How many of us have written or called our congresspersons and tried to get them to see that we must have a public option or universal health care? How many of us have picketed, marched, written articles to newspapers, written media outlets, passed out pamphlets, carried signs, pasted on bumperstickers, written President Obama and congress to stop the war, give us universal health care, regulate corporations and the banking industry...all to no avail? Do you feel like nothing we do makes any headway with those in power in Washington? Even voting doesn't seem to work anymore; our own party members have turned against us.
I am here to tell you there is something you CAN do and it won't cost you a dime. STOP spending. That's right, stop buying stuff, stop spending money. Barter, buy used at thrift stores and yard sales, make do, live without, grow food in a community garden, help your neighbors, use freecycle, live with family or let them live with you and pool your resources, dry your clothes on a line, use less electricity, drive less. Take all your money out of the bank and put it in a credit union or even in a safe in your home. If we stop consuming and take our money back, we can bring corporate America and the banks to their knees. It will be painful at first because more jobs will be lost but the more we help each other, the more simply we live, the less those lost jobs will impact us. We CAN affect change through attrition. Cut corporate America and the banks off where it counts...in their bottom line, their PROFITS. Make NO loans, buy nothing for Christmas, have Buy-Nothing birthday parties at home with friends, make it a contest to see how much you can get for free or at used places. Have neighborhood freecycle parties where you don't buy anything to have the party, you all can walk to it, and you get to know your neighbors.
After all, as we get used to living with less and make human connections and support networks, the less we have the less they can harm us because we will have the most important thing of all, each other and our dignity.
Do it now. Stop buying, stop consuming. If it isn't a necessity, don't buy it. There's power in attrition. We can be the "mouse that roars."
I am here to tell you there is something you CAN do and it won't cost you a dime. STOP spending. That's right, stop buying stuff, stop spending money. Barter, buy used at thrift stores and yard sales, make do, live without, grow food in a community garden, help your neighbors, use freecycle, live with family or let them live with you and pool your resources, dry your clothes on a line, use less electricity, drive less. Take all your money out of the bank and put it in a credit union or even in a safe in your home. If we stop consuming and take our money back, we can bring corporate America and the banks to their knees. It will be painful at first because more jobs will be lost but the more we help each other, the more simply we live, the less those lost jobs will impact us. We CAN affect change through attrition. Cut corporate America and the banks off where it counts...in their bottom line, their PROFITS. Make NO loans, buy nothing for Christmas, have Buy-Nothing birthday parties at home with friends, make it a contest to see how much you can get for free or at used places. Have neighborhood freecycle parties where you don't buy anything to have the party, you all can walk to it, and you get to know your neighbors.
After all, as we get used to living with less and make human connections and support networks, the less we have the less they can harm us because we will have the most important thing of all, each other and our dignity.
Do it now. Stop buying, stop consuming. If it isn't a necessity, don't buy it. There's power in attrition. We can be the "mouse that roars."
1 comment:
Absolutely right - and very well written. When I was younger, I was very pro-active about all of those things. Now, I do recycle, but I spend more money than I have to - because I can. Thanks for this wake up call. With your permission, I'll share a link to this. If I join my voice to yours, and others join us, we can suddenly become rather loud. That's how it's supposed to work, isn't it? (Nari)
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