Chatterbox: Blab About Books

The Day the World Stops Shopping is a compelling book by J. B. MacKinnon that explores what might happen if we all, literally, stopped shopping - and more than that, if we built a society in which community, ethics, and the environment replace our current dependence on buying. You don't need to be a shopaholic to be buying too much - the world as it is right now encourages all of us to buy in ways we don't even notice, but whose effects are ruining the planet in ways we do notice.

MacKinnon takes his readers on a fascinating journey through various cultures, from the good ol' USA to Ecuador to Japan, learning about lifestyles in these countries and the role that shopping plays within them. He meets people there who are trying to change their world in remarkable ways, and he describes them and their cultures really well, so it's interesting if you enjoy seeing what other cultures are like - but what I value most about the book is the way it opens your eyes to the prevalence of consumption in our society, and what we can do about it. It also describes how the first few months of the pandemic slowed consumption, and what that did for people. MacKinnon points out how less consumption can make us slow down, value the possessions we actually have, and truly enjoy life, undistracted by the annoying interruptions from the commercial world (such as ads... *sigh*). Family relationships, health, and, most importantly, respect for the environment, can begin to flourish. Overall, the book paints an amazing portrait of what life could be like - what it should be like - and how maybe the world is actually moving toward that. The writing style is excellent, and the people and places described are unique and intriguing.

The only thing I didn't like about it was the chapter on virtual reality, which suggests that someday we may all live in a world where we don't experience the physical world at all, only a virtual one. That is an idea I'm strongly opposed to, and I think we should be very firm in demanding that it can never happen. However, in general the book is essential reading for anyone, especially right now that climate change has become so marked - the smoke from the wildfires, for instance, has been bothering a lot of us CBers right now. I would definitely recommend it.