Anti-Flag supporting "Buy-Nothing Day"

Anti-Flag has given their vocal support to the annual "Buy Nothing Day". The event is supported internationally, and is observed the day after Thanksgiving (November 24), which is known to be the busiest shopping day of the year. The idea came to be as a response against the constant barrage of media and marketing blitzes, aimed at encouraging consumers to constantly spend money on items for no specific reason.

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BUY NOTHING DAY
Buy nothing this November 24th!

As many of you already know, the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the start of the Holiday Shopping Season. It is also what has come to be known as BUY NOTHING DAY. On this day, November 24th, we remember that no one was born to shop; we make a small choice to participate by not participating. Judging by the huge successes seen all across the globe last year - with thousands of activists and fed-up citizens taking part in dozens of countries - this year’s festival of restraint could be the biggest yet. !

BUY NOTHING DAY is a protest of everything that is wrong with consumerist Western culture. The day after Thanksgiving was chosen for BUY NOTHING DAY because the advertising and retail industries have hyped it as THE shopping day for the Holiday season for so long that it is difficult to separate the two. Instead of spending money on this day that has for years been associated with little but the start of a month-long spending spree, ADBUSTERS encourages all of us, at a minimum, to buy nothing at all, all day long, on November 24th, 2006. Regular people and activists all over the world have taken this idea and have run with it, staging protests, teach-ins, sit-ins, leafleting at malls and setting up "BUY NOTHING" shops that have nothing for sale in order to educate people about BUY NOTHING DAY. !

For the past several years, Anti-Flag has joining the multitude of activists worldwide that are joining in the BUY NOTHING DAY movement and encourage you to do the same. On November 24th the A-F Records site will be observing BUY NOTHING DAY. The catalog will be taken down and nothing will be sold. !

We have compiled a list of different suggestions of activities we all can do instead of senselessly spending money. The idea isn’t that we do every single one of these suggestions, because there are too many for most people to do in the next couple of weeks! We’re just trying to provide creative alternatives to automatically spending money. Some of these ideas will appeal to you and some won’t, so take what works for you and forget the rest. Maybe some of you will take it a step further and organize an event for BUY NOTHING DAY. !

Don’t get us wrong: there’s nothing wrong with celebrating, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with giving and receiving presents, but there’s definitely more to life than the spending and shopping orgy that has become so embedded in our culture. All we’re trying to do is underscore that material possessions are just things. They are nice to have, and some are necessary to have (like shelter and clothing), but they shouldn’t be more important than people, and our relationships with one another. !

Things to do instead of shopping on November 24th, Buy Nothing Day:

-Volunteer with an organization/charity that you support.
-Pass out flyers to educate people about Buy Nothing Day.
-Stage an event (protest, reading, teach-in, etc.) to educate people about Buy Nothing Day!
-Read a book.
-Take your dog for a walk.
-Adopt a pet from your local animal shelter and save a life!
-Check out your public library… it’s better than a bookstore - it’s free!
- Sign the petition at MilitaryFreezone.org
-Write a letter to your federal and state Senators and Representatives about an issue that is important to you (war, poverty, youth, education, gun control, corporate corruption & accountability, military spending, the environment, reproductive choice, and anything else you can think of!)
-Dance, exercise, and/or meditate.
-Tell someone that you love them.
-Laugh!
-Sleep… most Americans are chronically sleep-deprived!
-Ride a bike.
-Learn how to cook or bake.
-Clean out your closet and give your cast offs to Goodwill or The Salvation Army.
-Organize a blanket drive for a local homeless shelter
-Give someone a hug. Hugs are good for the immune system!
-Rake the yard… time is running out! And build a leaf fort while you‘re at it.
-Write a letter to a friend.
-Begin to learn an instrument.
-Change your fish tank’s water - fish like breathing clean water, y’know?
-Get to know one of your neighbors that you’ve never spoken to before.
-Begin learning another language.
-Offer to baby sit
-Facilitate a dialog between youth and the elders
-Soak in a soothing bath
-Quit smoking if you do - you’ll feel better and live longer!
-Start writing the next Great American novel
-Start a ‘zine, or contribute to one.
-Start a yoga practice. You’ll be able to twist like a pretzel in no time!
-Make a mix tape or CD for a friend