I am such a consumer...... [hangs head]

In a study of contrasts, today is known as Black Friday in the US. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the US, considered the beginning of the traditional holiday shopping season. Many stores open early (like 5am early) and offer deals to draw buyers. Black Friday was named because of the heavy traffic on that day, others refer to it as the time of year where retailers start turning a profit. It is typical to see shoppers lining up hours before stores open. Once inside, shoppers get a little insane.

Meanwhile, back in Canada, today marks Buy Nothing Day. It's an informal day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. This year, it falls on November 23rd in North America and November 24th internationally. This protest was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by a Canadian magazine, Adbusters. The way I understand it, you can buy necessities on this day, you're just advised against buying unnecessary consumer items.

So on the one hand, we have folks who are demonstrating consumerism in its rawest form and on the other hand you have folks demonstrating a day of consumer restraint.