Life at the End of Empire
- Sarah Nardi
- | 21 Aug 2008
- | 20 comments
Journal of the mental environment
Unchaining America
Independent booksellers unite to stand against chain stores and prove that not all stores are created equal.
- Thu, 05 Jun 2008 3:06 pm — Posted by Lauren
- | 2 comments
Last Friday, 30,000 people from 80 different countries gathered in Los Angeles for the weekend to discuss the “unchaining of America” through the necessity and success of independent booksellers. Publishers, authors, and panelists united together behind the initiative IndieBound.
Democracy Now! reports on the movement:
“the local first movement is a growing awareness among consumers that shopping locally at your locally owned independent businesses matters to communities, that when you shop at a chain store versus a local independent—60 percent more money remains in the community when you shop at the independent. And the effect of that on local schools, local economies is dramatic. And in many cases, local independent bookstores have been the first—among the first businesses to make that case to consumers.” (Link)
Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman sits down with former president of the American Booksellers Association, Russ Lawrence, to discuss what it means to be independent and the link to the local community.
Escaping the rat race
How one man left the consumer obsessed urban rat race to become self-sufficient in the desert.
- Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:17 am — Posted by Lauren
- | 3 comments
Photo: Orbitgal (from Flickr)
Many of us feel stuck in the city living an endless rat race. We may have dreams of moving into the wilderness and becoming completely self-sufficient, but very few actually take the plunge. Today the San Francisco Chronicle reports on how one man did it, and how a growing trend may be following:
Carl is taking part in a long-standing American tradition of giving up on the endless drive to earn more money and abandoning a society based on consumption of goods. In the 1840s, there were the transcendentalists and writers like Nathaniel Hawthorne, who escaped the rat race in Boston to the quiet quarters of Brook Farm. Henry David Thoreau went to live in the woods by Walden Pond. In the 1970s, over 1 million hippies left cities for rural areas in order to grow their own food and live off the land.
These days — with the price of oil topping $130 a barrel, an ever-weakening dollar and food shortages worldwide, moving toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle suddenly seems like a good idea again.
Although there aren’t any hard numbers on people like Carl, anecdotal evidence indicates that there may be a consumer backlash in the making.
Sadness makes you spend more
Examination of consumer behavior reveals an unconscious link between happiness and frugality. The lesson? A miserable customer is a profitable customer.
- Wed, 28 May 2008 9:39 am — Posted by Paul
- | 7 comments
Those suffering from the blues might want to steer clear of the mall. Medical News Today reports on a study published this past winter:
“If you are sad you are more likely to spend more money to acquire the same commodities as a person whose emotional state is neutral, according to an article to be published in Psychological Science. Researchers from Carnegie Melon University, Stanford University, University of Pittsburg and Harvard University say people spend more if they are feeling sad and self-focused, even those whose sad feelings are temporary.”
Buy Nothing Christmas
We have recently changed our publishing platform and are in the process of restoring this page.
This year, carry the spirit of Buy Nothing Day into the holiday season by taking back Christmas. Let others put up with the busy malls, the to-do lists, and the marketing hype. Spend time with family instead, and rediscover how people made merry before the advent of the big-box store.
