When my children were young, there was a slogan promoted at every school in every grade, “Just Say No.” It was an effort to reduce the use of illegal and addictive drugs, and it echoes in my mind in so many other ways.
In a land of plenty, we are blasted with advertisements to purchase things, and more things. Most of us have more than enough. We should learn to “Just Say No.” Other times, people beseech us for contributions, no matter how small, for charities or political campaigns. Some of these are quite worthwhile causes. Some are not. We’ve been conditioned since our early days to listen and give in. Half of the adult population in America feels as if they can’t say no.
We don’t want to make waves. So we don’t say no.
We need approval in social settings. So we don’t say no.
We don’t want to appear stupid, or like we lack class. We want to latch onto whatever our idols do or have. So we don’t say no.
Yet experience has taught me we should learn how to turn down unnecessary solicitations, products, or activities. What we need and what we want are different things. If something will harm others, even on the other side of the globe, or exploit the planet we rely on, I should just say no. When I am asked to support a political candidate who promotes discrimination, selfishness, lethal weapons used against children, or hatred toward entire groups of people? A definite no.
What about plastic bags we use once and then pitch?
No. Too often these end up trashing someone else’s home town, or killing innocent wildlife.
Gas-guzzling cars and trucks?
No, especially with the EV alternatives taking off.
Products that use palm oil? Palm plantations decimate native equatorial rain forests. Don’t need that.
Another toy for a child who has too many already?
No.
More new clothes in my closet?
I have enough.
With every acquisition, more seconds of my day and more minutes of my remaining years are stolen from me by upkeep and maintenance. Possessions can become burdens if we aren’t careful to (you guessed it) say NO!
A growing number of economists and philosophers recognize the dangers of perpetual growth. In a finite system like the small planet we share with every other living thing we know, unchecked economic growth–the basic idea of capitalism– destroys the foundations of what we need to survive. Check out Naomi Klein (This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate) and Kohei Saito (Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto).
Enough truly is enough, especially when “more” involves bringing harm to others. I need to say “no” more often, to let go of purchasing whims, of the seduction of products and the ease with which we can order stuff online, “fundamentally useless things,” according to Saito. When will we learn? Letting go of the frenzy and learning to appreciate what we have leads to contentment, one of the highest of life’s art forms.