Ten Things You Can Do to Help the Economy Crash Even Harder this Christmas

The sooner and harder the global economy crashes, the faster we can transition to a social transformation where the people own the economy, rather than the economy owning them.  The more of us realise that modern civilisation has failed us, the bolder our imagination will gallop in envisioning new societies based on the human and on nature, not based on money.  As prices for everything skyrocket, it is becoming clear that this system never cared about us.  It only cared about our wallet.  It is time to bring the system down:

1. Stop buying the things you don’t really need.  Don’t look for cheaper alternatives or fake “bargains”.  Avoid those as well.  If you don’t need it, it means you don’t need the cheaper version either.  Get used to the positive feeling of keeping your money to yourself.  Every coin saved in your pocket is a f**k you to the system.  Hurray!
2. Let go of your own perceptions of what “a complete life” is supposed to look like: the house, the car, the clothes, the holidays.  These are perceptions that you were brainwashed with.  You actually don’t need these things to be happy, unless all you care about is impressing friends or keeping up with your neighbours and your Instagram feed.  What a stressful situation!  If that’s the case, have a nice debt!
3. Discover the free things.  Not because they are free, but because they can be a source of genuine happiness for you.  A garden you never work on.  A commute you could be doing on foot.  Sunshine.  A day out in nature rather than in the shops.  Before you know it, you are both happier and saving money while doing it.
4. Free yourself from the need to spend money to feel “alive”.  “Shopping therapy” does not exist.  The reason you are shopping is because you are unhappy and unfulfilled.  That’s your real problem.  The Unhappiness Machine continues to leave us as empty as possible so that we fill this void with products.  It is time to take control of your mental health and understand how the system works hard to make you unhappy so that you keep on buying.
5. If you want to feel truly rich, and more genuinely content with your life, then start loving yourself, not loving yourself only when you wear something nice.    Uncouple your sense of happiness from money altogether.  It can be done, simply because its true!  Happiness comes from within.
6. Rediscover work.  Work is not only something we do for money. It is our hobbies, something we do for others, for ourselves, even a conversation we have.  Start valuing all the unpaid work you are doing on a daily basis.  It is these things that are really you, not your job, for most people.  The more you value these things, the more fulfilled you will feel as a person, regardless of whether you are earning or spending actual money.
7. Surround yourself with truly happy people.  They are incredibly rare these days, and they are not who you might think it is.  Go wide: beyond age groups, nationalities or other descriptors.  Some of the wisest and happiest people you may know are “poor” by our necrocapitalist standards. Others are outcasts or trauma survivors who may have a thing or two to teach you
8. Get lazy.  Yes, there are only 8 points to this list because I couldn’t be bothered to write another two.  I want to go out into the glorious winter sunshine.  I think you get the gist.  Enjoy doing nothing, guilt free, because it isn’t really nothing.  It is precious time that our battered minds need in a world gone crazy.  Remember:  you can’t solve all the problems of this world.  Always take care of yourself first before you take care of others.

George is an author, researcher, molecular biologist and food scientist.

Follow me on Bluesky @tsakraklides.bsky.social

Discover my Books Here

Note to my readers: I keep my site FREE because it’s not right to paywall existentially important content during an existential crisis.  But if you appreciate any of the work I’ve done over the years, please consider joining as a paid subscriber so it can continue!  I have minimal overheads, no sponsors to sell myself to, bosses who tell me what to write, or staff I have to pay.  It’s just me.  This freedom does mean though that your support is vital. Thank you so much.