Nothing New

I was standing in Borders Books in Seattle last week looking at the shelves, wondering why anyone would spend full price on these books when you can get them for half the price, maybe less, on the internet or in thrift stores.

This was a slightly fucked up thought, because I was also feeling sad about Borders closing.  I was spinning on chain bookstores closing, and little independant bookstores closing and mom and pop shops closing and even video stores closing, and how sad it all is.  This phrase, "democratization of culture" keeps popping in my head.  I don't know if it means what I think it means, but to me it's how everything is getting more general, less unique, more mass produced, made with less care.

I just looked it up.  Well, I half-heartedly looked it up.  I don't think it's inappropriate.  What gets me down is the idea that everyone is becoming so insulated in their little worlds eventually no one will experience anything really new or real.  Everything will be purchased on the internet and shipped to your home.  Your relationships will be most meaningful in cyberspace, and your consumption of art or culture or life will happen through a screen, rather than with other people in the world.  The meaningful part of loaning someone a book will be lost, because no one will read books anymore.  You won't borrow my dog-eared copy of Ender's Game, you won't feel in your hand that I must've read it at least six times, and wonder about who else I've loaned it to.  You won't see where I folded down the pages to go to sleep at night, and my underlinings won't cause you to go back to reread a section you might've skimmed otherwise.

You won't go out and exhaust yourself dancing all night in a sweaty bar with your friends, you won't go experience live dance or theatre with all their flaws and gems, you won't take in your neighbor's garden while you walk to the store.

Some where out of this spin came the idea that I shouldn't buy anything new for a six months.  I realize that it seems a bit counterintuitive when I've just been talking about bookstores closing.  And I also realize that for me this is not an unthinkable task.  I like other people's used things.  I have a reputation for it, in fact.  I guess this is motivated by a number of factors.  Our throwaway culture is one part of it.  People buy things and get rid of them without a second thought.  If everything is replaceable then nothing is special.  I am sort of a pack rat, but I think there's virtue in my hoarding.  I remember who gave me these earrings, or passed this tee shirt on to me.  I remember who I was with when I got this bag, or the store and maybe even the day where I bought this book.  I think about those people or those times when I hold that item.  Things shouldn't just be thrown away.  Our world is cluttered and full of trash.

I am also financially motivated.  Obviously times are tough, and this will make me look at whether or not I really need something.  And if I can't find something used, it will force me to be inventive and to use my imagination.  Not a bad thing.

There are exceptions though: food (obvi), undergarments (obvi), shoes.  Also, I will make targeted exceptions in cases where I specifically want to support something.  An author, for example.  Admittedly, I don't buy a lot of new books anyway, but there have been times when I specifically purchased a book new because I wanted to support that author.  Artists have got to look out for each other after all.

So I'm starting now.