One Million and Beyond

Not Buying It – A review

By Matt - Tuesday, November 28th, 2006

I just finished reading Judith Levine’s Not Buying It:My Year Without Shopping (Amazon Link) and I have to say that I’m very impressed with the book. I do not agree with all of the author’s views but then again I’m more conservative than she and not as much of an activist. Political views aside I found the book to be a nice and easy read which is always a good thing when it comes to a book dealing with money and in this case consumerism. A book that flows well makes the reading that much more enjoyable.

I have to agree with Judith about consumerism in our society, it’s rampant and you can’t get away from it. Before you simply agree that this is an obvious statement I thought that as well and the book really opened my eyes a bit wider. Not only that it made me pause and think about my own hyper consumerism. Our culture is all about spending money and to be perfectly honest I was out there with the best of them spending money faster than I could make it.

Seeing someone remove themselves as far from consumer society as possible why still living a normal life made for a fascinating read especially when Judith commented about the struggles associated with simply not buying it. Stopping yourself from buying is hard and would be associated with struggle (imagine a smoker trying to quit smoking). I have cut down on a lot of spending but reading this book showed me that I can go a lot further if I wanted to.

The book definitely makes you appreciate the things that you have and it will make you pause before spending lots of money. A good read, I definitely recommend it.

Technorati Tags: Book Review, Not Buying It, Judith Levine, Consumerism

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