cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/4118072
Consumerism is part of the climate problem and perhaps more so a waste disposal problem. Consumerism probably cannot be stopped but it can be reduced. It’s disturbing in the current climate that #BlackFriday still exists. To encourage the kick-off of mass consumption a month before Christmas likely does a lot damage.
I suppose cancelling Black Friday would be impossible in the US (where I suspect it started). A large number of democrats would oppose it and probably every single republican in the US would fight to their death an anti-consumerism action like that.
But what about Europe? Doesn’t Belgium and Netherlands restrict store-wide sales to just two weeks or so out of the year? For Europe, perhaps instead of cancelling it (which many would view as over-interventionist) they could double the VAT rates on that day on clothes and electronics. IDK… that’s probably crazy talk. Ideas welcome. There’s no real issue with sales on services, but consumption of goods is where the damage is done.
I hate the idea that one of the most environmentally reckless companies in the world (#Amazon) gets a huge boost in sales on Black Friday. It makes the day depressing to see the masses rush to enrich a company they should be boycotting all year. I loved Black Friday back in the days when I was a loose cannon consumerist myself. Now it’s just a shit day where I deliberately avoid shops in order to not support it.
UPDATE
To be clear, I would not propose cancelling the unofficial holiday US employers often give on Black Friday. Just the sales.
The problem with Black Friday is that it is tied to Christmas consumption. You could ban Black Friday, but the consumption habit would just shift to other days.
Agreed, so how do we get people to reduce their mindless consumption? I mean, if you are giving and getting presents that fulfill actual needs, that is fine, but how many made-in-China ugly sweaters do we need? I understand the stay-at-home mom making cookie-mix-in-mason-jars to give to everyone, and I also get the her sister with a full time job doesn’t have the time, so just buys the same sort of thing, but maybe we don’t need any of it. And of course we all love the delight a small child has when unwrapping new toys, but maybe we’re setting those kids up to value stuff over people. Could we get the populace at large to agree to any fix for the consumerism or is it too late?
You need to shift the idea that gift giving is an expression of love, which is hard given how engrained it is in society.
There’s a lot of room for improvement and people with different amounts of time and money can all partake.
Don’t buy gift wrapping paper; reuse old gift paper or use other things like paper grocery bags, old calendar paper or wall poster paper, etc. This takes WAY less time and money than going to the store, finding the stuff in the store, paying for it using money earned while doing work, coming back home, etc. And it makes presents stand out - those ones are extra special. You can also make your own holiday/birthday cards pretty easy.
Buy used instead of new
Don’t buy goods at all - fix their broken favorite tool/possession and present it to them, or gift them an experience like a day of downhill skiing or hiking in the mountains. This may not even financially cost anything. If they really care about you then they’ll probably value your company more than some material thing, and if they don’t, you can get them a used coffee mug. :-)
I’ve been doing these things to the extent possible for years and have noticed improvements in the people I interact with as well. It’s wonderful being on the receiving end of personally made cards and gifts.
I don’t think so. If that were true then there would be no reason for a retailer to have a Black Friday sale as they would be selling the goods anyway. Black Friday sales exist to move more goods than previously. Non-retail workers get the day off which they use for shopping, so it’s a chance to sell a lot of the kind of gifts that are well planned (like appliances and electronics).
If retailers were to give their staff the day off (and give them equal treatment to non-retail workers), then more Christmas shopping would be pushed off till later, provoking procrastination. That’s a good thing, I think, because last minute gifts are more likely to be less harmful environmentally (consumables like chocolates, fruit cakes, and services like massages).
Black Friday sales originated in the USA as the traditional beginning to the Christmas shopping season. The sales would start early to bring in shoppers, but also as a form of arbitrage to differentiate bargain shoppers from other kinds of shoppers.
The Black Friday arms race collapsed in the last few years as it became apparent that deals were no longer worth it, shopping shifted to Cyber Monday and other times, and a lot of major Christmas gifts shifted to hard to supply products where it didn’t make sense to cut margins. Even then, there is still some form of traditional starting of the Christmas shopping season.