: Yesterday was about

November 23, 2001

Yesterday was about gluttony. The menu: Wassailed apple cider, sparkling

cider, coke, orange juice, water, veggies and ranch dip, fresh biscuits with honey and

butter, acorn squash stuffed with long grain and wild rice, garlic mashed potatoes,

quiche-like stuffing, candied yams with brown sugar and marshmallow goo, homemade

cranberry sauce, vegetarian gravy, pumpkin pie, ginger bread, Breyers vanilla ice cream,

Dreyers chocolate swirl ice cream, home made whipped cream. Also, there was wine but no

cork screw. And the meat eaters had a turkey.

Today is about restraint. It's

resist filling up your gas tank or buying that morning caffeine boost, take a minute to

think about the repercussions of rampant consumerism. Public officials have encouraged

Americans to shop to boost our economy. But how affordable is a shopping spree when most

of us are in debt and pitifully unprepared for encroaching retirement? How sustainable is

mass consumption in a world where resources are limited but population growth doesn't

seem to be? Who's behind the labels we

so blithely affiliate ourselves with, and what are the repurcussions of supporting these

corporations? Did you know that eco-friendly Tom's

the publisher Simon & Schuster is owned by

UPN, MTV, CBS, Showtime, Blockbuster, VH1, TNN, Nichelodeon, CMT, etc). Perhaps these

uber-corporations are unavoidable for people who want to lead normal lives (or even just

watch Buffy). But by taking the day

off from shopping, we can take a symbolic stand and clear some time to think about what

really matters and what our actions really imply. Today is the busiest shopping day of

the year, and I intend to buy nothing.

Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at November 23, 2001 12:00 PM