单项选择题

Buy Nothing Day The day after Thanksgiving, all the world (at least in the US) goes shopping. In America this is the biggest shopping day in the entire year, known as Black Friday, which sounds dire, but evidently derives from the fact that storekeepers lose money all year and this is the first day in which they finally get into the black which means to make money. Some stores also call it Green Friday. It’’s the biggest day of the year for retailers, when shopkeeper’’s can measure what their take is going to be this year, and the holiday spirit flows as fast as the cash registers can ring it up. Gifts, decorations, candy and magazines disappear quickly, and woe to the retailer who doesn’’t have as much in stock as the consumers want. "Buy it now" is the phrase of the day-and people have been doing just that for years, egged on by the industry that begins advertising and decorating earlier and more elaborately each year. This is about waste, conspicuous and excessive consumption and being manipulated by advertising to spend more than we have on things we don’’t need-all ideas we support and promote. What shall we do Then along comes something like International Buy Nothing Day, a day when people around the world pledge to themselves to buy absolutely nothing for 24 hours. Always a day later than the US Thanksgiving day in most nations, there are activities, celebrations and demonstrations of various kinds against over-consumption. People are encouraged to not make any purchases throughout the entire day. The idea is to increase participants’’ awareness of their spending habits and to think about mass consumerism and its effect on the cultural and natural environment of the world. The famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) Adbuster’’s Magazine and the first Buy Nothing Day were both started by a man named Kalle Lasn, an advertising executive turned anti-consumerist activist. He produced the ad that the networks wouldn’’t run. He tried to buy air time for it over and over, but was turned down, with remarks to the effect that "there’’s no law that we have to" and "it’’s in opposition to the current economic policy of the United States." But we do have TV ads. The Buy Nothing Day TV ads of USA tell us: "Leave your wallet at home and celebrate Buy Nothing Day, the annual revolt against consumer culture." "...The average North American consumes five times more than a Mexican, ten times more than a Chinese person, and thirty times more than a person from India." "We are the most voracious consumers in the world..." "...a world which could die because of the way we North Americans live..." "Give it a rest on Buy Nothing Day." But at TWHQ (Treehugger World Headquarters) people were seriously conflicted about the idea of Buy Nothing Day — members spend their time promoting eco-retailers and designers who need customers, not boycotts. Eire said, "Black Friday is also an important day for our eco-gift maker friends. The holidays are the time when they get to show their stuff and make the money they need to get through another year of competing in this crazy Walmarket. We have put a lot of energy into the gift guide and so have the awesome vendors who sent us stuff to help promote eco-friendly holidays to the press. I think they deserve our support this time of year, with gift guides and other promotion that we can offer." Some people suggest: "Buy Nothing Day" is about rampant consumption of over packaged, blister wrapped rubbish. We should not be one dimensional about this. Which is better for the planet A. For one day nobody buys anything (next day they hop in the car and head off to the mall as normal) or B. Everybody buys a bicycle on that day. How to expand the message: Buy Nothing Day People at TWHQ suggest: — buy something from store — unwrapped, environmentally-friendly — buy a subscription to CSA organic produce box — buy membership to a car share network — buy local — buy organic, recycled, non toxic, reused, durable, functional — buy carbon credits for the family’’s travel for the past or upcoming year — buy solar panels — buy a composting toilet There are alternatives to Buying Nothing that are equally positive and almost as cheap. Things like cutting up credit cards and dropping huge "buy nothing" banners across shopping mails have frightened and angered some retailers. CBS, ABC and NBC refuse still to air ads promoting Buy Nothing Day. (A talking pig and a map of North America seemed to be offensive.) If you believe that people have the right to make decisions based on information instead of propaganda; if you believe that over-consumption is selfish; if you believe that shopping can become a compulsive disorder and if you believe that it is the vehicle for getting one deeper and deeper in debt, then please do participate. It’’s easy. Simply stay home, buy nothing at all. Don’’t go shopping. Don’’t buy anything. If you work, take your lunch instead of buying it. Take a snack if you usually buy one, a thermos of coffee, a thermos of tea. If you can, walk to work instead of buying gas or a bus ticket. Don’’t run to the grocery store for milk and bread... find a way to do without — just for 24 hours. Make bread instead. Drink water. More than that, show your support by finding an activity that suits you. Stand behind those who would blow the whistle on big business. If nothing else, you can save your children from believing that material goods are their salvation, their happiness and their only goal in life. On Buy Nothing Day, people are encouraged to buy absolutely nothing for 24 hours so as to raise people’’s awareness of their spending habits.