable to ask us when it's all we can afford. We cannot move, we cannot overhaul our heating system. Tell both parties to make energy more affordable, give a boost to solar and stop expecting poor people to solve this problem.
Yes, it took many years to get where we are at, it will take time to fix it. But we must realize it is a two-way street. If you're rich and can afford to get off gasoline and oil, do it. Those with less means can make other choices. There are sights with practical suggestions on how to cut back on energy use. One I remember off the top of my head is to unplug electronics when not in use because they still draw electricity while they are plugged in. Not always convenient, and a small step. But a step, nonetheless.
I for one CAN afford to help to push technology forward by becoming an early adopter of new solutions. I'm personally planning on buying a Tesla Model S. There's a link to it on my shopping guidelines site at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit .
All good practical suggestions. Thanks. Good luck with the Tesla.
Good points. We already do all that, and we would even if it did not help the environment, because every bit helps our wallets. The tough thing is that everyone needs to be on board, the entire global community, to stop climate change. That may sound like an exaggeration but unless ppm CO2 goes, down, everyone is going to witness this for themselves first hand.
Have you heard of the doomsday clock? (warns how close we are to blowing ourselves up with nuclear war) Maybe the scientists in charge of that should start one for global warming too. Hmmm, might just have to e-mail them.
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You might simply ask, "Why didn't you get us off oil like we asked?"
He responds, "Simple, you didn't stop buying it."
Ha, you could boil down the whole movement to those two sentences for people who didn't understand. We have corrupt politicians because we've given them no reason to be honest, and every reason to be corrupt. If they're honest, they get ripped a new one, called stupid, and unamerican. If they are dishonest, they are paid lots of money, and given fancy cars to drive. They are like children you never discipline, and then honestly wonder why they have no table manners and yell all the time. I think politicians should be paid on their approval rating...give them a reason to actually listen to the people, even if it is only for greed.
You know your view is plain simply perfect. Enough with people claiming "power to the people" when actually power is already on the people. People just have to use it. Messing with the "Holiday Machine" (loved that) is a great way to show and use the people's power. Sure, some will try to say that the "Holiday Machine" provides jobs, but everyone who has been there in either the bottom or the top sides knows it's not about jobs at all, it's about dumbed up people (us included) buying and buying and some very few becoming richer and richer while all the rest has to work more and more so it never stops.
Great thoughts indeed, you have earned my respect.
EXACTLY ! But stopping buying is a NEGATIVE move. There are also POSITIVE moves. See my post at http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-power-of-the-people/
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
Thank you for the time and consideration that you brought to this issue. I agree with you whole heartedly: In a consumer driven economy like ours that is were we can act with power. I make a conscious effort to support my small local businesses and individual contractors. It is not always easy or convenient, but with practice it is becoming more and more effortless. Food coops and Credit Unions reward you for your support because when you join you become part owner. At the end of each year I get a handsome check reflecting my portion of the profit calculated in accordance with the size of my transactions. In Credit Unions and Food coops you are a member not just a consumer and this gives you input at the operational meetings.
Well stated. But I think the fight could use a level playing field.
When multinational companies "buy" products from their own subsidiaries overseas, they do not have to pay taxes on it, and the money they spent "domestically" is considered to be a business cost. They also do not have to respect worker rights or environmental protections. They remove all the jobs here, and people are so poor that they have no choice but to buy the products built on the backs of slaves.
You're also a Texan, and you're old enough to remember what happened when NAFTA was passed in '94. It's worth taking a jog down memory lane again, the Ross Perot vs. Al Gore debate of '93: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhwhMXOxHTg
Perot underestimated the abuse that would occur, badly. Gore was on another planet. This removal of fair trade protections made an uneven playing field that puts working Americans at a disadvantage. They ruined my hometown, which is why I had to leave the state to find work so long ago.
So remember the four fingers pointing back, but while you're at it, don't forget the one you pointed in the first place.
How can we hold them accountable, if we cannot check ourselves? Yes, it is a two-way street. And in all fairness, not everybody at the top is a heartless baron, just most of them.
I think the problem comes about when you run into the constraints of being a mortal. Sure, you could choose not to buy any product made by Wal Mart if you didn't have to eat or have shelter or put your kids through school.
But if Wal Mart destroyed all the decent paying jobs (not just sales jobs, but the jobs that used to exist to produce all the things Wal Mart sells), you ability to buy products on criteria more than the price alone diminishes considerably.
This is what the law is for. We make laws against theft, we don't just sit around and turn our nose at those that steal. We make laws against slavery domestically, we don't just hope people won't buy slave products. It's about time we made laws against abusing slavery internationally.
Good point.
Bravo Jaded. Well said.
I agree with itsjustdad. Let's not hurt the 99%ers that are working this day to make enough to pay they're rent or home mortgage. I understand that you have considered collateral damage and made conscious decisions but I think this will cause too much collateral damage. I'd rather see you make the lives of politicians who have allowed themselves to be bought and controlled by the conscious-free lobbyisgs (Grover Norquist) that are hired by the conscious-free corporations. Tarket the politicians!!!
I disagree that it will hurt those who have the jobs! A one or two day boycott does not lay off employees. The losses from the boycott do give the corporate chieftains a taste of what their financial losses stand to be if this were to spread and be sustained! They want to sell in America!
EXACTLY ! Stopping buying and interfering with those that do (and will) only hurts our image and the 99% we claim to support. Take POSITIVE action ! See my post at http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-power-of-the-people/
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
Consumerism or "consume" as to ravage like a fire. The negative comments truly miss the point as usual from those who love spewing negative instead energy instead of those pursuing positive solutions.
Over the next few days millions of Americans will purchase billions of dollars of "stuff" made mostly in China. I'd suggest to all who insist on shopping for more stuff, that you look at every tag and if it doesn't say Made In America, don't buy it at any price!
Consumers ravage through stores, filling shopping carts with stuff in boxes, bring the stuff home to put in their big box, work in a box to pay for all the stuff in their box at home, only to put the excess stuff in a box called storage, where it sits as they pay monthly for their storage box, until they finally decide to have a garage sale selling all the stuff they spent their hard earned money on, for next to nothing, so they can go to the store at the next sale and consume more stuff...
These Big Box Stores with their non-stop stuff on sale, has forced the local small stores, owned by neighbors, out of business across the country. When our neighbors unique local retail store goes out of business, they stop making money from their store, and are forced to live cautiously with what money they've saved up. This creates a catch 22 as they cut back on spending which provides less money to other local stores who are forced to go out of business as another Big Box breaks ground on the outskirts of another American town again and again.
To to Ed who said (nice rhyme) ...is the moral equivalent of protesting against money" - research what the international bankers did to destroy any value behind the money we use called the USD. There hasn't been actual legal money in our country since HJR-192, June 5th, 1933. Google that and begin to research when the Corporation of the UNITED STATES declared bankruptcy.
Do some research into what happened since that date and why the system is collapsing today. It has all been created for further world control. So sure, if Buy Nothing Day works, those who still don't get it, will have the chance to buy more worthless stuff, to store in their boxes, helping create more debt with the worthless paper fiat money system. Or... you can start helping to formulate positive solutions for the future working together. Now there's a concept!
