Rev. Billy: Stop Shopping!

I've probably shopped more than my due...

Black Friday becomes Buy Nothing Day

True confession: There have been lots of years when I've gotten up early on the day after Thanksgiving or the day after Christmas and driven from mall to mall, store to store, searching for those really great half-off, marked down, must go deals. I have loved shopping the way some people must love tennis or a rare orchid. I haven't only pursued the great deals; I've also spent hours in used bookstores, in Goodwills and antique stores. I would say I have been if not a true shopaholic, then a periodic over-shopper.
But shopping and spending and using credit cards just seems ridiculous to me now - in the middle of an economic meltdown, at a time when our resources are severely strained, and after I've taken a big pay cut to pursue to new path in my career. I want money to be my servant, not my master, so I'm just not interested in shopping. Not like I used to be.
That makes it easy for me to follow Rev. Billy's advice and "stop shopping." I saw the documentary, "What Would Jesus Buy" last year, and I don't think I can ever really look at an outlet mall quite the same way. Rev. Billy and Savitra D talk about the upcoming Shopocalypse and how we have to stop using up this planet on Meet the Bloggers (MeetTheBloggers.org). Another person on the show is Latoya Peterson from Center for a New American Dream (newdream.org). She says that 90% of what we buy in this country ends up in a landfill in six months. That's horrific!
My reasons for "buying nothing" on Black Friday are personal as well as political, but no matter what the reason, it really is time to STOP SHOPPING!