Your Call 121007 Buy Less, Give More

What would it take to convince people to shop less in a country that bases its economic success on consumer spending? On the next Your Call, we’ll have a discussion about the culture of consumption in the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, Americans are expected to spend $475 billion this year – four percent more than last year. What explains America’s appetite for shopping? What would it take to shop less and give more? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Judith Levine, journalist and author of Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping

Andrew Szasz, chair of Dept. of Sociology at UC Santa Cruz and author of Shopping Our Way to Safety: How We Changed from Protecting the Environment to Protecting Ourselves

John Perry, co-founder of Compact, a group whose members try not to buy anything new except food, medicine and underwear.

Click to Listen: Buy Less, Give More