I've never liked the consumer herd, so self-denial was made for me -

[The2ndWheel]

if I could just resist the plasma TV

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2249499,00.html

Like many people, I continue to feel smug about not buying a plasma TV. While all around are "upgrading", I am sitting tight, telling myself it's better for the planet if I wait until my old one dies. It's also much better for my self-image. An individualist, I am repelled by mass consumer movements. The thought of so many people trading up simultaneously is as unnerving as the sight of their discarded boxes on the street. They don't care what happens to their old faithful. For me, the chunky square box looks fitting in our 70s sitting room. We didn't upgrade the decor when we moved in because I preferred the cracked paint and pine shelves to the less characterful alternative. A made-over room would be less redolent of my nonconformity and refusal to submit to a herd mentality.

The post-sales slump is a good time for the publication of Enough, by John Naish, with its anti-consumerist message, and £16.99 seems a small price to pay for advice that can override the "primitive brain wiring" that spurs us to dissatisfaction. Naish admits that the art of sufficiency is a tricky one to master but necessary - the only way of ensuring our survival. If we don't learn to be content with what we have, and continue seeking more, we will be dumped on the "cosmic ash-heap". I am pleased that he has no truck with the deluded eco consumerist, who thinks saving the planet is simply a matter of switching brands. The yummy mummies in their "ethical" Ciel dresses are rightly seen as part of the problem.

Naish is not looking for easy answers. He genuinely wants us to pitch our tents outside the consumer economy and would be horrified to think that "enoughism" might end up as another lifestyle option. He hates the thought of consumers being caught on the horns of false dilemmas - forced to choose between two marginally different variants of the same thing - but I can't help feeling the choice between over-consumption and enoughism is simply one of degree.

[villager]

1. hey, this thrift-store shopper agrees...

There is a veritable sea of stuff/crap out there, that there's plenty to go around, if you can, indeed, resist the brainwashing...

[AndyTiedye]

9. Buy White Cotton Clothing from Thrift Shop and Tie-Dye It

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. awesome final paragraphs...

Naish blames "faulty mental wiring" for his difficulty in resisting his weakness for vintage electric guitars. I blame myself for my failure to stick to the self-limiting regime. A few days after signing up, I found myself overwhelmed by a desire for the biggest, blingest wall-filler of a plasma TV.

If I had given in to this urge there would have been no need to feel guilty. If everyone did stop consuming, there'd be a global recession, and if they don't we're heading for a different kind of disaster. With capitalism, you can't win. However we choose to play it, the system makes idiots of us all. The anti-consumerist myth - that we can be redeemed from idiocy by altering our spending patterns - is dangerous precisely because it stops us feeling like dupes of the system. Restyled as savvy "post-more" consumers, we no longer feel humiliated - which is good for our egos, but not a bit of use in any purported struggle to reconfigure the rapacious global economy.

[Webster Green]

3. If I can't find it free or dirt cheap on craigslist, I probably don't need it.

No reason to buy furniture or appliances, for instance. It's all there for free.

[Warpy]

5. Right, I give away a lot of stuff on Craigslist and Freecycle

when I can't get a charity to come pick it up. I no longer need the money, so I'm perfectly happy to recycle my good fortune to folks who need it.

[Warpy]

4. Here, I'll help you

Plasma TV sets, while they produce better high definition images than LCD sets, have drawbacks the latter don't have. First, they're energy hogs and much of that energy is wasted and expelled in the form of heat. If you live in a climate where AC is a must, that plasma TV will gig your electric bill two ways: it's own overuse plus compensating for the heat it pours out. Second, they're prone to burn-in. That ESPN logo in the bottom right corner of the screen will become a permanent fixture on every channel you watch if you watch enough ESPN on it. Third, there is a huge difference in price between plasma sets and LCD or LCD projection sets. If you're going to spend that kind of money, why not put it into a video projector and screen? It will impress the neighbors much more to see a screen roll down from the ceiling and video projected onto it.

I upgraded to a small LCD TV when my 20 inch CRT went kaput. I did it more because it's become increasingly difficult for me to heft the CRT jobs than the LCDs. I have one more 20 incher and it's over 10 years old, so I'll probably be replacing that one with another small LCD set. The energy savings are nice, too.

I found back in the day that projection TV sets tend to dominate a room completely, so I've been off large screens since then. I want something I can just glance at once in a while as I do other things.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. I proudly own an American made 1978 Curtis-Mathis color console TV. It's never had a service call

and it's moved across country with me 7 times.

[madrchsod]

7. most quality electronics built before the 80`s

will out last anything on the market today...ll my stereo stuff is early 70`s except my cd player.

curtis-mathis built electronic tanks!

[cedric]

8. Television is the drug of the natioN

Who needs a TV to start with

[kestrel91316]

10. My sister and BIL, well-to-do middle-aged professionals,

still have their wedding-gift Cuisinart from 1981. And the microwave they got before they were married. They will replace them when they no longer function properly.

I have the TV (big heavy CRT) I inherited from my grandmother's estate when she passed away in 1999 - it was a few years old at the time, and still works fine. I will replace it only when it quits working.

My 1988 Honda Accord isn't pretty anymore, but it runs ok and the replacement can wait a while longer - I will get a Yaris because I seriously DON'T need a car as big as even a Corolla or Civic.

Note: The Cuisinart gets used almost daily, and has all along.