Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Buy Nothing Day

Buy Nothing Day is an annual event in which people are encouraged to ‘buy nothing.’ This event happens to promote the consumerism in our country. The purpose of the event is prove to people that we spend unnecessarily everyday. We buy coffee every morning even though we have some at home. We decide to walk through the mall and pick up a few things that we don’t need, and often can’t afford. Why do we do this? I personally find this answer in nearly every Sears commercial I listen to. After spending a pre-set amount of money, you receive a free gift, and next week, buy two get the third free. With this mind set, we think it necessary to purchase three spatulas, but we reassure ourselves, “Christmas presents.” Once we see how unnecessarily we spend our money, we are in a better position to make more conscious decisions. They say 5% of the population controls 95% percent of the wealth, most Canadian deny it, but we are in that 5%. Canada is ranked the 15th wealthiest country (according to GDP) with an incredible low population in relation to the countries that rank higher (Rank). The sooner Canadians realize we are part of the problem, the sooner we can fix it.

Works Cited

“Rank Order: GDP (Purchasing Power Parity).” CIA World Factbook. 20 November 2008. 23 November 2008. .

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