Buy Nothing Day Research Paper

“Buy Nothing Day”, a day in which people are urged to purchase no goods, has good intentions, but may actually have more of a negative effect than a positive one. Yes, this one day may promote awareness to the problems of overconsumption, but it could harm the economy even more. Also, people spend money every day on water and electricity, therefore those who don’t buy anything on this day are actually still paying for these services. Overall, the day has good intentions, but could actually do more harm than good. The concept of a day free of spending may, at first, seem like a brilliant idea, as overconsumption and corruption caused by vast corporations is undeniable. Large companies, such as Wal-Mart, consistently violate environmental laws, underpay employees, and only care about profits. In theory, this day could raise awareness, but it doesn’t denounce all spending, which is practically impossible.
First off, most people in the nations that would participate in such a day have running water and electricity.
A day truly without spending would be without these things that are almost necessary in today’s society. What are you supposed to do if you run out of gas on your way to work? Gasoline, along with other spending due to jobs, is necessary. For people seriously ill in hospitals, are they supposed to stop paying for their life-saving treatments for a day? There are numerous examples where this day is impossible to execute. Even for those who can actually carry out this day, it isn’t hard to omit spending for one day if millions of participants can play with the iPads they had purchased on a previous
day.
“Buy Nothing Day” would be extremely destructive of the world’s economy. If this day were able to be executedto the level that organizer would like, then every company and store wouldn’t have any sales that day. The stores would still have to pay their employees, however, and pay for all of the facilities used that day. Every business owner would lose money, and in turn drive prices up the next day. This would be extremely harmful to the prices of things such as gas, which could escalate in price dramatically because of “Buy Nothing Day.” The world would pay its price for such a day. While those who organized the day should be recognized for their achievements, they may not realize the true consequences of their actions. They have good intentions, but such a drastic idea requires more than intentions to succeed. A “Buy Nothing Day” could have the power to unnecessarily damage the economy, considering that almost everyone knows that corruption exists in the business world. If such a day were to be more thought out, it may become much more successful in years to come.