Then we’d be Saved!
(Grist) Nothing like deprivation to muddy up your understanding of “want†vs. “need.â€
For instance, here’s a sampling of items I’ve considered “needs†over the past two weeks: new sports bras, shower curtain, new couch pillows, lime-squeezer kitchen gadget, iPad case, duchess satin bridesmaid dress, cat scratching post, and a handmade silver ring shaped like a poppy. This is doubly remarkable, as I’m not really the shopping type. But I’m also in the middle of a self-imposed No New Stuff May, and we all know what happens when you start branding the fruit forbidden.
My No New Stuff month is a challenge not to buy anything brand-new for the 31 days of May (food and certain toiletries obviously excepted, you sickos). Why? I already have everything I need to stay hale and hearty, and my small apartment wouldn’t fit much more stuff, anyway. But really, it’s a small stand against a “Bigger, Better, More!†culture that tosses perfectly good items into landfills and gobbles up new resources to build still more stuff — much of which we don’t even need.
In all fairness, she does have a point about too much stuff being discarded into landfills……wait, she has an iPad? OK, it was given to her by work, but iPads are bad for Globull Warming, because they use lots of energy.
On a roll, I decided to freshen up our old shower curtain. It had put in a couple of years of solid service, and was basically fine, if rather grimy. Before No New Stuff month, my admittedly spotty thinking on the matter had been, “Shower curtains have a limited shelf life, right? At a certain point, they just get too gross to save.†Maybe, but honestly, mine was nowhere near that point. So I sighed, yanked it down, and spread it flat for a deep cleaning.
We’re saved!
If Warmists really want to try a month long project, they should give up all fossil fuels for a month. See how that goes.
PS : the Warmists are not really happy with me in the comments at Grist. I do enjoy their deflections, though.
If everybody took her advice, wouldn’t that throw millions of people out of work?
Hey, I got half of my money back today. Sorry about that big f-bomb yesterday. I was pretty pissed. Things are back to the normal ebb and flow now. For a while though… ouch!
But I really do hate JPM and by extension anyone who’d invest in them… but that’s just a personal problem and I’m working on it.
But, if people aren’t working, they aren’t consuming, and aren’t taking fossil fueled vehicles to work!
Well, that’s something, Kevin. I’ve never bothered investing with JPM. I find it interesting that many are calling the Facebook IPO not quite a failure, but close.
Why doesn’t she put her money where her mouth is and give up heat and electricity for a year?
It always amazes me that the most ardent yellers for anti-capitalistic legislation are those who do alot of purchasing.
I could probably retire 20 years early if I had her salary. Heck, her apartment probably costs in rent as much as a house where I live. I don’t have an IPAD because they are expensive, no real use (for me), and are just something else to spend massive amounts of time and money on. Time and money that can be spent with family.
And this tards say that we are disconnected!