November 30, 2003
It's Cool to Buy Nothing, But You Need to Do Something
Buy Nothing Day is undoubtedly more worthwhile than the Misgivings Day that precedes it. It's a clever angle, sure to get some press in the slow holiday news week. But like most "culture jamming", it strikes me as more clever than constructive.
I've never been a big fan of Kalle Lasn and his adbusters/culture jamming "movement". Their stunts are always witty and ironic, but they offer no depth of analysis, and no tangible goal besides encouraging distrust of advertising and mass media. That's cool as a means to an end. But as an end in itself it is flimsy. Culture jamming rightfully urges us to reject the ideas that drive our consumer culture, but it offers no ideas of its own in their place, so it is ultimately empty.
Basically it's like:
"Hey everybody, don't listen to their message, listen to our message!"
Okay, what's your message?
"Our message is... don't buy into their message!"
But that's really not a message at all, and with no constructive agenda of its own your movement is not a movement at all.
It is based entirely on reacting to the mainstream, and that means you'll never be able to destroy or replace the mainstream, because you have made yourself a slave to it. The most you'll ever be is an activist version of Weird Al Yankovic, a moon that reflects the pop-culture sun but produces no light of its own.
I call it Fast Food Activism. It is ready-made for young folks who want that immediate satisfaction of feeling cool and rebellious, getting a moment in the spotlight and sticking it to the man in a quick bold stroke. But real social movements rarely achieve their goals with quick bold strokes. They usually involve a lifetime of study and struggle, with precious few opportunities to look cool or bask in the spotlight. And most importantly, real social movements are usually driven by an actual cause of some sort. Without that, it's basically just masturbation.
Posted by jsmooth995 at November 30, 2003 07:18 PM
wow, that was pretty good. I might have to copy and paste that for a school paper sometime.
j/k
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Posted by: Trent at December 1, 2003 03:43 AM
Doesn't buy nothing day just prolong the purchase to be one day later? I guess it stops some people from making impulsive purchases but otherwise it just delays the inevitable.
Posted by: Cal Ulmann at December 1, 2003 02:41 PM
While I think the idea of this "culture jamming" is started off in a good place, but it doesn't "go" anywhere, as you said.
My one thing is reminding people who think they're all "independent" and whatnot by wearing particular brands like Nike or Reebok are strolling around in brands like Hurley, which is...drumroll, owned by Nike. Do a little research before jumping off the bridge with the "cool kids" down the street.
Posted by: djspicerack at December 1, 2003 04:26 PM
Your observation about the content-free nature of buy nothing is great, but how can this be more worthwhile than a "Misgivings day"?
A population of 74 million people reduced to a few hundred thousand is not worth memorializing?
The first offical thanksgiving celebrated the slaughter of 700 Natives in Connecticut. Yay nice christian pilgrims.
Posted by: 21st_century_whiteboy at December 2, 2003 03:26 PM
Oh, I just meant that Thanksgiving Day as it is traditionally celebrated is a farce.. if everyone actually did commemorate it as a memorial that would be great.
Posted by: Jay Smooth at December 2, 2003 03:32 PM
This is an ancient post by now, but I would highly recommend the book "The Conquest of Cool" for anyone interested in the above subject. It breaks down with extreme journalistic cogency the pivotal era of the '50s and '60s in which the countercultural ad pitch became prevalent. The psychology behind this is pretty remarkable, essentially boiling down to the fact that youth and hipsterism are very conducive to a high level of consumption. I'll be making a big post to my blog before too long here. Not that anyone will ever, ever see this message.
Posted by: David at January 2, 2004 05:54 PM
This is an ancient post by now, but I would highly recommend the book "The Conquest of Cool" for anyone interested in the above subject. It breaks down with extreme journalistic cogency the pivotal era of the '50s and '60s in which the countercultural ad pitch became prevalent. The psychology behind this is pretty remarkable, essentially boiling down to the fact that youth and hipsterism are very conducive to a high level of consumption, and that consumption is also a very good way for people to express "countercultural" views. I'll be making a big post to my blog before too long here. Not that anyone will ever, ever see this message.
Posted by: David at January 2, 2004 05:55 PM
Posted by: battlefield at June 10, 2004 01:48 PM
Interesting post my friend. Although I don’t entirely agree. Have you read Culture Jam? Lasn does certainly try and grapple with what a better world would look like. He’s also acutely aware of its short comings. Basically all he is asking for is a less branded world that has space for “community” and communities to have a greater control over their own destiny. This doesn’t mean a death to corporations, just a limit to their power and influence. He’s quite specific about that. So isn’t that an ends?
Not sure if you’ve read any of Hugo Chavez’s stuff but he is quite explicit about the revolutionary nature of symbolic activism and how ever minor public displays of resistance can ensure massive social upheaval. And well he’s now the president of Venezuela – and by far the most popular and democratic president the country has ever had.
I’m no apologist for Lasn, he certainly has his short comings. However to his credit he is acutely aware of them. No, buy nothing day will have little no to effect, but resistance itself is purposeful if for not reason other than it assures the people that change is possible. And it is – it has to be.
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I have to disagree with the author. First of all, and although this does not undermine his premise per se, it is worth noting: why do we put such different standards on radical/alternative ideas? Since when is shopping, and the ad culture, and commercials a picture of indepth analysis? We are supposed to trust the media and advertising just "because" not because they have offered us compelling reasons to do so. Now, in order to fight this and reach out to the same public that is mesmerized by superficial exhortations to follow consumer culture you sometimes need to interject light and relatively superficial ideas of alternative thinking. to get someone to pause and reflect upon something is the goal and it needs no more than a simple idea expressed simply like the adbusters are doing...basically adbusters are fighting consumer culture with the same weapons...They are using the consumer culture dragon's sword to slay it....
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If people in developed countries consumed less, the result would be that they would trade less with poorer countries. Those poorer countries would thus loose out. Buy Nothing Day is entirely counterproductive.
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