November 23, 2021
Can you believe the words “fossil” and “fuels” — together — were included in the COP26 final communiqué.
That’s right. For the first time in 30 years of summit meetings, negotiators dared mention the number-one (not-so-secret) source of climate-warping, humanity-imperiling greenhouse gases.
This lays bare how colossally our world leaders have mishandled the climate crisis for the last 25 years.
“Overconsumption” by the richest one billion people on the planet was another missing word in the communiqué.
We keep pointing our fingers at other countries, but your average American consumes three times as much as someone in China, and ten times as much as a someone in India. We are the most voracious consumers in the world. The problem is us!
Friday, November 26th is Black Friday — or as we like to call it, Buy Nothing Day — is a good place to begin curbing our appetites.
Here are some ways to go:
Take the personal plunge. Vow not to buy anything for 24 hours. Leave your phone and wallet at home. Don’t go to work. Walk out of school. Find out what that feels like. Halfway through the day, surprise! . . . you may have an epiphany.
Spread some activist mischief. Take part in a direct action. Make a show of cutting up one of your your credit cards. Clog up the big-box queues with a Whirly-mart conga line of empty carts. Walk through the mall like a brainless zombie. Anything to disrupt the buying frenzy.
Become a Third-Force revolutionary. Vow to live simply. Go vegan. Get a bike. Share your stuff. Think about how far you’d go to stave off a long dark age. Would you block a road? Get arrested? Even blow up a pipeline?
We’re running out of time to make things good.
So start something on Buy Nothing Day!
The Third Force