Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping

red price tag with the words "not buying it"

Judith did a radical experiment in "Not Buying It" - she went without shopping (beyond simple necessities) for a year. She's full of insights about and experiences with our consumer culture. I recorded her talk at the 2007 MREA's Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair, and I followed up with a phone interview last week.

Music featured:

Everything We Need - Carol Johnson

First Air Date

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Judith Levine - Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping

Audio file

Judith runs through a string of pronouncements about the evils of shopping - with a great punchline!
Judith & Paul decided to buy only necessities - but what's a necessity? Olives? Cold Remedies? Movies? Wine?
Is shopping something we should feel guilty about? Is it EVER okay to enjoy shopping?
Judith talks about an idea, the inverted quarantine, which could be sapping our will to address the problems of the wider world.
Judith is an atheist, and she talks about where her views came from, including her values around war and peace.

Broadcast Date(s)

Guest:

Judith Levine

Comments

I chose to listen to Judith Levine's Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping in my goal to simplify my life. I learned a lot from Mark's interview with Judith, and while I still don't know if I could do what she did, I know I did enjoy hearing another perspective on consumerism.

Judith was intelligently brilliant in her presentation and in her interview with you. I tried to detect something about faith and knowing in the Spirit, and she did mention breath and breathing. And if we manipulate language there it is. But she did have a very upside and "spiritual" impact on others-on me! Speaking of Spirit I hope after 5-6 months you will have Ruah Svennerfeld and Louis Cox on your program to be interviewed by you when they return from their 1400 mile walk from Vancover to San Diego visiting Friends Meetings in the genre of John Woolman. I am "walking" with them through travelpod.com/z/peaceforearth/peace-for-earth/1197176160.Anyone can. In the Light, John Hackman

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