On second hand, I'll skip the morning latte.

I am not going to lie, on November 25th, 2009 I am going to cheat; cheat on Buy Nothing Day. I mean, when I first saw this post I was confused because I had never actually heard of Buy-Nothing Day. I’m not sure if this ignorance stems from my origins in a smaller city where I didn’t actually have to buy anything everyday or from my inattention to its existence.

I buy things just like everyone else does, although I do believe that I am not at a point where I need (or can afford) to buy something for myself every day. I seem to also suffer from an infliction that runs in my family: frivolousness. I hate spending money. Even though it really doesn’t affect me the way it may affect others, I can still commemorate the message that is being passed through this day. In the last chapter of his work, the author John Berger explains the need for the awareness this day will bring. ““The purpose of publicity is to make [people] marginally dissatisfied with [their] present way of life. Not with the way of life of society, but with [their] own within it. It suggests that if [they] buy what it is offering, [their lives] will become better. It offers [them] an improved alternative to what [they] are” (Berger, 142).

Sims is a perfect way to describe this day as these pixel people seem to thrive on just having things bought. A Buy Nothing Day within Simville would probably shake the very fabric of the game to shreds. We are just like these Sims; how many times a day do you spend money? Whether it’s filling up your car, paying bills, having a coffee. I for one know that I will spend money when I go to buy breakfast, and the coffee I will need to actually get some work done that day. Chuck Klosterman says it best: if you consider life as a game then; “To succeed at this game, I am forced to consume like a mofo.” (Klosterman, 20).

Works Cited

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corp. 1972.

Klosterman, Chuck. Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs. New York, 2003

*NOTE- Upon further researching there are many dates ranging from November 25-28 for Buy Nothing Day. Kept the date that was written in the syllabus description.