Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Friday, December 17, 2004
Progressive Shopping 101
I thought I’d second my mention of Housing Works; I’m just around the corner from their 17th st. store and their selection was even better than I thought, great clothes and if my apt. wasn’t so small I would’ve bought furniture from them too. If you’re not in New York you can at least donate to them: http://www.housingworks.org.
Posted by James on from New York 12/17 at 01:44 PMGreat suggestions. Thank you for planting some very fruitful seeds on fertile ground. I don’t know how I woke up one morning, a couple of years ago, with the belief that “less is, indeed, more”... but I did. My life is now a most interesting adventure that confirms that. Thanks again.
Posted by Nader Rider on from 12/17 at 05:17 PMThe holiday season is a great time to re-evaluate one’s consumerist habits...but let’s keep this as an ongoing discussion. Sort of a shopper’s group therapy.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from 12/17 at 05:31 PMA continued discussion would be very desirable for me. Since I’m also interested in modeling certain behaviors for her as well.
On an unrelated matter, I wish that bartering was also a more prevelant form of compensation today as well. Even though I can pay for most things that I need, fortunately, I would prefer to barter my services for them, if I could. Bartering would also have a built-in evaluation ingredient of “do I really need this bad enough to want to provide a service for it”.
Posted by Nader Rider on from 12/17 at 06:02 PMMichele and I, on occasion, have held bartering parties where everyone brings something to trade. It never fails to be both fun and useful.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from 12/17 at 06:12 PMI, too, have had some cool experiences with bartering.
One time, I wanted to learn how to cook some Chinese meals, so I offered my dish/pan washing services for a couple of weeks to a Chinese take-out place. It was a great trade. I picked up some tricks of the trade, re. wok cooking… and they received the cleanest dishes and pans in return.
On another occassion, I wanted to learn some engine tuning skills for my bike, so I detailed all their bikes while I learned what I wanted to learn.
The sky is pretty much the limit for bartering, if you are truly willing to go that route.
Posted by Nader Rider on from 12/17 at 11:23 PMI’ll bet most of you are familiar with Craig’s List...but if not, check it out. They even have a “barter” section which I have put to good use.
(http://newyork.craigslist.org/about/cities.html)As NR says, the sky is the limit.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from 12/17 at 11:27 PMWhile I can support http://www.simplifytheholidays.org
and encourage the use of http://www.newdream.org/buy/buyingless.php
for responsible purchases that support sustainable living,I cannot even fathom sites like http://www.buyblue.org , which started out as a so-called holiday gift giving campaign which promoted buying from *corporations* which gave hefty donations to the Democratic congressional and presidential candidates. It’s a site which claims to be progressive, but actually promotes the continuation of the power of the duopoly (I said as much when I added a comment to the blog on http://www.buyblue.org (which seemed to be ignored).
I’ve been reading http://www.spiked-online.com regularly; I learned about this site from friends I met when I lived in London. spiked’s site states that it is “an online publication with the modest ambition of making history as well as reporting it. spiked stands for liberty, enlightenment, experimentation and excellence.” I cannot fault that; it’s commentary seems a bit more libertarian than conservative (some of the commentators write for The Times (London). And I don’t always agree with it.
Today, I checked it out and found an article by the Briton Patrick West, the author of Conspicuous Compassion, entitled “Presents are for primitives
“One author explains why he won’t be sending any cards or gifts this Christmas.”Here’s the link: http://www.spiked-online.com/Articles/0000000CA833.htm
I was intrigued by his arguments. I’ve been in a bit of a quandry about the idea of holiday giving this year (as opposed to previous years, when I bought into the corporate line). Since my political evolution from liberal Democrat to Democratic Socialist to Green Party member and candidate, I’ve been redefining my lifestyle choices. And Mickey’s site has prompted me to continue that re-evaluation (thanks Mickey and contributors of comments). I applaud the philosophy of http://www.newdream.org and other sites/organisations which promote sustainable and green living (acting out the 10 Green Values, for instance). And yet, West’s article makes me consider my choices more - and my assumptions about caring/giving and urges me to ask “why” I do what I do.
After reading his article, I googled Patrick West and found the following article by him which appeared in the Sydney Herald (Australia) - subscription required. That article also talks about holiday gift giving. If the link doesn’t work, I have saved the text on my computer and will happily email it to anyone who contacts me.
I hope you all will not mind this long post. cheers. Jay
Posted by Jay Vos on from Burlington, VT, USA 12/21 at 11:54 AMOops I didn’t add the link to the West article in the Sydney Herald…
Jay
Posted by Jay Vos on from Burlington, VT, USA 12/21 at 11:58 AMOops again, I find you have to register to see it. I’ve got the text if anyone’s interested or you can google Patrick West in News yourself to find it. Cheers.
Posted by Jay Vos on from Burlington, VT, USA 12/21 at 12:00 PMThanks, Jay...I’ll check out the sites you suggest later today.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from 12/21 at 12:05 PM
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