Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Video of massive Black Friday crowd outside Urban Outfitters.
Seriously aren't we better than this?
Allowing retailers to turn us into animals fighting over table scraps is pathetic.
That anyone partakes of this insanity is chilling.
I imagine a room full of corporate giants swilling champagne and canapes giggling like mad at the way Americans will debase themselves and even commit violence over cheaply made bullshit.
What have we become? A society that's been carefully taught by FAUX news and rightwing propaganda to react from the lizard brain (fear! lust! greed!) and not from a place of rational thought.
What have we become? A society that's been carefully taught by FAUX news and rightwing propaganda to react from the lizard brain (fear! lust! greed!) and not from a place of rational thought. **** Well Said! Everyone I know stayed way the fuck away from the malls in the area, and I saw of course traffic accidents.... WHY? And yes "Aren't WE BETTER THAN THIS"?
As Bill Maher so aptly pointed out, "People will camp out all night in front of a big box store to buy a TV 3 inches bigger than the one they bought the year before, but you can't get them to go to the polls to vote.
Mr. Knishes and I have done that several times over the years, and found that very few people appreciate it anymore. The public has been so brainwashed against creativity and quality that they'd much rather have quick, down and dirty Chinese-made crapola from Walmart. Sad.
I was told by one family member that my handmade gifts "go straight into the Goodwill box the second we get home" and that if I won't buy presents off the wish list she provides, I should just not give her anything (so now I don't). Incidentally, this family member gives handmade gifts for every holiday.
I spent a lot of time knitting another family member a funky, cool scarf, which she gave her child to put on a snowman and then never brought back inside. It sat on the ground for months after the snow melted and was ruined.
I appreciate handmade items! I usually make cookies sometimes berry wine... I refuse to partake in the corporate bullshit. People don't throw away cookies, and that's what I give to them....Christmas has b/c one ginormous circle jerk of greediness! I hope you keep making your homemade things. I would rather have that then cheap chinese junk. There ARE still people who enjoy a appreciate homemade things. I still remember a hand knit blouse from childhood a friends mom made us... Homemade clothes, knitted slippers...Saw a sign yesterday that one of the signs of Fascism..."Disdain for intellectuals & the arts" handmade is craftsmanship/arts.... Really sad what the country is becoming...
I'm 8:40 a.m. I admit to being very discouraged and somewhat bitter this holiday season--I spent years crafting what I thought were creative, fun gifts using materials that were not made in China, and no one wanted or liked them. Then I started doing "experience" gifts instead, like taking nephew to the zoo. But now I've moved across the country, and my Christmas visit will be too short to do "experience" stuff, so I resorted to buying a few cheap crap items from China, which I can still barely afford because, after four years of unemployment, I make less than I made 12 years ago. I hate my life. Holidays make it worse.
8:40AM, I so envy your talent and if I were lucky enough to receive a hand knitted funky scarf I would treasure it and certainly not leave it to ruin somewhere.
I also make many of my holiday gifts and sometimes the response is dishearteningly underwhelming.
Thanks, Gryph. You just reaffirmed my long-standing decision to spend this and every Black Friday weekend at home. Though, full disclosure, Newegg did get me with a couple email deals yesterday.
Seriously aren't we better than this? ------------------------------------ No, we are not, as the video obviously shows. And that is only one store in one city.
This is how your thoughtful relative picked out a gift, just for you, eventually wrapped with love and gently laid under the tree; anticipating your joy upon opening it. That is if it made it home in one piece.
I suppose we could look at it another way. "I fought long and hard, spilled blood even, to get that gift for you! Hope you like it!!"
In the second part of that video - I didn't watch more than that - the shoppers SEEM to be fighting over boxes of cookware. Why? Are the prices really cheaper or is the stuff marked up - and then marked down? Animals...and for what?
To echo other comments, no it's not only that the retailer "turned us into animals." These people showed up and participated in the insanity. The street runs both ways.
Remember the old anti-war slogan - What would happen if a government declared war and NO ONE SHOWED UP TO FIGHT.?
Same here.
Remember the term "Black Friday" refers to the day when the retailers' account sheets go from red to black because the sales volume knocks them into the black column where credits are larger than debits - right... Well how about Black Friday for the home? Let's get creative with our gifts and save our money.
Americans are nuts! Cannot imagine being a part of that madness. Have never liked to shop and have done it 'on line' for years. That's the method to my madness!
What an enlightening article. I learn so much from Gryphen's postings here, as well as from the comments left. (I not counting the Palin trolls that appear here now and again.) Thank you for posting this....
Yes, because nothing demonstrates one's conviction that 'Jesus is the reason for the season' like taking your voluntary subservience to consumerism to a pathology.
I'm one of those odd birds who does all her holiday shopping in the summer and all year long. It's not that I don't like shopping, to the contrary, I just can't stand stampedes, people acting nasty, and crowds of people who are willing to kill to get the "it" present of the year. No thanks, I have the internet for those few I forgot, and I spend my time relaxing by a fire while wrapping presents.
