BAY AREA / Out of the retail rat race / Consumer group doesn't buy notion that new is better

BAY AREA / Out of the retail rat race / Consumer group doesn't buy notion that new is better

My friend Tam sent this to me. When she read it, she said "Wow, people like me" to herself. And then she thought of me.

Every xmas I try to give away things that I already have, bc I always have too much stuff. I'm not sure it's really fair for my loved ones to suffer bc I'm frugal, while I buy new things for myself (very rarely) -- a bit of a selfish double standard. But anyway...

The other thing I noticed while reading this article is that this movement is another mechanism to form community so lacking in our culture. People don't go to church anymore. Many don't have kids to help them form community thru the schools. A lot of people don't talk to their neighbors or don't feel they have anything in common with their neighbors to make them worth talking to (that's about tolerance, another blog post). So, we form interest groups, star trek groups, book clubs, groups that don't buy new things. Sure, it helps save the world in a way (but in another way, it does little for the local economy). But it also brings people together, people with common values, people who share similar concerns.