Aja Barber
Appearances
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
I'm someone who has a sewing machine, who knits, who does both of those things badly. So I understand that there is a level of skill that goes into making things. So I started to not be able to understand how H&M could sell a dress for $5 that looked far better than anything I could create with my two hands, especially when I know what fabric costs, what a machine costs, you know?
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
And a lot of this never really added up for me personally.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
No. So I've been talking about, you know, fast fashion for a decade, and it was literally like... telling a bad joke and people throwing tomatoes at you. And I've been in really liberal and lefty spaces, but I began to see that there was some raging hypocrisy surrounding fast fashion because people would be all about the feminism and they would be all about human rights.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
And then I'd be like, yeah, we need to stop shopping at Forever 21 because they are not paying their garment workers. Like, boo. Like, how dare you make me think about this system I really enjoy engaging with.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
I think the need to consume so much is really built into the fabric of our society.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
But if you call now, within the next 20 minutes, because we can't do this all day, we'll give you a second set absolutely free. We are raised as consumerists from the amount of advertising that you see, from the messaging that we get from political leaders. This is something that I talk about in Consumed. After 9-11, George W. Bush told people to get out there and shop.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
You know, there were a few things that he could have said. Mourn, pray, be peaceful, gather in community. No, you got to shop to save the economy. And on the same note, Rishi Sunak in the UK did the same thing during the COVID-19 lockdowns when asked about, you know, if people have... savings due to not being out in the streets and spending money. What should they do with it?
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
And he basically was encouraging people to put their money into the economy. And I pushed back very hard against that online. It was like, Rishi Sunak is married to a billionaire. He could put his money in the economy. You keep your money in your pocket.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
Our economy cannot be structured in a way where we have to buy cheap garbage in order for us to survive economically. in a way that thrives. I think that's the crux of the problem is that our economy has to be structured differently because buying all of this stuff isn't making us happier. It's not making our planet better. It's not providing really good jobs for people.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
So for me, I just look at the whole system and go, if this system requires me over-consuming garbage to run, perhaps it's a bad system and we shouldn't be propping it up.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
Well, here's the thing. I think where we feverishly disagree is on this notion of the American dream. One person's American dream tends to be another person's American nightmare. What sort of dream is there for a country that is built on the exploitation of the indigenous people that live there and the exploitation of imported people through chattel slavery? When we look at
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
the modern fashion industry, when we look at the Industrial Revolution, we need to recognize what is behind all of that is slavery and colonialism and exploitation of labor and goods and resources. And so... I just don't know if I would ever agree with the Republican Party on this notion of the existence of such a dream.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
But I do agree that access to cheap goods isn't something that we should really honestly prize above all. The problem I see is we have eroding social safety nets in our society. And so because of that, that lack of actual systems that work for people, people are leaning into consumerism. I see this all the time in my generation, right?
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
Can't buy a house, don't have healthcare, but you know what you can get? You can get a cheap summer dress and that'll be the bandaid that you'll put over the scrape on your arm that's annoying you that you're not gonna go to a doctor to check out because you don't have health insurance. I remember telling someone when I was living in the U.S.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
that you shouldn't get mad at immigrants that you think are taking your job. That's not who's taking your job. The corporations that are shipping jobs overseas that used to be union U.S. jobs and exploiting other people with that system, that's who you should be mad at. So yeah, I do think that there's some space for a people to maybe see eye to eye on this one.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
But ultimately, we have to want better for everyone else. And in that, we'll want better for ourselves.
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
If you are a person like me who has a closet full of clothes and you like your clothes, they're good clothes, wear your clothes. Learn how to repair your clothes. If you have a cabinet full of beauty products, maybe it's time to actually just start using what's in your cabinet before you buy more. And there's another part to this. When it is time to buy again...
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
Because you know that you have more than enough, it's time to actually start researching the corporations that you spend your money with and asking some hard questions like, does this corporation actually pay the people who make the products fair wages?
Today, Explained
What if we stopped shopping?
And if you can't really figure out what's going on behind the literal seams of a company, then maybe it means that you don't spend your money there. It's time for us to open our eyes and stop engaging in a system that just requires us to shut up and buy. It's time for us to do more than be consumers.