With thanks to Janet Eaton: http://beyondcollapse.wordpress.com/
CBC Radio, Sunday Edition program, Michael Enright interviews founder of `People Who Share` movement & co-founder of `buynothingchristmas.org`
Enright notes that emerging alternatives to consumerism such as `people sharing` networks and `buy nothing Christmas` campaigns challenge our way of life and restructure our economy and he questions whether this could be interpreted as anti- Capitalist.
The founder of the “People Who Share” movement, Benita Matofska in England, one of two people interviewed had very intelligent and articulate answers about what the movement signifies.
The other well-spoken interviewee, Aiden Enns, co-founder of buynothingchristmas.org from Winnipeg admitted that his zeal came from his religious beliefs which had led him to question the economic injustice of the consumer society and he questioned whether sharing would address the issue of the present economic inequalities in society. Very worth listening to at following URL.
- The link to Enright’s programme was also just posted on the Degrowth of the Americas Facebook site by Bob Thompson who provides related websites including one that notes : 14th November 2012 was the first ever Global Sharing Day. It was big, it was a world first and it touched all corners of the globe! 161 partners with a reach of over 60 million people in 147 countries helped make it a big success.
- Obviously it is a step in the right direction but Degrowth will also demand reasoned public policy shifts as well to halt the assault on natural resources, ecosystems and planetary cycles that has by now reached a tipping point.
But then again moving towards a decentralized more localized model suggests that a diversity of approaches will be the new reality – approaches that share similar values and principles but which are finding different ways to reinvent the future. Some of it will be driven by dire necessity, as economic and environmental conditions deteriorate, as well as by common sense and morality as was noted twenty years ago by Professor Robert Heilbroner in his CBC Massey Lectures `Twenty- First Century Capitalism`.
[1] Michael Enright CBC Radio Sunday Edition
Listen to the latest show at http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/shows/2012/12/16/sharing-not-buying-gifts-at-christmas/
Sharing, Not Buying at Christmas (Hr. 1)
Sunday, December 16, 2012 | Categories: Episodes | 4
Over the past century, Christmas has become an annual excuse for frenzied, even pathological consumerism. Sure, it helps businesses big and small, but do we really need all that stuff?
Introducing … the Sharing Economy. Instead of aspiring to own everything they need, people simply have access to it.
Does everyone really need their own snowblower? Couldn’t neighbours just share one?
True, Christmas is about giving, and we know it’s better to give than to receive. But more and more people argue it’s even better to share than to give. Others argue it’s better to give nothing than to give something that’s bought in a store.
Either way, emerging alternatives to consumerism seek to challenge our way of life and restructure our economy. Sharing networks … both local and international … have sparked a movement called collaborative consumption, forming a parallel economy worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
Benita Matofska is a former broadcasting executive and producer and entrepreneur. She is the founder and Chief Sharer of the British group, The People Who Share. And Aiden Enns is the co-founder of buynothingchristmas.org and the publisher of Geez magazine.
[2] Bob Thomson posted: “Alternative consumption Interview with Benita Matofska, Chief Sharer of the U.K. and Aiden Enns [Winnipeg] , cofounder of BuyNothingChristmas.org about why we don’t need so much stuff http://degrowthcanada.wordpress.com/2012/12/16/cbc-radio-the sharing-e”