Positive energy.... EXACTLY ! Stopping buying and interfering with the 99% who DO shop is a NEGATIVE move. There are also POSITIVE moves. See my post at http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-power-of-the-people/
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
Rico - Yes we vote with our dollar and that is a great deal of power in the hands of the many, if they unite and focus that power in the right direction. We have the potential to support mom & pop stores, hand made items made in America, family run organic farms, and the list goes on... We The People are the true GNP and it is up to us to rebuild our country, take it back, and keep it on course long into the future!
Exactly. We have been misusing BOTH our sources of power... our votes at the ballot box, and our votes at the check-out register !
Many people in my neighborhood park their cars in their driveways. One reason they do this is because their garages are full of accumulated excess purchases. A holiday from buying once in a while, rather than a holiday for buying, might reduce the clutter in their homes and its spillover into their garages, and perhaps improve the quality of their lives. Should we continue to buy things that we do not need simply to keep people employed? Why not buy things that we do need and then employ those people differently. What do we need? What do you need? What do I need? Here is a short list: more education, more exercise, more exposure to great art and to great ideas. The effects of these I would be happy to accumulate (and there is a lot of empty space for them). And I would be happy to enrich those who are their purveyors.
"A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff!"
George Carlin on Stuff
http://www.writers-free-reference.com/funny/story085.htm
Why is there even a day in the first place where everybody gets all hyped up just so they can buy so many things at once? You may say its for Christmas presents or good savings, but why have we made Christmas a day where we HAVE to give gifts, why have we made a day enticing everyone to go buy things?
Christmas can be a gift giving holiday if you so choose but it's sad to to see that we have literally been led in to believing we must all BUY BUY BUY just for a holiday that we should be happy to spend with our friends and families, not act greedy by just expecting to get gifts. We sound like greedy little pigs getting happy over all these products we'll likely replace within a year. While you go spend big money on every new generation of your phone just to have the coolest newest updates, it's the greedy big pigs that keep getting off with our money, in unheard of amounts.
There is nothing wrong with the holiday seasons or the spirit of gift-giving, but I think as a whole we need to examine why we have become like this. There are so many things we NEED, yet it seems during the holidays all some of us ask for are the things they want. I hope you all have a good holiday season, and I hope you consider that your family doesn't care how much money you spend on them, giving them anything, just your time spent with them is a gift we should all learn to appreciate.
This may be my personal opinion but I think it may help many of you to know that I have only recently come to believe in these ideas. I am 19 years old, US born and raised, and I grew up under a common greedy way of life that many of us share and I believe we can all learn to consume less yet become happier with ourselves, it is a change that I have personally made. It is possible to become happier, and we can become more loving, and it may begin with examining the idea of greed, want, and need.
Thank you for reading, have a wonderful holiday season everyone :)
Why? Corporate advertising campaigns. Christmas was created by Macys.
Advertising == Propoganda
You open mind. You good. You 99%!
Are you answering my question asking why we are like this or are you asking why about something I said? cause I said a lot and can explain anything :)
And keep in mind I'm hoping my writing helps those that have not yet begun to allow their mind to listen to their own true personal feelings.
Anyways, assuming you were helping to answer my question I'm glad you're bringing to light one of many companies that use their advertising to make people believe that they must have something, rather than truly deciding for ourselves if it's something we really must have at that time. We'd all like to have the most advanced phone, technology is a great thing and yes it's true that it's constantly advancing. We already have a fantastic phone yet some of us decide that the few new features are something they must pay even more for than we did the first time we bought the phone. Every new version should really just be for people getting their first smart phone or maybe replacing a broken one. But sadly some of us feel that constantly spending so much on the newest greatest things is what it takes to look successful or even just cool, when truly it's an insecure feeling of some of our social statuses. All opinions and thoughts are welcome, discussion is a great way to examine your inner beliefs. :)
This may seem long to some of you but please consider reading my personal ideas, all constructive criticism is highly encouraged :)
Why is there even a day in the first place where everybody gets all hyped up just so they can buy so many things at once?
Hint: It has something to with greed.
Answer: If they must give us a HOLIDAY off and can't profit off our labor, they figured they might as well profit off of us by getting us into the stores.
I will buy nothing rthat day great strategy I am sick of this black friday drivel
I agree. Don't shop at the big businesses that open on TG and BF.Their plan is to monopolize and put the small business owners under the pavement for good. Shop small businesses if you must consume. Support your local small mom/pop businesses.
What's up with the eye triangle? It looks like the eye on the dollar bill, and I'm not even sure why the eye is on the dollar bill. Is it a combination of dollar-bill + pepper-spray-in-the-eye?
It is SO SO wonderful to see the word "Eco" in there, even for a fleeting moment. I understand the movement is focused on social justice, and I hate people who diverge from messages or distract. But no amount of economic recovery will ever save us from the brutal storms we've seen here in the Northeast, or pollution. People have no idea what they're in for. Nothing else will matter if our resources are destroyed. I hope we can weave in this message, to date it will be the strongest voice for the environment even if it plays a minor role. Buy Nothing!
I keep hearing in the media about how the OWS movement is unfocused or are not really clear about what they are protesting for.
In my opinion that’s because it is not one thing they/we are protesting against—it’s everything.
It’s unjust wars being waged in our names and on our dollars.
It’s about being more and more blatantly lied to as if we as a people are too stupid to understand what is being done to us and the world.
It’s watching as all the Institutions that we were always told were about justice, human rights, and peace, join together with one head to help the strong prey on the weak.
It’s about having to go into a mountain of debt just to get an education and then finding out you can’t get a job.
It’s about trillions of dollars being given to big business failures while at the same time being told that people who built the Nation are losers and failures because they can no longer find the work they had dedicated their lives to.
It’s about the unlimited funds given to the military just so they can constantly attack and make more and more enemies for us to have to face one day.
It’s about the government using our own funds to spy and oppress us just for exercising our constitutional rights.
It’s about the explosion in police personnel, even as real crime plummets; a personnel that we know are not being hired to “protect and serve” us but to oppress us.
It’s about a political system where leaders are selected rather than elected and as a result, nothing ever changes despite the people’s voting for a different direction in the way we are governed.
It’s being taxed without having any representation. There’s no representation when the police can lie on any man, woman and child at any time; brutalize them; throw them in prison or jail. There’s no representation when the poor cannot get legal help no matter what kind of wrong is done to them by the system. There’s no representation when the government and companies can send all the jobs overseas and show blatant preference at home to newly arrived workers over longtime citizens. There’s no representation when people don’t have food, jobs or shelter. There’s no representation when the government can continually pass laws to make it nearly impossible to get back on your feet once you fall. Why do a citizen who has lived and worked in a Nation for 40 or 50 years need 20 forms of Identification just to get a State I:D. No “Terrorist” is going to have a problem with getting fake Identification—only the poor.
Some Citizens in this Country don’t even have the right to walk or drive down the street without the threat of becoming enmeshed in a humiliating or life of death of loss of freedom situation at any time. Yet, if that same citizen ever got a dollar the government will be the first to have its hand out. There’s no representation when people say they don’t want war, or don’t want to be molested every time they travel, and their voices are ignored.
