Give us a break...watch the kids while we go shopping.
Thanksgiving is a meal thing. You think the pilgrims partied day and night? It got dark at 5.
I went out and bought a headlight. I noticed it was out Wednesday night. The mobs at the auto parts store were docile.
America has entered an era where stoicism, religious devotion and selflessness has yielded to crass epicurean behavior,earth worshiping neo paganism and decadence. It was no accident that Obama received 52% of the vote.
There were examples of rabid conspicuous consumerism in Terry Southern’s The Magic Christian (I have only seen the 1960s filmed version, never read the book) and Ivan Stang’s 1970s pre-Bob Dobbs subterranean clown world “future” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHx2nLFMAzE).
I have an old book on “the madness of crowds”. The behavior is nothing new (even if it is rude).
Not me. I was home in front of a roaring fireplace sipping Kentucky bourbon.
Nothing wrong with shopping, go ahead make a holiday out of it. Better than drawing straws to see who gets stoned.
The average small business retailer probably does 70% of their business between Black Friday and Dec Jan 1. I know my Bookstore does. I gross more from Late November to Jan 1st then I do the rest of the other 10 months.
Working as a bookseller this year. Selling tattoo magazines, filthy sex books, bad sci-fi, gothic romances, extremely stupid novels (”8th in the ‘trilogy’”!) while the science and history book languish, has reminded me that “black Friday” and the American Dream have become nightmares.
What sort of fool would one have to be to show up at a Walmart on Black Friday?
I pledged to myself that I would not shop on Thanksgiving OR black Friday....I took my dog to class in a Pet Smart...as we walked the aisles during training, I kept seeing things on the shelves, but I kept my pledge and walked out without making a purchase. No materialism for me over this holiday weekend. I think I have the shopping gene, but I overcame it.
;^)
When Republicans Call Obama Marxist They are Condemning the Pope, Thomas Jefferson, and Jesus
http://www.politicususa.com/2013/11/29/republicans-call-obama-marxist-condemning-pope-thomas-jefferson-jesus.html
I don’t consider wanting to buy Christmas presents for my family as greed. But I have only gone shopping on Black Friday once and that was several years ago. I swore never again. Just not worth it to me.
A morally bankrupt nation might be a great overstatement.
Only some subcultures are represented among the dysfunctional. Granted, the Obama Medicaid subculture is close to the 50% mark, but if you're a normal, employed, net-income-tax paying American, I very much doubt that watching the mobs on TV you'll see any of your neighbors there.
Went to a Walmart Express today. Took no time to find a parking spot, was in the store maybe five minutes, found what I needed and was checked out within three minutes. No lines anywhere.
But then that was an express.
WHAT CROWDS!
If people are given free crap long enough, they will come to feel entitled to free crap and defend that entitlement violently.
Sums it up with bighting truth. Thanksgiving is still my most cherished holiday.
Christ wasn't born on Dec 25th based on scripture (probably early October Sukkos, Feast of Booths, Feast of Tabernacles.
I don't mind the commemorative holiday per se, but, like the word "gay", the entire season has been so totally co-opted that I think it's unsalvageable.
Nevertheless, context matters. The supposed Black Friday "orgy of materialism" comes immediately after Americans gather with family to celebrate and give thanks for their blessings. Moreover, most of the ensuing seasonal spending is intended to provide Christmas gifts for family and friends, with children to be especially laden with gifts. Are these really so bad as national observances and traditions?
As for China, most of the ambitious and the wealthy there would prefer to emigrate and take US residence and citizenship if they could. As it is, with personal rights and property insecure in China, hundreds of billions of dollars in cash is sent abroad every year. China has a host of problems that diminish its attractiveness as a place to live and cloud its future.
Among the Chinese business elite, American made goods and the lifestyle that they signify are in great demand. A relative who does business in China tells me of associates who proudly keep and display American price tags and "Made in America" tags on home furnishings and clothing. They regard American made items as having better quality and design than Chinese counterparts.
There are entire residential real estate developments in China that attempt to replicate American style subdivisions and commercial space with Western and cowboy themes and street signage in English. For the Chinese, America means freedom -- and that is something we ought to keep in mind, including when a few Americans go overboard on Black Friday.
Yeah, the nun getting trampled at the Black Friday sale at the religious store kinda makes that clear...
I prefer to shop at businesses whose primary purpose is to be profitable.
Barely paying the billls under Obamanism myself so didn’t miss anything by wasting time going Black Friday Shopping. Couldn’t have done anything unless I charged it to my credit cards anyway. Five years ago I was aking 6 figures and had plentyof savings in the bank but 0 has changed all that...