Twenty more innocent people were pepper-sprayed last week, although not by police cracking down on protesters this time, but by a woman fighting for a discounted Xbox at Walmart.
This was only one of many violent incidents that marred Black Friday last week, as throngs of crazed consumers hit stores across the country to get the best deals of the year, on what turned out to be the biggest day of shopping ever.
In an effort to push back against the frenzy of consumerism that overtakes our country every year at this time, Adbusters used the 20th annual Buy Nothing Day to kick off their latest campaign: #OCCUPYXMAS.
As part of Occupy Christmas, Adbusters editor-in-chief Kalle Lasn suggested a few “shenanigans” that participants might pull off to the Toronto Star, including:
— a Santa sit-in, whereby protesters sit outside a store and encourage people to cut up their credit cards;
— a Jesus walk, where people put on a mask in the Holy Son’s likeness and walk through malls, to create an eerie sentiment;
— a “whirly mart,” in which would-be shoppers fill their carts with products but abandon them at the cash register.
Additionally, Abusters has called on readers to continue to move their money from big banks to credit unions or smaller local banks as “one great first step in breaking beyond the encampments and into the new Xmas imagination.”
Indeed, Bank Transfer Day earlier this month was a resounding success. According to a survey by the Credit Union National Association, in just the month preceding Bank Transfer Day, at least 650,000 people moved their money—totaling $4.5 billion in new deposits—to credit unions (as opposed to 80,000 new customers in a normal month), which inevitably underestimates the real impact of the campaign.
Thanks for all the great work you guys do at Waging Nonviolence, and for your insightful contributions, Eric. I was a little puzzled to read this from you, though, I must admit. While Move Your Money day was certainly an unmitigated success (those numbers are really amazing), don’t you think that from a strategic nonviolent perspective the Occupy Black Friday/Christmas efforts are far from optimal choices? Rather than focusing on a symbolic target like Wall Street or the banks that is widely disliked by the public we seek to mobilize and which a strong majority of the 99% relate to as a negative force in their lives, these actions basically target a tradition to which much of the 99% are deeply attached. They target the behavior of the 99% percent themselves. And not in a constructive, supportive “here’s a financial services alternative to the bank that charges you ridiculous fees, took your grandma’s house, and crashed the economy etc” manner. While there are certainly serious questions to raise regarding the often debt-based, financially irresponsible consumer behavior that underlies our economy and, indeed, in part, the wealth of the 1% (not to mention mental health and ecological concerns), there are also strong familial and cultural attachments involved in that behavior – especially around the holidays. Are actions that effectively shame and disrupt holiday shopping really the best ways to unite the 99% in a campaign to challenge the weak spots in the armor of the 1%? I don’t think so. In fact, I think they are more likely to be divisive and turn off the folks who are otherwise very open to our message, goals, and actions. While these actions make some intuitive sense to our movement’s active supporters, I think a more careful analysis of their strategic character suggests clearly that we should focus elsewhere. Thoughts?
Thanks for your thoughtful comment Kai. You raise some very good points. I’m not enthralled with the specific ideas Adbusters has mentioned, but I do think extending the spirit of Buy Nothing Day for the entire Christmas season is a wise move strategically.
I’m totally open to other ideas about what that might look like, but finding ways to challenge the crazy consumerism which now characterizes this time of year is so needed. We need to remind ourselves that just because we are the 99 percent, doesn’t make us perfect, and this is a pretty glaring example of a way that our culture has gone off the tracks.
While it would be best to figure out thoughtful, creative, fun ways to get folks to think differently about Christmas and our overconsumption, there are times when it’s impossible to not ruffle feathers and when more disruptive, shocking tactics can serve as a good wake up call.
Do you have any other specific ideas about what form these protests might take?
Kudos to the “Move your Money Day” I think we need to follow that strategy with our holiday shopping as well…as opposed to not spending. I would like to encourage people to shop locally, at the small privately owned shops and from artist and craftsmen. This not only achieve your goal to “unseat the corporate kings on the holiday throne“ it will support many struggling small business owners and artist, as well as your community. For many it is the local shops and businesses that give our towns its flavor and personality…and unfortunately many of these business, unable to compete with the big box stores are forced to close. These closures are not only leaving our main streets with empty store founts, adversely affecting our local economy, but it also limits our ability to chose where we will spend our money, often forcing us to turn to the only guy left standing…Wal-Mart!
So please…do spend, but let your money count, let it send a message…a message to the businesses that enhance and support our communities, that we support them…and a message to the “corporate kings on the holiday throne“ that we have options and we choose to keep it local!
Thank you,
Suzi