The media want to try to present the OWS movement as a class warfare situation when it is not.
Nobody cares how much money the next person has. What the OWS movement is about is the fact that everything is geared to enrich the greedy—even socialism is fine when the funds flow to the rich. But every dollar that goes to everybody else is incessantly whined about until nobody can feel good about getting just the basic things that they need.
" It’s about being more and more blatantly lied to as if we as a people are too stupid to understand what is being done to us and the world."
Indeed it greatly puzzles me how the so-called world "leaders" tend to believe the vast majority of the population is so dumb and stupid that they deserve to be owned. But what puzzles me even more is how the vast majority of the population actually buys that crap and still hopes their "representatives" will fix everything as if they were some magical heroes.
Yes. Buy only what you really need, and use your brain. We buy so much shit because it makes us feel good for a little while and as the high gets shorter and shorter, we have to go out and buy more. Try and resist taking out your phone as you wait for the red light to turn... Question this need for Constant Stimulation, question Growth: the planet is being turned into a dump.
banks are the ruling class. If retail sales take a nose dive, so does wall street and stocks overall. While savvy investors diversify, they will not be able to hide from a mass sell-off or move into bonds or more conservative investments. Banks may get a run on deposits as well which will weaken their leverage and hold that they have on government and the ruling class...enabling us...in theory to demand more stringent regulation and even the playing field a bit.
Our voices are now a whisper, but with every disruption to the norm, they grow . . .
L O U D E R
My son's father, Andrey Pogudin, is a senior banker with RBS. Despite his enormous wealth, he has not paid a penny of his small $1K a month child support obligation in over 16 months, causing me and my young son significant hardship. He is part of the ruling class. But he WILL NOT be hurt by a drop in retail sales. He works for a bank that just last year received a 99% taxpayer-funded bailout of over $20B. The workers in and owners of small businesses may suffer in an already tough economy if they have no sales on the 25th. Andrey Pogudin and others like him will still get their huge bonuses, thanks, in part, to a subsidy funded by the 99%. As for me and my little boy, we won't be shopping on the 25th, boycott or not, because the money just isn't there. But if it were, I'd support small business owners.
But if you have to buy, use cash. Do not use bank owned credit cards
EXACTLY !
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
Whatever, I want my 1-5% cash back earnings.
Sheesh! The banksters are CHARGING the retailers every time you use your credit/debit card, and you feel GOOD because they give you a little back.
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
Yes, I do feel good about that. :) Cash is so 20th century. Just think how much money our government could save if it didnt have to support a huge infrastructure of making, storing, and disposing of physical currency.
yes, good point
Glad you agree !
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
I wholeheartedly support this. Only if corporate greed can be broken will we be able to start a process of adjustment to have a better, fairer and more equal system and society.
Boycott Walmart all the time. Don't buy Chinese products. Make it yourself and support the families in need you will feel better. Support the small businesses in your communities!
This don't just have to be this Black Friday and Saturday.
If you have to wait after New Years and buy it cheaper!
This "Buy Nothing Day" is an excellent idea and should be supported by all thinking people of conscience. Further, the post by 'nucleus' above (Support local stores and small business. BOYCOTT corporations and franchises.) bears repeating and is totally relevant. Also, ignore the usual OWS-antipathetic, nay-sayers and the right-wing anti-OWS elements, who will 'troll' this thread heavily.
A one day 'spending moratorium' is of enormous value because : 'Consumers' need to flex their collective muscle and realise that they have a certain power when they act 'en masse' ; People need to reflect on their real need to consume ; TPTB (Corporate & State) need to start realising that The 99%'s 'shopping habits' (coz it's 'an addiction'?!) - can NOT be taken for granted ; Even G*d is supposed to have taken one day off out of seven, so mere mortals ought to take at least One day off in 365 and reflect and ruminate on 'The Spiritual Vacuity Of Conspicuous Consumption and The Mindless Acquisition And Accumulation Of Even More Stuff' !!
Please try to watch these two short and illuminating animated films :
a) " The Story Of Stuff " : http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-stuff/ &
b) "The Story Of Broke" : http://www.storyofstuff.org/movies-all/story-of-broke/ .
veritas vos liberabit ...
I was just going to post the Story of Stuff movies on barefootin's post above. You beat me to it. =D
We do NOT further our cause by annoying the 99% who WILL shop on Friday and who are "seasonal" employees that DO need to be called into work to make money. Rather than annoy and harm the 99% we support, let's EDUCATE them on how to shop responsibly !
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
@ Rico : Thanx for your post and interesting link.
I'd suggest that no one can really 'force' people NOT to shop and that the suggestion of 'One Day' is economically inconsequential though it is Potentially Hugely Symbolic. Further, any or all purchases are not actually being cancelled and lost but are merely being deferred - mostly to the following day or weekend !
facta non verba ...
http://stopblackfriday.com
Zzzzzzz. How about trying to change society for the better rather than just for he heck of it?!
"Buy Nothing Day" is the moral equivalent of protesting against money. An untargeted protest against the vague ether of markets that will change nothing. It should be called "Change Nothing Day".
How about boycotting long-term against the corporations who have really caused the problems and who have profited most from malfeasance? That might at least send a pointed message with some teeth.
I totally agree Ed and thankfully I live in a state where "Buy/Eat Local" is just about our state slogan. The only reason Wal-mart and store like it got into Vermont is through manipulation and vamboozlement.
I also support Buy Nothing Day however, as a way of raising folks' awareness to the fact that our identities and success in this country are currently measured only by the amount of stuff we consume. Black Friday is a direct and disgusting extension of this mindset. Big businesses know it and they pray upon it during this time of year. It also speaks to how big business has ruined community in the U.S.
On a holiday, families should be together with each other and fully present, not camping out at Wal-mart waiting for a deal on the latest P.O.S. that someone tells them they can't live without and that they will toss into the trash in 3 months. How little time off does the average American get during the year? Is camping out for an I-Pad4 really that important that we would sacrifice that little bit of time with our loved ones? It's completely illogical to me.
Yes ! EXACTLY ! Excercise of power simply to demonstrate we have power only hurts our image and the 99% we support. Stopping buying and interfering with those who do is a NEGATIVE move. There are also POSITIVE moves. See my post at http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-power-of-the-people/
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
seems a smart idea
It is first symbolic and obviously not going to "change" anything but perhaps a few minds.
But you are right, boycot long term those corporations... I wish I could. "Those Corporations" have basically taken over many towns/cities. I have no car. There is no public transportation. I have to buy what is in reach to me to survive. It sucks where I like. Hardly any 99%ers. People or businesses.
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There are two peaceful ways to bring down the State. A rolling general strike where all who can stop work and stop buying. Stop buying anything but essentials. Either action will crash the capitalist system. There are many, many more of Us than there are of Them. Finally the message is getting through. Act together. Ignore the lies of misinformation, including ALL major media sources and party political announcements. Face the nauseous fact that we are now living under a dictatorship of corporate capital. We are NOT free, and what remaining rights we have are evaporating every day. Fight together. Define your objective. Then stop work or stop buying. Together. As a community of all the people. It can be done.
