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Disheartened by rampant consumerism and the downward spiral of both her finances and the trash-strewn earth, Judith Levine enlists her partner, Paul, in a radical experiment: to forgo all but the most necessary purchases for an entire year.

When: Tuesday, November 13, 7:30 pm
Where: Jewish community Center Laikin Auditorium 6701 Hoover Rd., Indianapolis, IN 46260

Judith & Paul vow for one year to purchase only necessities for ‘sustenance, health & business’. Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping is her journal about personal abstinence, and living life outside the American consumer mainsteam. It is not a ‘how to’ instruction manual for the simple life. Judith sharpens her witty journal on day to day deprivations with insights into American consumerism, and its increased importance to the nation’s psyche post September 11 (after which President Bush explicitly rooted for the peoples’ continued participation and confidence in the American economy). In between diary entries detailing dilemmas about not buying Q-tips, or high-tech woollen ski socks, she contrasts the ‘spend, spend, spend’ philosophy in the US with environmentalists’ warnings that unchecked consumption in the developed world is quickly laying waste to the whole planet. She gives out a range of scientific data on the harm being done to the environment. It’s an original, entertaining and, at times, provocative book that should make most readers think twice about how much they consume.

Judith Levine sees herself as an activist for women’s freedom, civil liberties, and peace. A founder of the National Writers Union, No More Nice Girls, and Take Back the Future, Levine currently serves as a director for the National Center for Reason & Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union’s Vermont chapter. Levine’s best-known book, Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children From Sex, was widely attacked by the religious Right - then won the 2002 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.

Know before you go … You can get a flavor of Judith Levine through her blog. You can watch a video clip of her reading here.

For more information after the event … Levine is just one of many writers experimenting with a year-long radical change in consuming and purchasing. Check out Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life; Sara Bongiorni, A Year Without “Made in China”: One Family’s True Life Adventure in the Global Economy; Alisa Smith Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally; Bill McKibben, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future.

If you think this sounds interesting, check out the symposium on economics and sustainability September 15; the DePauw Discourse on Sustainability and Global Citizenship October 4-6; and Living Green: Living Generously with Earth November 12.

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 10th, 2007 at 11:20 pm and is filed under Events, Business, Way we live, Globalization, Living Green, Taking action. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.