Dunno. I get the idea. But it's not like Black Friday is the only scam. Cyber Monday is the same crap. Just like Prime day.

(And most of the other days too, when the price is actually the same as on these "holidays", but without the fanfare)

> Buy Nothing Day is a day of protest against consumerism.

This is basically counterproductive. The problem with consumerism is buying things you would not otherwise buy (because you don't need or want them really). But obviously there are things that you do need/want, and if those things can be purchased on sale, failing to do so merely results in paying more money to the people driving consumerism.

If you want to protest consumerism (as I do), I suggest three methods of doing so which are actually effective:

1. Mindfully reduce what objects you own and what objects you take in. Read The Last Viridian Note [1] for a potential strategy for categorizing what objects belong in your life and don't.

2. When you mindfully conclude that you do, in fact, need/want something, exhaust all avenues for obtaining it for free, used, or locally, in that order, before buying from a retailer connected to the global supply chain.

3. Don't view ads. The entire raison d'être of capitalism is to provide the highest quality goods and services for the lowest cost. Advertising fundamentally breaks this premise because it allows lower quality goods and services at a higher cost to outcompete higher quality goods and services at a lower cost. Every dollar a company spends on advertising is a) not spent on creating a quality product and b) passed on to the consumer in the form of cost. More relevant-ly, advertising makes it much more difficult to mindfully reduce what you own and take in. No one is immune to advertising: modern manipulation tactics are more sophisticated than any of us can truly guard our psyches from: the only solution is abstinence.

[1] https://www.viridiandesign.org/notes/451-500/the_last_viridi...

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If you know you need something, then find it at a discount on Black Friday, you’re fine, especially where you’ve tracked the price and know it’s genuinely cheaper.

If you find things you don’t need, and otherwise wouldn’t buy, but are convinced by the fake scarcity and fake discounts, then you’re being scammed.

In NZ, there's a lot of fake discounts, sure, but I found comparing prices worldwide can be a good indicator of a good deal.

It's not uncommon for local shops to give massive, real discounts, making items cheaper than Amazon US or even aliexpress, which is definitely not the case in general.

I bet you could answer your questions all by yourself if you read the article.

1. MOST things on sale are not worth buying at any price.

2. The sale price is closer to the actual market value of the item. Instead of viewing sales as a boon from retailers, it's more accurate to view retailers as price gouging the rest of the year, or charging a convenience fee to not have to wait for a sale.

3. It's commonplace these days for retailers to simply lie about normal prices in order to pretend an item is on sale, when in fact it is simply being sold at the normal price. That TV is always $300, but today it's "<strikethrough>$500</strikethrough>$300 (40% off!)".

> The entire ponzi scheme debt / consume cycle is a trap.

I'd append that to be an increasingly inescapable trap.

Debt is needed to raise credit scores and high scores are needed for necessary things like housing. It's a brutal lesson for typical-income folks who only spend what they have.

Hello fren....