Having a really hard time finding Canadian info on the site, in spite of the fact that the Occupy movement was a Canadian idea. Can you help?
Mmmm...while I did no shopping...record breaking spending has sent the stock market soaring. As I have said before, the bulk of the population is ignoring the movement.
What an excellent idea! Can we not have an abolish Xmas too. It's such a materialistic conception. Santa Claus has always come across, to me at least, as an exploitative industrialist overworking his little elves in the inhospitable pole. I much prefer celebrating existence on a daily basis. I shall not shop this Xmas, wow, I'll have so much more time left for better things. I hope this takes off in London!
If you must give gifts then make them or shop small and local businesses Indefinetly!
Occupy Flash Mob/Mic Check Retail Chain outlets this Season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa-T5pYl8wk
I bought nothing....my sister bought nothing....my mother bought nothing....my friend bought nothing....we are the 99%!
I did not spend even one cent today and I felt good. I am planning myself one day no spending at all out of one week then increase to two (2) days out of a week, or strictly spend on basic needs on local small stores and business. I say, BACK TO BASICS.
How well did this work out ...hahaha guess there's plenty of greed to go around
I see this worked out so well. Consumers spent 7% more on this black friday then compared to last year.
The idea of voting with your dollars (or withholding your dollars) is very powerful. After all, voting in elections does no good anymore, special interests and foreign governments (i.e. Saudi Arabia) have already bought both political parties. Boycotts; however, need to be targeted to the most damaging offenders. Corporations employ the vast majority of people who are working these days, so blindly striking at all corporations is only going to exacerbate the economic situation. The first target should be mid-eastern oil. Strike back by buying a flex fuel vehicle. Although hybrids also help, flex fuel vehicles are cheaper. This does two things 1) it takes money away from radical Islam and 2) provides money to farmers for ethanol production. At current prices, ethanol and methanol can both be produced domestically for considerably less than gasoline.
Finally, a campaign that will hurt where it matters most, DO this once a week America and what a message to send to our oppressors. Consumerism is the tool they use to control us, remember that it works both ways. Up the revolution.
Finally, a campaign that will hurt where it matters most, DO this once a week America and what a message that will send to our oppressors. Consumerism is the tool they use to control us, so its great to see an awakening of the 99% to the power we have in controling them. Up the revolution.
Latest poll numbers seem to reinforce how this went on turkey day.... aka nothing happened...
So your right to protest trumps the rights of others to consume products? Who do you think you are? If you want to protest, fine, but as soon as you start infringing on the rights of others you have gone too far. I'm going to buy things for my family for Christmas because that's what I choose to do with the money I've earned, and because that is a Christmas tradition in my family. You don't want to buy Christmas gifts? Don't. You don't want to celebrate Christmas? Don't. But don't get in my way when I'm exercising my rights. Shenanigans indeed. That said, I think it's great what you all did to feed people. That is the kind of thing your movement should be about; helping, not harassing.
http://rebelliousstage.org/
Why do you want to harm the economy and make people lose their jobs in the end?
Really was going to go easy this year. This is making me go shopping! Move to a Socialist country - experience the thrill of not having to achieve anything on your own for yourself! I'm a middle-aged, middle income grandma. I worked as a maid to get through nursing school. The OWS protesters disgust me with their filth, crime and general stupidity. Have you heard yourselves on the news? Now you are divided in classes among yourselves (the elite OWS and the bottom of the hill OWS). Want to make this country a better place? Join a tea party. You are mostly a group of shiftless, lazy people wanting what they haven't earned at least those are the ones making the news. I live in an average house (small two bedroom). I know people with really big, nice houses. I never thought they owed me anything or that I deserved what they have. Get real people! I am part of the 99% but I do NOT support your tactics. I love this country and the opportunities it gives to people willing to work. If it's such a horrible place, why do the immigrants come by the thousands? You people really are pathetic. You don't appreciate what you have. It's Thanksgiving...get appreciative. If you have what you've earned, then be grateful. Stop being envious of what you haven't earned. Got to go...going shopping. Thank-you for inspiring me!
what you fail to understand is that a big percentage of what people are earning is going to bail out reckless risk takers. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy as long as you wear the cost of your trying to get even wealthier. change is not bought on by blind apathy. lazy and shiftless is not protesting in a park, it is the turning of the blind eye. good thing George Washington wasn't lazy.
consumerism is contingent on greed, greed is carnal lust reinvented in the guise of materialism, material is the noxious drug that masks spiritualism. greed is evolution in process. our need to make things better. give me the meaning of life or ,if not...give me a flatscreen tv.
By the looks of them, the OWS group hasn't bought anything for quite some time! This doesn't appear to be a big challenge for them, perhaps a bigger challenge should be set?
In 1978 the average salary for a janitor in US dollars TODAY was 38.000 a year...at that time if you and a university degree you could be hired for an average of 42.000 a year....there were plenty of UNIONS and GOVERNMENT JOBS...WHAT happened then??? Neoliberalism happened...Reaganomics... PRIVATIZATION HAPPENED... Since Reagan ALL US presidents have been Neoliberals, this means that they will try to privatize the state to run it like a corporation... so WHO will you go to for a redress of grievances??? Goldman Sachs?? Walmart's CEO??? Good luck with that one...
People are so ignorant many still want more privatization and more private jobs as our democracy slips away even further... Elizabeth Warren Harvard professor on Corporate law explains in a lecture at Berkeley... IF WE ARE TO HAVE A DEMOCRACY...THEN 99% OF CAPITALISM HAS TO BE ELIMINATED OR WE CAN GO BACK TO 91% taxation to the financial parasites:
http://youtu.be/akVL7QY0S8A
If you are/were unemployed, how would you like to be hired for at least 38.000 a year today?
Privatization, the Corporate Parasites, started big throtle with the last period of Eisenhower and the "Military Private Complex" which was a big step in the wrong direction...1961...some like Chris Hedges argue that it started when the safety net was tampered with ...HMO's and Nixon in 1972... The huge conflict here is that we cannot afford to have any middle entity between voters and their public servants... the middle men always want a slice of the pie for no reason... plus democracy is supposed to be a direct relation voter-public servant...
Reagan did attack the Unions and labeled the SAME government he wanted to run as evil..."government is the problem... inaugural speech 1981"...he called for the starving fo the beats which has a two layer component... 1) Appointing he worst administrators so they destroy institutions...like Geithner or W Bush... then part 2) Underfund government because it can't do anything right...well, except endlessness bail out the financial parasitic 1% at the top with a 27 TRILLION bail out...see last reports from the TARP commission...
We also went from having the smallest prison system during Carter to the largest prison system int he world...during Reagan due to privatization... Reagan passed the sentencing guidelines under the excuse that prisoners were given lengthy sentences BUT the sentencing guideline guaranteed that people got more time than ever before...public relations at work here... the the failed war on drugs which started during Nixon...
and Bush 41 passed the Mandatory Minimums in 1987... we now have 41 MILLION convicted felons... and 7.5 million people in prison at 0.15 cents per hour and no bathroom breaks...it doesn't get any better for capitalists... slavery at the expense of first time non violent offenders in the most failed war in history... funded at 1 trillion a year...
