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| Blue Pill enjoy shopping and blissful ignorance. Red Pill stop shopping, start living, be free. |
NBAeus: Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to Not Buying Anything. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo: Consumerism.
NBAeus: Yes. Consumerism is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
NBAeus: That you are more than a worker drone and consumer, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into wage slavery, consumer debt, and an endless shopping cycle. Into lifestyles that are excessive, unsustainable, and unlikely to bring happiness. The truth is out there, but it is your choice whether to accept it or not.
The Choice
Take the blue pill and you take the easy way out. You will ignore harsh realities and live in blissful ignorance.
You brave the elements and traffic jams to do your Black Friday shopping with thousands of other frantic bargain hunters. You continue consuming and do not notice that you are not happy. Ecological limits, notions of our fair share of the Earth's resources, and moderation don't exist for you. You desire more.
Take the red pill and you will have a free-thinking attitude. You will wake up from the "normal" lifestyle of work/shop/sleep/repeat.
You will observe Buy Nothing Day and spend the day doing things that actually make you happy. You awake to the fact that the thing wrong with the world is conspicuous consumption and greed. You see the individuals and institutions that are destroying life and freedom, and you develop ways to distance yourself from them. You desire simplicity.
Go with the red pill and you prefer the truth, no matter how gritty and painful it may be, because you know it is the way to freedom.
An ancient Zen philosopher said something that relates to what happens if we choose the red pill. The philosopher talked about how he did not do what other people do, did not have what other people have, and did not think the way other people think.
He was talking about how he was different from those who choose the blue pill.
"Do not think the red pill is easy" the free-thinking philosopher warned, "because to take it is to walk through a pit of fire." I have found this to be true in my own life, and I have the burn marks on the soles of my feet to show for it.
It is hard going against the grain, but the rewards for doing so are ample and worthwhile. Don't listen to advertisers that are blue pill pushers. Listen to your soul. Answer its pleas and choose the red pill.
NBAeus: This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.
You take the red pill - you continue to visit Not Buying Anything and I show you how joyous simplicity can be.
I'm working today - at the public library. I am happy to report numerous library customers today who opted out of the free for all of consumerism to enjoy a quiet day at the library looking for books, movies, and peace. The revolution is afoot! :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Buy Nothing Day!
Anon,
DeleteWe love our public library, and the people who work and visit there. A fine group of folks.
Thank you for the report, and thank you for the work you do.
Thank you always for keeping me centered! Off for a walk- then yoga- then a simple meal.
ReplyDeleteJake,
DeleteSounds like a fine, peaceful day.
From Terri...
ReplyDeleteVery much enjoy your posts, site and thinking. It inspires me every time I read it.
Love the "Anti Shopping Mantras" in the email version of this post. I wrote them down, put them up to re-visit.
"You don't need it" is brilliant.
"Refuse" is working well for me for an Anti Shopping Mantra; it fits my rebel spirit!
BTW, Recently, I worked with a group who was putting on a public recycling event on America Recycles Day. The theme was to encourage recycling (which seems to me to say it is OK to buy to your heart's content, as long as you recycle....like individuals can really do much to stop the horrific landfill problem, etc, etc, etc. The whole thing felt like it was to tell people it is OK to buy as long as you recycle which is not how I think at all.
I know as a large group of individuals we could make a little difference in the trash problem, but it is going to take industry and going to take people refusing to buy stuff they don't need.)
At lunch with the recycling group, I mentioned that I just Refuse a lot of products, especially those in Styrofoam, plastic, double or more packaged, etc. Mentioned that I take along my own straw and refuse straws as an example. The room went silent...which happens a lot when I bring up the word "refuse" to buy it. It amazes me that people just don't think of just don't buy it as even a remote possibility.
Side note: Heard on NPR news yesterday that several groups have passed the idea, said it is OK to dump Syria's chemical weapons in deep water in the ocean...has to pass through one more group and looks like they will have a big dumping party. Have we not learned anything? Stuff like this just frustrates me to the core.
I'm a long way from where you are, but it is in my vision every day and I've made a lot of changes. Your posts are very supportive. Thank you, Terri
Terri,
DeleteLove the Refuse story. That silence - priceless. So many people never think of Refuse or Reduce, and of all the R's, they are the most effective.
So we end up with "Green Consumerism", as if that isn't the oxymoron of the century. Buy your way to a better world.
And let's not forget Rethink, as in Rethinking everything that we used to believe about the economy, work, and consumption.
We are glad to hear you are with us, and that you are finding support here. That is what this thing is all about. Thank you for the work you are doing in spreading the message in your groups, as well as in your life.
We need more people willing to walk the talk and drive the changes toward more red pill thinking.
coming to your blog reminds me to stay on track.
ReplyDeleteRecycling is simply a way for corporations to try to make people forget about what they are doing when they buy things they don't need. It is also a way for government to impose taxes, without publicly stating they are increasing taxes. Everytime we purchase certain products, we have to pay a "green" fee, and its not for golf. Where does the money go? Into general revenue. Not into programs to improve the enviornment.
Watching all those people run for a few deals, you gotta wonder. How do they pay for it? Do they really need it? What did it cost in terms of the enviroment and the people in second and third world countries who make it?
Happiness does not depend upon getting a new cell phone every year, or a new t.v., or car. All these electronics actually don't improve our lives. I can see my favorite t.v. show as well on a 10 yr old set as I can on a new flat screen costing a couple of thousand. If you want movie theatre sound, go to a theatre. All that noise in the home is not good for babies or people who want to save their ear drums.
e.a.f.
DeleteWe are on the same page. I have many of the same question you do. We seem to have some sort of cultural mental illness going on. Or mental retardation. We are being poisoned by greed and hedonism.
Interesting thought on Black Friday Shopping!
ReplyDeleteI always choose Black Friday (Blue Pill).
ReplyDelete