Thou shall not Consume

Oh Black Friday is here again. Living in Canada we don't get as much hype of it but it is around and people get into it. I know of people who have hopped the border to go get some awesome deal for something that they are sure they need. Now I am all for a good deal. I love getting things on sale or second hand.  I go to thrift shops and online classifieds, when I'm looking for something. I really try to avoid excess. I strive for a simpler life for us. Yes we have things in our house that are not necessary for survival, they are luxuries and convinces, but they are not fancy and many of them are older.

This time of year makes me really sad for our society in so many ways. During the holiday season, we speak of good tidings to our fellow man, love and charity. These seem to be only sentiments though as from today onwards, any time you set foot in a big box store it is maddness. Crowds of people, wanting wanting wanting. The thing that scares me most though is so many people are confusing want with need.

Let me give you an example. Today we needed winter tires for our van. Where we live it is a need. If I don't have good tires on my van when it snows I will be going no where, it wouldn't be safe. Now this is something we need, but we don't need the fanciest best brand name tires. What we need are good quality tires that will get the job done, at a reasonable price. That is what we got, no bells and whistles  just what we need.  

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Too many people think they needs the newest fanciest gadgets on the block, and some of them are willing to wait in the cold to get some deal.  I usually get any tech devices once they are no longer the fanciest things. I don't bother with the fancy stuff because I know I would go broke trying to keep up. There is always something newer and fancier.

So why am I against consumerism and Black Friday nonsense? Quite simply because 20% of the worlds population consume 80% of the resources. we are a wasteful greedy society that takes and takes. Wants and wants. It is never enough for some people. People go into huge amounts of debt every single Christmas. Why is this? Because we live in a world where we love possessions more then people. We show love by buying gifts for one another. It seems that the days of service and hand made goods are falling away. We we can take it back. You can choose to not buy everything you see. You can choose to say no!