Please consider links bellow:
http://threetrilliondollarwar.org/2011/06/02/wars-are-one-of-the-main-reasons-why-the-us-debt-is-so-high/
By 2067 ALL US adults will have a felony criminal record att he current rate...what an accomplishment!...also:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/US_incarceration_timeline-clean.svg
Privatization costs 3-4 times MORE and diminishes all goods and services including jobs, also:
http://pogoarchives.org/m/co/igf/bad-business-report-only-2011.pdf
The US spends 100 times MORE than all industrialized nations combined but we have the worst systems....WHY? Can you spell Privatization?
http://www.unnaturalcauses.org/interactivities_04-7.php
Buy organic foods from your local farms and give those as presents.
That's a great way to boycott the large corps without hurting the 99% in the process.
http://www.forbiddenknowledgetv.com/videos/socio-economics/black-friday-madness-of-a-lost-society.html
Hi im darren check out my blog http://youngphilosopher89.wordpress.com its left wing reflecting my anarcho-syndicalist views
Right on! Will do! (I have to say all the OWS posters are so COOL and bold. Love it! :-)
I will buy nothing
How do you know when you're an addict? When you can't go two consecutive days without your fix!
It's one thing to stand for a cause, but don't mess with people when they are trying to buy Christmas gifts. Come on. Seriously?? You are just going to piss off the people who might have sided with you. You mess with a momma trying to buy her child a Christmas gift and you are quickly gaining an enemy. Just saying. I was wavering on my "trying to understand" where this whole OWS movement was headed, but now I'm standing firm on the fact that "y'all have lost your damn minds." Most of the people out there with OWS are people who have poorly handled their finances. I have no sympathy for most of the 99%. My husband and I have made it by with our meager earnings by a little thing called budgeting. If the money isn't there, don't put it on a credit card or borrow it from other people knowing you will never be able to pay it back. Don't be stupid. Go get a job you leeches and get off the dang streets.
buying nothing should not be a problem for members of OWS
Support your local stores the other 364 days of the year. Tomorrow, BUY NOTHING! It is a statement against our grotesque consumerist society.
I support buy-nothing day, it is Spiritual Liberation, Voluntary Simplicity and Take Back Your Time Day all in one, plus more...
However they have us by the ovaries...because if we don't buy today, we'd better buy "enough" on other days, or else the economy suffers and then we all suffer...NO I am NOT saying we give up...at issue is the fact that so long as the economy is structured the way it is now, then boycotts work short term, and buy-nothing days work short term, but the overall economy punishes everyone (especially the poor and middle class) if we didn't buy what the corporate monster considers "enough" ...
The only conclusion is that we need new economic paradigms, a new economy, one that is steady-state and can thrive and meet all basic human needs, enough the perpetual "up" Escalator of the economy that requires perpetual exponential Growth forever, an economy that goes into recession and then collapse whenever it's not "growing
http://economicdemocracy.org/alternatives-to-wallst.html
"buy nothing day" is an effective economic weapon against failing capitalism -- "boycott the ballot box" is an effective weapon weapon against our failed political system!
if you would get a fucking job, you could buy shit. Try spending your time looking for work instead of whining about the corporate conspiracy.
It should be buy only Made in America and from small businesses. Why hurt the the people who make up the 99 percent.
This should only be against large business...very bad planning by occupy to make this look like we shouldn't support small business/non publicly held companies.
BUY FROM SMALL BUSINESS AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE WITH YOUR WALLET!
So Occupy is taking a stand against excessive-consumerism, or Corporate Economies. I hear that, sounds like a plan, but what about the Wall Street folks in Washington right now, is there an Occupy against them too, or that is off topic, just asking the question?
Boycott consumerism! I hear that! Well, if one were to do a SWOT Analysis of Capitalism, one of the weaknesses would be consumerism, one of the strengths in a sense is greed, opportunity would be to breed more capitalism, and threats would be any movement of anti-capitalism, anti-spending, or better yet anti-consumerism. Anyone checked out the Story of Stuff http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8. Sounds like a plan to me, but surely, it is going to get ugly, when people start bucking against Capitalism hard like that! Wow, very impressive, and I mean that from the heart, but what about Corporate Economies, and that influence they are wielding in Washington, how to reign in that? Just engaging here! How do we continue to expose the infiltration of Wall Street into the current administration in Washington, well the governing body, is there any truth to that or not! Just asking some questions, hope that is allowed and within scope.
i don't do crowds. don't like money. prefer my cabin in the woods. detach and forget the system. no money, no job, no property, no debt. fireplace, rifle, food storage shed, freedom is hard and makes me hard. Far far away from any city. Too many people, too close together. ick. More space, more animals, fewer people.
Christmas is a spiritual holiday originally celebrated by gatherings and fellowship, with friends and family. I believe the trend to commercialize the event began in the late 1800s. Avoid superficial gestures. Acknowledge those you care about and what you believe in from your heart. Celebrate the holidays with joy. Love and health to all.
Can we please stop calling each other idiots and morons. if some one said some thing that is based on ignorance please educate but dont humiliate them. that is how we loose. not to mention it shows a lack of ego awareness
And last I checked, Thanksgiving (Thanks)(giving), and Christmas (Christ)(mas), are about peace and love. I don't remember shopping being part of the ideology. Where the hell did this idea that shopping is mandatory to love one another come from?! Oh wait I know, the 1% who want to make a fortune off selling you all the crap you don't need! I reject the idea of consumerism and a money GOD! I substitute it with love, patience, and temperance.
yeah, agreed. This is everyday for me. Never did Black Friday, never will.
So what will be the benefit of not shopping on black Friday? It sounds more like a movement to end WANTS. Why would we not want to shop on black Friday and pay less to purchase a product that we will buy later anyway,,,,, and at a greater financial cost to our family.
As part of the 99%....I want to save money and be able to provide more to my child.
So let me get this straight.. You want people to buy nothing from these stores on the day of the lowest prices. All under the guise of hurting their profits. So then people turn around and buy their presents at the same stores another day for MORE money and as a result put MORE money into the stores coffers. Way to go.. Next time you want to boycott something think it through a little more. No wonder people think you are ridiculous lol
Canibus, Your post makes me think that this group might just be trying to get closer to the front of the line. How clever! I don't do Black Friday anyway. Never have. Never will. Happy Holidays All!
CONFUSED. Twitter hashtag ?
If the Buy Nothing Day is the 25th (US), and 26th (Int'l), then why is the twitter hashtag #23buynothingday ? What am I missing?
Congrats...way to screw the people that work in retail...they are the ones that you will ultimately hurt....
perhaps "Buy Nothing Day" should be changed to "Buy Only Locally-Produced/Sustainable Products From Locally-Owned Businesses Day"
This accomplishes what? I personally don't shop during Thanksgiving weekend but still............who are you trying to hurt? The 1%? Fat chance you will succeed.Who you are hurting is the 99% that work at these stores....very hard work.
Every thing you have done so far is harming the very ones that you claim to be speaking for. WTH is up with that?
Who are you to tell others to shop responsibly? Who gives you the right to decide for others?
