Holiday time is officially here — I ’m so excited about filling my home with the smell of Christmas tree, baking cookies and the sounds of my son singing along to Chipmunks Christmas carols.
I am not, however, looking forward to the crescendo of holiday advertising, seducing us to buy stuff we don’t need, as if a new water bottle or pair of pajamas could be a substitute for love, joy, connection and meaning in our lives.
This week, a new documentary premiered on Netflix that makes a compelling case against the dominant growth-at-any-cost paradigm that we all find ourselves snared in this time of year, and let’s be honest, the rest of the year as well. This film promises to be a powerful tool to help win Americans over to a different idea of what is truly valuable and what we should prioritize. Directed by Emmy-winning writer and filmmaker Nic Stacey, “Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy” exposes how hyper-consumerism keeps us trapped in an endless cycle of buying no matter the cost.
The documentary might seem like it’s putting forward a new critique. But similar ideas were articulated 60 years ago. For example, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, in a speech three months before he was assassinated, said, “Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.”
If that was true in 1968, it is many times more true in 2024.
Take the fashion industry. In 2018, Americans threw away more than 10 times as much clothing as it did in 1960, when the population didn’t even double. On average, Americans buy 53 new items of clothing per year — four times as much as we did in the year 2000. Yet, over the course of a year, Americans didn’t wear 82 percent of the clothing they own. Do you really need another set of matching holiday pajamas?
Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy makes a compelling case that the primary responsibility for fixing this damaging cycle of endless consumption lies with the corporations that produce, advertise, market and sell products to us.
Buying stuff we don’t need
Click-of-a-button purchasing coupled with manipulative ad campaigns compel consumers to buy stuff we don’t need. Then all these things clutter our drawers, closets, attics and basements, and beyond. There are more than 23 million self-storage units in the United States — roughly 1 for every 14 Americans — almost all of which are occupied.
Worse than the clutter, which perhaps you can Marie Condo yourself out of, is the environmental harm that comes from producing and disposing of all of this stuff. Even the most effective diversion pathways, such as donating goods and free-cycling can’t keep up. Globally, only one percent of clothing that gets recycled gets turned into new clothing. Thirteen million tons of clothing and footwear were landfilled or incinerated in the U.S. in 2018.
Ultimately, the corporations that produced, advertised and sold all these products to us have shifted the burden of their actions onto all of us, and our planet.
This is why Environment Georgia and other organizations work to pass legislation that requires companies to take responsibility for the waste they create and environmental destruction they cause, and to encourage a more sustainable approach to business.
I believe that issues of waste, repair, reuse and conservation have the potential to transcend partisan divides and bring Americans together. I believe that the key underlying message from the documentary is something all Americans can relate to. As one of the film’s interviewees says, “life is about experiences and the people we’re with, and the stuff we have supports that, but it’s not the end goal.”
Cultural products such as films and books can help shift the views of millions of people and, if public interest advocates do the work of organizing the public and translating that public support into political power, it can lead to deeper policy and social changes further down the line.
I hope you’ll make time to watch Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy and tell your family, friends, work colleagues and community groups about it. If many of us watch it, it has the potential to galvanize efforts to bust apart the growth-at-all-costs paradigm. To quote a participant in the film, “Whoever dies with the most stuff does not win.”
This holiday season, I wish you success in resisting the ads working to compel you to buy stuff you don’t need; that you find truly thoughtful gifts for your loved ones; and that you spend the precious moments of time away from work doing things that truly bring you joy with those you love.