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The Day The World Stops Shopping

by J.B. Mackinnon, 2021

Published: 2021.11.16

Home > Book Reviews > J.B. Mackinnon > The Day The World Stops Shopping

 

Photo by Wil C. Fry

★★★ (of 5)

(* 292 pages includes only the text, and excludes acknowledgements, index, and source notes.)

 

Interestingly, this book was published earlier in the year by a competing publisher, Random House, with a slightly different subtitle: How Ending Consumerism Gives Us A Better Life And A Greener World. I don’t know how book contracts work, but that seems highly unusual to me.

The Day The World Stops Shopping is, in one sense, a thought experiment asking the question implied in the title: What if we all stopped buying so many things we don’t need? In that sense, it reminded me a little of the 2007 Alan Weisman book The World Without Us, excpept this one doesn’t have quite the hard answers that Weisman’s book presented. (There is actual hard evidence of what happens when humans disappear, how quickly nature bounces back, and how and when our devices will cease functioning and decompose. But there is little hard evidence to show how society would change if the majority of us reject overconsumption.) In another sense, it is a series of random feature stories on people Mackinnon has met and places he has visited, mixed in with facts and figures and historical information related to consumption (in the economic sense).

One of the core ideas of the book is that we (as a species) need to buy fewer things. Despite some segment of humanity not having enough, so many of us have so much that the average is far higher than it needs to be. Overconsumption not only fills our lives with needless stress from overworking, but causes (has caused) irreparable damage to the planet and drained the resources that our descendants will need in order to survive. Set against this thesis is the core economic principle that constant economic growth is required so the entire system doesn’t collapse. The tension between these two contradictory ideas is constant throughout the book.

Since the world (humanity) has never stopped shopping to the extent necessary, we don’t actually known what might happen. All we have are a few benchmark downturns, and Mackinnon uses figures from those times to buttress his point. The coronavirus pandemic, especially in early days, represented one of the most stark examples of humanity as a whole putting the economy on hold — for weeks — months in some places — streets were suddenly empty, shops and factories were shut down, and the world was suddenly quieter, cleaner, and more beautiful than it used to be. (Scientists measured marked improvement in the quality of air and water around major cities, startling drops in underwater noise levels, etc.) But of course that was a very temporary, emergency measure, never meant or expected to change the economy. The only other recent economic marker Mackinnon could turn to was the Great Recession of the late ’00s, which economic figures show was barely a bump in the road for most people. Many of us actually increased our intake of consumer goods during that time.

In addition to those two specific time periods, Mackinnon visited several places where consumption has downshifted dramatically (like Sado Island in Japan or a village in the Kalahari), and interviewed people ranging from a Vice President at Levi’s to a cab driver in Quito, Ecuador — as well as several economic experts, anthropologists, and others.

The book skips around quite a bit, both in scope and focus, and comes to somewhat soft conclusions. We don’t know how badly the economy would collapse if most of us bought only what we needed to live and maybe a bit more for comfort or enjoyment. We don’t know whether economic systems can be reengineered to handle a worldwide degrowth movement. We don’t know the extent of the harm such a change might cause — mainly to people already on the suffering side of wealth and income inequality. Mackinnon does have a handful of suggestions, including the advice to be realistic about the low probability of human society changing. Another is to buy buying more durable products (so they don’t have to be bought as often, even if the initial cost seems steep).

Overall, I found the book interesting and well researched. Taken individually, the chapters and sections were well written and easy to read. However, the weak conclusion and the lack of a cohesive framework — which resulted in a sort of scattershot approach rather than building a powerful argument — left me disappointed in the end.

(On a personal note: I’m not unique among westerners; my pattern of consumption — and overconsumption — likely is very similar to many others of my economic status. In my lifetime I’ve bought [and discarded] far more than I needed to. I do like to think I’m an outlier in some ways. For example, I haven’t replaced my mobile phone since 2016 and I have only ever purchased used cars, driving and maintaining them until necessity requires a replacement. Every time our household replaces some item — especially a big-ticket item like a sofa, water heater, or dining room table — I always argue for putting it off as long as possible because I’ve driven past places that used to be valleys but are now hills because of how much garbage we as a society stuff in there. I also would like to think our generation will leave behind at least some natural resources for our grandchildren. It’s a difficult pattern to break, partly because even if we intend to buy something that’s “forever”, the item is designed to need replacing very soon. Often it’s better not to buy it at all but usually we don’t see that until it’s too late.)

 





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