From NPR’s Day to Day (11/28/2003) this short piece about Shopping Day or Buy Nothing Day (8:15), the day after Thanksgiving.From the Money Talks series at Chicago Public Radio comes this documentary, Consuming Desire (27:08), an examination of our collective love of shopping. The show focuses on a group of Chicagoans who show off their favorite “things”—“purses, pottery, designer clothes and more.” The show concludes with a look at the counter-movement known as Voluntary Simplicity. Here's more from Wikipedia on simple living (also known as "voluntary simplicity").
Here is NPR's piece on Thoreau's classic study of voluntary simplicity, Walden.
Musings
- Describe an inportant connection between any two of the sources above.
- What is the greatest appeal of voluntary simplicity for you personally ? Its greatest drawback?
- Describe a highly promoted product or activity--something "everyone is doing"--that you feel just as comfortable doing without.
