Another person discovers that having too much stuff is a burden on one's life.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/living-with-less-a-lot-less.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

In a recent study, the Northwestern University psychologist Galen V. Bodenhausen linked consumption with aberrant, antisocial behavior. Professor Bodenhausen found that “Irrespective of personality, in situations that activate a consumer mind-set, people show the same sorts of problematic patterns in well-being, including negative affect and social disengagement.” Though American consumer activity has increased substantially since the 1950s, happiness levels have flat-lined.

Marc Gunther's post about this ad is right on:
http://www.marcgunther.com/2011/11/27/maybe-the-best-retail-ad-ever/.

Here's where you can unsubscribe from catalogs easily:
https://www.catalogchoice.org/

The smart shopper of the household (not me) reports that prices went up by about a dime at Trader Joe's. Not on everything, but on a few items. Altoids, dog food, candles. Some things are the same price. Orange Juice didn't change. They have good OJ, not from concentrate and actually tastes like an orange. I sound like a commercial, don't I? Oh, the other thing that Trader Joe's is doing, is asking for your zip code every time you buy anything at any of their stores. They're doing the smart thing and studying up on who is shopping where, and how far people are coming to shop at each store. Things are changing. I wish I had invested in Trader Joe's instead of Whole Foods. But I don't know what they're doing. Does anybody out there shop at a Whole Foods, ever? Last I heard they had been renamed Whole Paycheck and I'd lost about half what I put into stock. But I haven't sold the stock. Either I'm a fool, or they're doing something smart too. I hope they're making a move. The businesses who think ahead and come into new times with new approaches may do well. I keep thinking of business ideas....molding them all into my big idea, my dream. I am grateful to one man who suggested one book who has colored my thinking. The book is called The Magic of Thinking Big.
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From the Human Rights Campaign, a list of businesses rated according to their support of equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. They also deal to some degree with racism and other sorts of intolerance. Which to me is absolutely necessary. Some "human rights" organizations get myopically focussed on one group of people, but human rights is about ALL people.

Here is HRC's info on which businesses are most tolerant with regard to variation in sexuality and gender identity. I thank them for their research. I would like to see this info cross referenced with an environmentalist/non-consumer perspective and see how many are left in the "green" category.

Bill of No Rights by Lewis W. Napper
Written in 1993 by Lewis Napper, an "amateur philosopher" who ran for the U.S. Senate in 2000 as a Libertarian.
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from www.3trillion.com

Looks like you really can go shopping for desert islands, if you like.

What do you think? Should we?

This Oregon Libertarian, Wes Wagner, speaks sense on the matter:

This link takes you to a wonderful big picture explanation by Annie Leonard of what is happening on planet earth today, and how we participate. Thanks to one of my classmates who posted the link. It contained no surprises for me, so you may not have any great "Ah-ha!" yourself. For anyone who isn't convinced that our current way of life is unsustainable, this might help them understand just how urgently unsustainable our economy is. One factoid from the presentation that I hadn't previously absorbed: American happiness has been declining since the 1950's, which Annie says is about when we started "consuming". Anyway, check it out if you haven't, and pass it on to anyone who needs a straightforward explanation of what's going on.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/