I think the bunch of you need to go to Home Depot and get some screws.......You all seem to missing one or two in your heads...
This is nothing more than getting in the way of the 99% who want to go out and spend their hard-earned money under the guise of hurting the 1%.
OWS will step on the toes of the people they say they are defending so they can attack the 1%. You hurt the people you say you are defending.
Such a great idea! Thank you for all of your efforts to make our world a better place for everyone:)
A few thoughts:
Blaming the people for buying the products sounds like victim-blaming to me.
Buying "American" isn't necessarily better, as products can be labelled "Made in the U.S.A" if they are made by U.S. owned corporations. However, they may have actually outsourced the manufacturing of their products.
Last, but certainly not least, there is a Women's Day of Action also planned on Black Friday. Please go to www.occupypatriarchy.org for me information about this.
i don't think this is a good idea, for all the people that are counting on the discounted prices they get on friday. no one is going to support this, it is bad publicity for the movement
How about buy from local small business owners and craftsperson? As a craftsperson and small business owner I can't support an action that would cost me my livelihood, especially on the biggest shopping day of the year.
Hello all!
I see, you see it my way ! Sorry if I seem to have an attitude !
As I've said here ( and everywhere ) ; we do it to ourselves!
"Don't Buy From Our Lost Jobs" !
You don't need this to survive !, and if you do have to Buy ; Buy From Local !!!
Shut Down Spending Overseas ! Because buying from over seas, currently, doesn't spend money here ! " Helping US !!!
Live within your means !
O.W.S. and everyone wins this way, because we have "all we need in America" (all else can be bartered ) ; just start all new , "American Bought Here " !!!
Don't let GREED send our jobs , ( And, Our morality ) ever again ; other than with each other !
Do the best that you can. On a scale of 1 to 10: Local, hand-made, Organic, Free-range, Unionized, Family-owned Gay-friendly Macrame products = 11. Chinese prison camp styrofoam products made by children and wrapped in plastic at Wal-Mart = negative253. Shop all you want, just aim for a high score.
Why not "Buy Local Day"? Forget the Corporate sleeze balls that are destroying our country. Support the small mom and pop buisnesses in your local area! We need to stand with our 99% buinesses not the 1%ers!!
I see the Occupy movement has used the one eyed pyramid. Pretty sneaky sis...
http://www.amazon.com/Throw-Them-All-Out-ebook/dp/B0062N35X8/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_t_3 This article has alot of information about greed at the top, Politicians get rich by making laws that serve their own interest , Go to the site and click on the book to read the article, It's long but well worth the time.
http://www.amazon.com/Throw-Them-All-Out-ebook/dp/B0062N35X8/ref=pd_rhf_se_p_t_3
My original Christmas song "Synthetic Xmas" that is PERFECTLY in-line with this kind of protest. Support independent art. Thank you.
http://kinggod.bandcamp.com/ -
Keep it peaceful, make them laugh, make them think.
How about UNoccupying Walmart -- that is encouraging everyone everywhere NOT to go there on Thursday or Black Friday. You may gain special support on Thursday because many people find it distasteful that Walmart and others are now pushing their Black Friday sales up to Thursday, which requires their workers to be there on Thanksgiving just to make another buck. For a LONG time, people have been bothered that Christmas gets closer to Thanksgiving every year. This year Home Depot and others were putting out Christmas decorations before it was even Halloween! Now Walmart is starting it's Black Friday sale on Thursday -- Thanksgiving.
This runs is the exact opposite manner of the wishes of people in the OWS movement. It is even more rampant commercialism that is happening on a level that MOST Americans can readily join you in boycotting,
SO, UNOCCUPY WALMART ON THANKSGIVING. BOYCOTT IT. SPREAD THE NEWS FOR EVERYONE TO AVOID THEIR THANKSGIVING-DAY SALES COMPLETELY AND TO SHOP ELSEWHERE ON BLACK FRIDAY AS PUNISHMENT FOR THEIR GREED IN TRYING TO USURP A NATIONAL HOLIDAY FOR THEIR CORPORATE GREED.
--KnaveDave http://TheGreatRecession.info/blog
Starting today, you should always look for for AMERICAN MADE items.
Even in large retails outlets where chines junk is the norm, just ask the manager/ staff if they have any AMERICAN MADE products. Do this EVERY TIME you go shopping!! It might be a bit odd at first but you can get used to it. They will get sick of this and will bring it up on their next meeting with suppliers and and the wholesale suppliers will get tired of this shortly too after so in a few weeks and may be months in some cases you we will all notice some American items. With that targeted consumer demand will come some jobs..... etc . NO MAGIC JUST A LITTLE ANNOYANCE on our favorite retailers. PS. buy nothing day will not work on a large scale but BUY AMERICAN will work if you ask you family friends neighbors to do the same. I think this will be a very popular movement. PS 2 . Congress will not help us to create jobs(Chinese manufactures groups gives millions to US Congress reps.) but we could do it buy demanding American good OVER AND OVER AND OVER from our retailers until some is doing something about it. Don't worry they will do it because they will see money in it!! (increased demand)
YES ! EXACTLY !
We do NOT further our cause by annoying the 99% who WILL shop on Friday and who are "seasonal" employees that DO need to be called into work to make money. Rather than annoy and harm the 99% we support, let's EDUCATE them on how to shop responsibly !
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
Starting today, you should always look for for AMERICAN MADE items.
Even in large retails outlets where chines junk is the norm, just ask the manager/ staff if they have any AMERICAN MADE products. Do this EVERY TIME you go shopping!! It might be a bit odd at first but you can get used to it. Just have your spouse friend kids parents do the same thing. Just ask the store manager EVERY TIME if they have US Made items!
They will get sick of this and will bring it up on their next meeting with suppliers and and the wholesale suppliers will get tired of this shortly too after so in a few weeks and may be months in some cases you we will all notice some American items. Just like some of the hand tools in Home Depot starting this years ARE MADE IN US (have not seen that in the passed 15years until this year) ........................... With that targeted consumer demand will come some jobs..... etc . NO MAGIC JUST A LITTLE ANNOYANCE on our favorite retailers. PS. buy nothing day will not work on a large scale but BUY AMERICAN will work if you ask you family friends neighbors to do the same. I think this will be a very popular movement. PS 2 . Congress will not help us to create jobs(Chinese manufactures groups gives millions to US Congress reps.) but we could do it buy demanding American good OVER AND OVER AND OVER from our retailers until some is doing something about it. Don't worry they will do it because they will see money in it!! (increased demand)
Starting today, you should always look for for AMERICAN MADE items.
Even in large retails outlets where chines junk is the norm, just ask the manager/ staff if they have any AMERICAN MADE products. Do this EVERY TIME you go shopping!! It might be a bit odd at first but you can get used to it. Just have your spouse friend kids parents do the same thing. Just ask the store manager EVERY TIME if they have US Made items!
