Why Buy Nothing? Iain Reeve, OP Contributor his Friday is Buy Nothing Day, something of a holy day for many of us on the left. I heartily endorse Buy Nothing Day, and let me tell you why. It’s a day that is unique among holidays. While most holidays celebrate things that have happened before, or stand for the appreciation of things we have now, Buy Nothing Day asks us to envision and work towards something we don’t have yet—a truly happy society. We are a society that, since the 1950s, has come to consume more and more goods, twice as much since 1955, while polls have shown we have become less happy over- all, and have lower overall standards of living, This is all subdued, of course, by an endless stream of ads telling us that the accompanying endless stream of new products will make us happier, sexier, and better accepted. Consumerism has stolen our culture as well. The arts of theatre, literature, and music have been replaced by the indus- tries of Hollywood, magazines, and pop music—industries openly more con- cerned with making money than expressing art. At malls—or “city centres” as most like to be called now in an attempt to become the main gathering place for our society—people spend more time shop- ping than ever. In the United States, the consumerist utopia, people spend an aver- age of six hours shopping, compared to 40 minutes playing with their children, per week. And they work more hours per week than ever to pay for goods, while retiring much later, and spending less time with their families and friends, or partici- pating in activities they truly enjoy. How is this the best culture for us? A culture where the rich dominate what we watch, eat, think, and wear, while we have an ever-growing number of poor, facing an ever-worsening lifestyle? Where chil- dren are considered the largest untapped market and are the target of ad campaigns trying to get them to nag their parents into buying them toys, creating brand loy- alty as early as age five? Where people are more concerned with Ikea desks than world hunger? You tell me. The proof is out there that consump- tion-based societies do not promote the best life. A high standard of living is dif- ferent from a high quality of life. The tight will have you believe that infinite expansion of the economy is possible, and that buying less will kill the economy. They will tell developing nations that adopting a consumerist culture is the surest way to happiness and prosperity. But, if it doesn’t work here, why would it work there? And furthermore, can our world support everyone living to this degree of extravagance? The United States has used more resources in the past 50 years than every other country up to this point combined. Will Buy Nothing Day change all that overnight? Not a chance. But unlike most other days, it stands for a possibility of looking at our world and saying, “we can do this better.” And that’s something I can believe in. For more info on consumerist culture visit , , or check out the videos Affluenza and Escaping Affiuenza, from the Douglas College Library. Shopping for Your Addictions Dave Clark, Intercamp (Grant MacEwan College) EDMONTON (CUP)—Do you often find yourself on your laptop in class, or on one of the school’s many computers searching eBay for an amazing deal? Or possibly sitting at home all Friday night, waiting for the auction for the lot of Bat Boy comics to close, making sure nobody outbids you? Well, you know what? Chances are you have an online auction addiction! Now, I know what you are thinking: there is no way you really have an addic- tion, unless of course you are bidding on large quantities of crack cocaine. Wrong. I have seen the dark side; I know it exists. I am even watching my friends slowly cross the line into a hellish world of maximum bids and inflated shipping costs. And real- ly, there is nothing I can do. As long as they have a credit card, they will spend. I, myself, have been there. Until I real- ized these online auctions were eating away at my soul. I once even thought of selling such soul, however, it had already been tainted. To end the madness, I looked for help. However, when my search only yielded websites for people who engage in too much cyber-sex, I thought I was doomed. There was no doubt my addiction was worse than talking about how cyber-hard my cyber-penis was. It wasn’t my cyber- bank account that was being drained. It wasn’t my cyber-boss that almost fired me from my cyber-job. This was real. Now, I didn’t go as far as to rob a liquor store or beat up a homeless person to feed my addiction. I was simply blow- ing all my hard-earned money. The thing about internet auction addiction is that there are very few symp- toms, compared to most addictions. I think I may have come down with a little bit of the carpal-tunnel syndrome, but that’s a far cry from track marks down my arms. I’ve never awoken in a haze, only to realize I had bid on things that would make all my friends lose respect for me, then tried to dispose of the evidence by putting it in the trunk of my car and driv- ing into the nearest river. This addiction is really the easiest to start, making it very dangerous. You don’t need to be of legal age, you don’t need a consenting partner, and you don’t even have to leave your own home. Really, the only human contact you will get is when the courier drops off parcels. I think I would rather have a conversation with a bag of rusty nails just waiting to give me tetanus than the local courier. So, just be forewarned. Random nov- elties, like mullet wax or a bag of Paris Hilton’s pubic hair, combined with ship- ping costs, and customs fees, will do nothing for you but make you want more. When you are curled up in the fetal position, shaking in the corner with an empty wallet, you will have nowhere to turn. Not even your autographed picture of the Fonz or your GI Joe collection will be able to help you. Hovember = an/eond