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Early Addition
Photo by John Quilty.
While stores are hoping that Black Friday sales will bring charge-happy shoppers out in full force, Reverend Billy is hoping that people will hold on to their cash. The Rev & Co. were up bright n' early this morning to kick-off their annual Buy Nothing Day at Macy's. At 4:30 a.m. the troupe was "preaching and singing to citizens to accept the Stop Shopping Gospel into their hearts."
They reported back saying, "This year's crowd was only about 2/3rds the size of last year, people are realizing the debt frenzy is a dead end and spending the day after Thanksgiving in with loved ones is a priceless investment."
At 3 p.m. they'll be holding a Dance Your Debt Away party at Union Square park, where they promise "live music, striking elves, celebration of public space," and the unveiling of Rev. Billy's 10 Commandments Of Buylessness.
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Rev. Billy prefers an economy based on subsistence farming, where chickens and cabbage are the basic unit of currency.
I bet rev. billy sucks at christmas. Thanks for the tinfoil ashtray, asshole.
And isn't this guy totally dated? I think Jen thinks this is 2003 and people care about this person.
Rev. Billy's been goin' since at least the mid nineties as I remember, so in a way he's now a NY institution, and I for one love it. We need more NY "characters" like the Rev.
My only question is: how does Rev Billy pay his rent?
Shop till they drop:
Wal-Mart worker dies after shoppers knock him down
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iDXtETwP7G17BQsO07DecwxuziLgD94O1DN00
#5, only in the United States America. Crushed to death by crazy materialistic people. That sucks.
TSOL said:
While this is one example of local, value based economy, The Rev doesn't limit himself to chickens and cabbage. Take a look at the Buy Local campaign.
matty said:
I'm not looking for a pissing contest, but look around. The consumer based economy is collapsing and we're popping more social anxiety drugs than ever. You might be misled by the refrain, "Stop Shopping", but the message really is "Change Your Shopping" -- and change your shopping to make them reflect your values. Change your shopping so that it supports ethical, sustainable prosperity. All of this presented very well in the movie about the church, What Would Jesus Buy? Check out the trailer.
Reverend billy has done nothing to curb consumer spending over the course of his career. While I appreciate the man's message, he is ineffectual.
The economy is the only thing that will stop people from the consumption of the past 20 years. As we see now, now that the invisible hand has done its work people are spending less and saving more.
It is the economy, not reverend billy, who will ultimately bring mass consumption to its end.
In honor of the good reverend the only thing I'm going to buy today is pot.
I cant stand these people its really important to are economy that people buy today the reason its called black friday is because this is the day they go from red to black. I shopped today and i never use credit unless its intrest free or if i can pay it off that same month and its only to build my credit . These people have no idea if people have debt or not. Its up to people to know there own limites
I think he's fucking awesome. I've been to many of their events and I haven't seen anything so inspirational or interesting from an activist standpoint probably ever. I think it's pure genius.
Listen people when you go buy something made in China its likely slave labor and probably damages the environment severely. You're not facing that. As Savitri D. says its there's an entire life cycle of a product and people only focus on the purchase.
You can buy locally and buy green or find more creative ways to give. Savitri recommends giving a class or giving to charity in someones name.
Everytime you sit there in your bubble hoarding crap for you and yours there are people who are suffering elsewhere because of it in a very severe way, you're blatantly and ignorantly destroying your own planet.
The foundation of this nation has to become green. That's all there is to it and people's bratty rants about how they somehow are entitled to enslave and destroy the planet for a vain, fragile , and corrupted economy is bullshit.
Footage of Rev Billy & Co. @ Macy's this morning:
Go Billy!
None of us needs these commercial holidays to celebrate all the crap we don't need.
I don't know, I get so exhausted after a day spent consuming nothing. My feet hurt, I've got back spasms, and my arms just hang there like limp pasta. Getting a 60" LCD TV on a 24% APR credit card sure would make me feel better right now.
I like the message however I wonder if the messenger is truly truthful in his spending habits.
I demand he be followed by hidden cameras for a week!