They will get sick of this and will bring it up on their next meeting with suppliers and and the wholesale suppliers will get tired of this shortly too after so in a few weeks and may be months in some cases you we will all notice some American items. Just like some of the hand tools in Home Depot starting this years ARE MADE IN US (have not seen that in the passed 15years until this year) ........................... With that targeted consumer demand will come some jobs..... etc . NO MAGIC JUST A LITTLE ANNOYANCE on our favorite retailers. PS. buy nothing day will not work on a large scale but BUY AMERICAN will work if you ask you family friends neighbors to do the same. I think this will be a very popular movement. PS 2 . Congress will not help us to create jobs(Chinese manufactures groups gives millions to US Congress reps.) but we could do it buy demanding American good OVER AND OVER AND OVER from our retailers until some is doing something about it. Don't worry they will do it because they will see money in it!! (increased demand)
Exercise of our power for the mere sake of showing our power only reduces popular support of our movement. We have YET to let America know what we want, but we continue to show we can disrupt their lives. We are rapidly losing support of the general public as a result.
I STRONGLY oppose the idea of OWS annoying the general public by disrupting their holiday traditions. Rather, let's INFORM them how their shopping decisions can be used to grow those businesses that do NOT employ off-shore slave labor.
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to change America.
buy locally, support a small business - don't shop at walmart for goddamn sure!
Starting today, you should always look for for AMERICAN MADE items.
Even in large retails outlets where chines junk is the norm, just ask the manager/ staff if they have any AMERICAN MADE products. Do this EVERY TIME you go shopping!! It might be a bit odd at first but you can get used to it. Just have your spouse friend kids parents do the same thing. Just ask the store manager EVERY TIME if they have US Made items!
They will get sick of this and will bring it up on their next meeting with suppliers and and the wholesale suppliers will get tired of this shortly too after so in a few weeks and may be months in some cases you we will all notice some American items. Just like some of the hand tools in Home Depot starting this years ARE MADE IN US (have not seen that in the passed 15years until this year) ........................... With that targeted consumer demand will come some jobs..... etc . NO MAGIC JUST A LITTLE ANNOYANCE on our favorite retailers. PS. buy nothing day will not work on a large scale but BUY AMERICAN will work if you ask you family friends neighbors to do the same. I think this will be a very popular movement. PS 2 . Congress will not help us to create jobs(Chinese manufactures groups gives millions to US Congress reps.) but we could do it buy demanding American good OVER AND OVER AND OVER from our retailers until some is doing something about it. Don't worry they will do it because they will see money in it!! (increased demand)
I like this idea....though you may want the message to be shifted from corporate retailers to small mom and pops...just like big banks to credit unions.
Stay home on "Black Friday" -- or buy from your local, small businesses. It's our hard-earned dollars ... yours and mine ... that have made, and continue to make those greedy corporations so stinking rich!
YES ! EXACTLY !
We do NOT further our cause by annoying the 99% who WILL shop on Friday and who are "seasonal" employees that DO need to be called into work to make money. Rather than annoy and harm the 99% we support, let's EDUCATE them on how to shop responsibly !
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
I dunno, I'm not buying it -.-
I'm wondering, in this economy, what message this is really going to send and who it ultimately is going to effect. The 1% are not invested in best buy or sears. But those companies that you want to boycott do employ tens of thousands of people. What message do we send when our power is used to hurt those we want to help? This issue is larger than any single business, corporation, or Wall St.. This is an issue dealing with our government and it's political policies and how it is influenced by contributions of many kinds by those who stand to gain. I believe that I could get behind this movement if it went from ows to Occupy White House.
EXACTLY !
We do NOT further our cause by annoying the 99% who WILL shop on Friday and who are "seasonal" employees that DO need to be called into work to make money. Rather than annoy and harm the 99% we support, let's EDUCATE them on how to shop responsibly !
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
But if you take some of those jobs: Best Buy, Walmart, Target and the corporate like. Am I sad to see those go, or those people lose their jobs, if the stores closed? No, not really. Why? Because the turn over rate at all of those, on average, is 4-6 months. Yes, some people stay longer. But, on average, 80% of those people will of quit in 2 more months anyway, if you hadn't closed the store, because the job SUCKS. I work at a locally owned store, where the turn over rate is about 2 years. I've worked there 3 years. You have to prioritize man. Everyone wants the perfect solution that will fix all the problems in one shot. You are GOING to hurt SOMEone. And at the VERY least...maybe enough pressure to close will make them improve working conditions. And yes - that is how you hurt the 1%. Take their money. That's it. The question now is, what's the best way to take it from them?
Anybody remember the man who got trampled to death during Black Friday at WAL-MART in 2008?
"Suddenly, witnesses and the police said, the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains. One worker, JDIMYTAI DAMOUR, 34, was thrown back onto the black linoleum tiles and trampled in the stampede that streamed over and around him"
"Emergency workers tried to revive Mr. Damour, a temporary worker hired for the holiday season, at the scene, but he was pronounced dead an hour later at Franklin Hospital Medical Center in Valley Stream."
Senseless tragedy. Bastards probably collected "dead peasant" insurance off his death.
The HOLIDAY MACHINE is calling? Is it worth dying for?
We should definitely make a run at this. Consumerism is rampant everywhere.
http://stopblackfriday.com
Oh, great. Tthat will certainly help with unemployment...
EXACTLY ! Stopping buying and interfering with those who do only hurts our image and the 99% we claim to support. It is a NEGATIVE move. There are also POSITIVE moves. See my post at http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-power-of-the-people/
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
I hope it helps with unemployment in China.
EXACTLY ! But stopping buying alone is a NEGATIVE move. There are also POSITIVE moves. See my post at http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-power-of-the-people/
I compiled some shopping guidelines we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
54 billion, need I say more?
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Buy nothing,no OWS bullshit,don't buy any of it.
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The purpose of this revolution should be only to take away the financial abuse that the rich and the RepubliCONS use to enrich themselves. We can't afford to have America turned off by our actions in any way. If Americans end up being turned off by us we will lose this revolution and the rich will win. We have to win this revolution and insure that President Obama wins the next election if we are to improve our lot. If the Republicans win the next election they will definately make the Bush tax cuts for the rich permanent, make abortion illegal forever, remove many regulations that protect us and our environment, make the rich richer while maqking the rest of us poorer and hurt us in many other ways. Read my web page at www.mybetteramericaplan.com to see how the rich and the Republicans have destroyed America in many ways for the last 30 years. We can't afford more years of the RepubliCONS destroying our country.
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CNN reports Black Friday moved back to Thanksgiving Thursday. Millions of people who can't afford to make house payments line up to buy the hot new gift corporate advertisers told them to. I don't like to use the internet term "FAIL", but that kind of sums it up.
Does beer count? I'm out of beer.
And here come the voices of criticism. i think this is a great idea. And to all you who think we dont see the irony, we actually do. We know that the economy is consumer driven. We're trying to tell you that it needs to change. The change will be painful. But the first step is getting people to understand how the current system is oppressive, abusive, and doesn't serve them. The next is to point out ways they can help change it. Remember your dollar bill is your ballot. You vote with your money.
Was wondering if there were gonna be any occupy T-shirts on sale on black friday
Buy nothing bc you cant afford anything. Not rocket science. You dont contribute. You dont matter.
Got to get to bed so I can get up bright and early in the morning to shop! Happy Thanksgiving!
Yyyyyyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssss!!!!!
