I woke up early this morning, I couldn't sleep. While reading the NY Times, I found an interesting article called "The War Against Too Much of Everything." It was written about a Canadian named Kalle Lasn who is the co-founder of Adbusters as well as being responsible for the whole "Occupy Wall Street" fiasco. He explains that, “As our planet gets warmer, as animals go extinct, as the humans get sicker, as our economies bail and our politicians grow ever more twisted,” Americans just go shopping. Over-consumption is destroying us, yet shopping is “our solace, our sedative: consumerism is the opiate of the masses.”
Looking at another related article, I read that in 2010 Americans spent $648 million on Black Friday and another $1.028 billion on Cyber Monday. And sadly, according to Consumer Reports, 14.1% of Americans are still carrying debt from the previous year's holiday spending.
This is sick!
Hey, I love a great gift as much as the next guy. But, when I see friends rushing out to buy a co-worker some stupid gift "for under $15" just to have something for them to open, I think about how ridiculous the whole thing is. Or, those massive lines and brawls that break out in stores when a group of ravenous consumers all descend on the latest "must-have" item, ending in a fistfight. Macy's is now open 24 hours during the holidays? Really?
I don't think Christmas has quite turned out the way it was originally intended. Christmas for the most part has morphed into some twisted, pathetic joke of gluttony and consumerism.
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