The Rev. Billy
STOP the SHOPOCALYPSE!
Sho•po•ca•lypse [shah PAW kuh lips] n.
The end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption
and the fires of eternal debt!
This defnition was created by the Reverend Billy Talen of the Church of Stop Shopping. The Rev. Billy is a performance artist and activist who tours internationally with his Stop Shopping Choir
Ever since I dragged my family into New York City to see a screening of the Rev.Billy’s movie, What Would Jesus Buy on Thanksgiving 2007, I’ve been convinced that we’d all be better off if we shopped a little less.
WWJB focuses on the issues of the commercialization of Christmas, over-consumption in American culture, problems with globalization, and the business practices of large corporations. His message is one you’re heard before: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. He and his choir deliver the message in an entertaining way.
Well, now that the Thanksgiving holiday is behind us, and whats ahead of us seems to be one big non stop shopping frenzy. I for one am thankful we’ve got people like the Rev.Billy and his choir to remind us of what lurks behind those Black Friday sales.
Buy Nothing Day
Another meaningful action you can take is to participate in Buy Nothing Day. This international protest against consumerism started in Canada in 1992. There are lots of fun gatherings, shenanigans, and forms of protest. Here’s some examples from Wikipedia of Buy Nothing Day events:
- Credit card cut up: Participants stand in a shopping mall, shopping center, or store with a pair of scissors and a poster that advertises help for people who want to put an end to mounting debt and extortionate interest rates with one simple cut.
- Free, non-commercial street parties
- Sit-ins
- Zombie Walk: Participant ‘zombies’ wander around shopping malls or other consumer havens with a blank stare and marvel at the expressionless faces of the shoppers (their fellow zombies). When asked what they are doing participants describe Buy Nothing Day and explain its foundational principles.
- Whirl-mart: Participants silently steer their shopping carts around a shopping mall or store in a long, baffling conga line without putting anything in the carts or actually making any purchases.
- Public protests
- Wildcat General Strike: A strategy used for the 2009 Buy Nothing Day where participants not only do not buy anything for twenty-four hours but also keep their lights, televisions, computers and other non-essential appliances turned off, their cars parked, and their phones turned off or unplugged from sunrise to sunset.[1]
- Buy Nothing Day hike: Rather than celebrating consumerism by shopping, participants celebrate the earth and nature.[4]
- Buy Nothing Critical Mass: As the monthly Critical Mass bike ride often falls on this day or near, rides in some cities acknowledge and celebrate Buy Nothing Day.
- Buy Nothing Day paddle along the San Francisco waterfront. This event is promoted by the Bay Area Sea Kayakers (www.bask.org) to kayak along the notoriously consumptive San Francisco waterfront. We paddle, we buy nothing, and we have fun.
- The biggest Buy Nothing Day activities are the Winter Coat Exchanges that started in Rhode Island and now have locations in Rhode Island, Kentucky, Utah and Oregon in which coats are collected from anyone who wants to donate, and anyone who needs a winter coat is welcome to take one. (www.ProsperityForRI.org) has more information and flyers
- Buy Nothing from ShopNothing.com, literally.
I’m heading off to NYC, not to shop, but to participate in a Whirl at Bed Bath & Beyond and then see the Rev. Billy’s parade of angels up near Columbus Circle.