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better be aware ..fox news says you are destroying the economy.. hahaha . me i wont being doing any shopping anytime soon.. i banned xmas a long time ago..i hate the comercials , the hype ..and the crowd... new years cant come quick enough
Will definitely touch an already over-stimulated nerve in consumer consciousness, particularly those driven by "savings" and "not to be missed deals". I applaud the choice!
This is really really good. Finally a coherent and realistic action from a movement who was very close to lose track. For days someone has been posting about how Apple takes jobs overseas thus fucking up the Americans. Than they treat the Chinese workers so bad they have to build a net on the manufacturing plant to avoid people from throwing themselves of the windows to death. And what did they want? They seem to wanted the government to regulate how US companies could produce overseas. Or they wanted to protest in some park against the cruel inhumane slavery of Chinese workers. Both actions that, as we know, are noble, but, as most noble acts, sadly lead to nothing at all.
The government is money-based and will never care for something like money-slaves, least of all overseas. Remaining in a park protesting will inevitably cause the police to beat you up. So how come none of the protesters had the EXTREMELY simple idea of not buying the stuff and therefore forcing the system to collapse with easy, rational and achievable action? That was so hard to understand it made me think the whole protest was just some people hired by the government to prepare a new political platform. All that stuff about "what are your goals and demands" really made it sound like preparations for launching a political party.
And then this post came. This is so easy to do, and yet, if people do it, will accomplish so much in so little time. You do not need to skip the holiday season shopping at all if you don't want to. Buy from local shops run by people who actually work for what they get. Support your community. No way a police officer will beat you up or even be able to dislike you for boycotting these companies. No way the unemployment in the US will get worse if you do that, because the jobs are not in the US already. No way the situation of the money-slaves in China will get worse than it already is with people killing themselves for seeing no escape. But for the company itself... for the money maniac SALES-GOAL driven CEO... for the bankers trading stocks based on the expected revenue from the holiday seasons, literally making money out of nowhere... THE HIT WILL BE DRASTIC. This makes it by far the most important action the movement has supported this far. The current system does not require a war to be changed, it simply require people not to accept it. I cannot think of a simply person who will be, in any way, harmed by not complying to its compulsive impulse and rather taking a look at the bigger picture of how many are suffering so cheap electronics can be made. And besides, the companies will probably react by launching a new updated model to try to force you to buy, so the one you would have gotten this year would become trash anyway.
It would be even BETTER to take POSITIVE action !
We do NOT further our cause by annoying the 99% who WILL shop on Friday and who are "seasonal" employees that DO need to be called into work to make money. Rather than annoy and harm the 99% we support, let's EDUCATE them on how to shop responsibly !
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
Buy Nothing Day is a good idea, but is just going to bleed energy out of the Occupy Wall Street movement. There are many great initiatives that are directly relevant to Occupy Wall Street and that enjoy overwhelming support (the list that Matt Taibbi published in Rolling Stone would be a great manifesto). These are the "low hanging fruit" that OWS should harvest while there is lots of energy and support. Most Americans would support them.
But going after the retailers that many of the 99% rely upon for work is foolish. And being a big wet blanket during the holidays is dumber still. If you persist in making hugely unpopular causes the core of the movement, then it won't be long before OWS is the 1% battling the other 1%.
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You're saying we should buy on the 26th instead? I can do that.
Or are you suggesting that we should cancel Christmas?
Allah sucks...
I for one am suggesting that we ALWAYS consider who we're "voting" for when we shop, be it the 25th, 26th or any OTHER day of the year.
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
The only people you hurt are the 99%. My wife is working a seasonal job which depends on Black Friday for sales. Your plan merely puts more of us 99% out of jobs. Maybe that's your intention and maybe not but the results will be the same.
EXACTLY !
We do NOT further our cause by annoying the 99% who WILL shop on Friday and who are "seasonal" employees that DO need to be called into work to make money. Rather than annoy and harm the 99% we support, let's EDUCATE them on how to shop responsibly !
I compiled some shopping guidelines (that include cash only, no debit/credit card recommendations) we developed under a forum post here and hosted them at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit where they are widely accessible and can be shared via social networks. Please read the guidelines and, if you agree, spread the http://bit.ly/DoYourBit link as far and wide as possivle using e-mail, twitter, facebook, etc. We need a LOT of people on board if we are to have an impact.
Note there are no ads at http://bit.ly/DoYourBit, and I do not receive any reward other than the satisfaction of helping Americans use their economic power to help their fellow Americans.
Do not make a fear choice. It only dis-empowers you. What corporate America so cunningly exploits is peoples need to earn money. With outsourcing and Union busting. wages have been in decline. Corporate chieftains are ruthless in pitting one 99er against another to continue their extortion of wealth.
In response to another objector I said:
"I disagree that it will hurt those who have the jobs! A one or two day boycott does not lay off employees. The losses from the boycott do give the corporate chieftains a taste of what their financial losses stand to be if this were to spread and be sustained! They want to sell in America!"
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Ad Busters is not our leader.
They don't tell us what to do.
Ad Busters and their overpriced magazine need to piss off, and let the community run the show. Maybe everyone should also stop buying their magazine as well.
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ah, the adbuster puppet masters are at it again, manipulating their flock of idiots- how sad - how freaking sad - kids - wake up - snap out of it - go live your lives -
Just a question: why is an obscure Canadian group leading us? Vancouver, Canada? Gees they can't even defend themselves, and their major export is hockey???
Dont worry you wont see this on the 6 o'clock news
adbusters is a free mason? as it shows its symbol: a pyramid with an eye!!! Free mason is a fundamental builder of 1%
Not everything with a picture of an eye on it means it's freemason.
Sorry, I intend to go shopping , both in stores and on line.
Then why are you on this site?
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re-phrase:Sorry, i intend to take it in the mouth and ass.
Is that vaguely homophobic or just simply rude? Either way...enjoy.
unless homosexuals are the only species handling it that way,it would be(i was thinkin jenna jameson)but anyway...since the middle class has been experiencing both orifices being hammered by (the list ;corporations,congress..ect.ect.)it was fitting ..rude?..yes..was that my intention? absolutely.
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I'm not interested in your sex life.
and im not intrested in your shopping habits...have fun at target ;]
I prefer Neiman Marcus, Tiffany and Saks.
How is this day different from any other? Half of you look like you haven't bought anything in years, and the other half is clearly on the dole from mommy and daddy.
Good luck bringing down the system with your silly boycott. Guess what? It won't work. Viva la Shower.
Yet my cash reserve is probably way larger than yours and this "little boycott" has my full support, so stop trying to use the "mommy and daddy" label as not everyone here is mommy and daddy supported. Though the drastic jealously state you have against people supported by their parents does seem to imply how you were raised and where that cheap aggressiveness comes from. Even if it does not work, it's people trying to do something. Maybe the word silly was used to you since you can't remember, as now all you can do is say that to others, no capability of even trying to attach an argument to it. Poor thing when mommy and daddy are not at your side, huh?
Great! Less crowds for me to worry about as I shop!
Yeah, but don't you ever think about how refreshing it would be to break away from your addiction for a minute or two? You'll just die sad otherwise.
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