That anyone partakes of this insanity is chilling.
ReplyDeleteI imagine a room full of corporate giants swilling champagne
and canapes giggling like mad at the way Americans will debase themselves and even commit violence over cheaply made bullshit.
What have we become?
What have we become? A society that's been carefully taught by FAUX news and rightwing propaganda to react from the lizard brain (fear! lust! greed!) and not from a place of rational thought.
DeleteAnonymous7:27 AM
DeleteWhat have we become? A society that's been carefully taught by FAUX news and rightwing propaganda to react from the lizard brain (fear! lust! greed!) and not from a place of rational thought.
****
Well Said!
Everyone I know stayed way the fuck away from the malls in the area, and I saw of course traffic accidents....
WHY?
And yes "Aren't WE BETTER THAN THIS"?
Off topic -- http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/travel/tips-for-traveling-while-pregnant.html?emc=edit_tl_20141122&nl=travel&nlid=4344694
ReplyDeleteHmm. It would be something wonderful if that were people turning out to vote on election day.
ReplyDelete+10000!
Delete+1,000,000!!!!
DeleteAmen
DeleteI think you're onto something. Combine the two and let's vote in December!
As Bill Maher so aptly pointed out, "People will camp out all night in front of a big box store to buy a TV 3 inches bigger than the one they bought the year before, but you can't get them to go to the polls to vote.
DeleteWhatever happen to making beautiful handmade, for the Holidays?
ReplyDeleteMr. Knishes and I have done that several times over the years, and found that very few people appreciate it anymore. The public has been so brainwashed against creativity and quality that they'd much rather have quick, down and dirty Chinese-made crapola from Walmart. Sad.
DeleteI was told by one family member that my handmade gifts "go straight into the Goodwill box the second we get home" and that if I won't buy presents off the wish list she provides, I should just not give her anything (so now I don't). Incidentally, this family member gives handmade gifts for every holiday.
DeleteI spent a lot of time knitting another family member a funky, cool scarf, which she gave her child to put on a snowman and then never brought back inside. It sat on the ground for months after the snow melted and was ruined.
I no longer make anything for my family.
I appreciate handmade items! I usually make cookies sometimes berry wine... I refuse to partake in the corporate bullshit.
DeletePeople don't throw away cookies, and that's what I give to them....Christmas has b/c one ginormous circle jerk of greediness!
I hope you keep making your homemade things.
I would rather have that then cheap chinese junk.
There ARE still people who enjoy a appreciate homemade things.
I still remember a hand knit blouse from childhood a friends mom made us...
Homemade clothes, knitted slippers...Saw a sign yesterday that one of the signs of Fascism..."Disdain for intellectuals & the arts" handmade is craftsmanship/arts....
Really sad what the country is becoming...
I'm 8:40 a.m. I admit to being very discouraged and somewhat bitter this holiday season--I spent years crafting what I thought were creative, fun gifts using materials that were not made in China, and no one wanted or liked them. Then I started doing "experience" gifts instead, like taking nephew to the zoo. But now I've moved across the country, and my Christmas visit will be too short to do "experience" stuff, so I resorted to buying a few cheap crap items from China, which I can still barely afford because, after four years of unemployment, I make less than I made 12 years ago. I hate my life. Holidays make it worse.
Delete8:40AM, I so envy your talent and if I were lucky enough to receive a hand knitted funky scarf I would treasure it and certainly not leave it to ruin somewhere.
DeleteI also make many of my holiday gifts and sometimes the response is dishearteningly underwhelming.
Thanks, Gryph. You just reaffirmed my long-standing decision to spend this and every Black Friday weekend at home. Though, full disclosure, Newegg did get me with a couple email deals yesterday.
ReplyDeleteSeriously aren't we better than this?
ReplyDelete------------------------------------
No, we are not, as the video obviously shows. And that is only one store in one city.
This is how your thoughtful relative picked out a gift, just for you, eventually wrapped with love and gently laid under the tree; anticipating your joy upon opening it. That is if it made it home in one piece.
I suppose we could look at it another way. "I fought long and hard, spilled blood even, to get that gift for you! Hope you like it!!"
Happy shopping,
Mildred
In the second part of that video - I didn't watch more than that - the shoppers SEEM to be fighting over boxes of cookware. Why? Are the prices really cheaper or is the stuff marked up - and then marked down? Animals...and for what?
ReplyDeleteMarked up the few weeks before Black Friday then marked to what it should be on that date. Nothing more than BS.
DeleteI watch this Bill Maher YouTube this time of year to keep everything in perspective.
ReplyDeleteGreed is the new religion in America.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ro3wuck_ro
To echo other comments, no it's not only that the retailer "turned us into animals." These people showed up and participated in the insanity. The street runs both ways.
ReplyDeleteRemember the old anti-war slogan - What would happen if a government declared war and NO ONE SHOWED UP TO FIGHT.?
Same here.
Remember the term "Black Friday" refers to the day when the retailers' account sheets go from red to black because the sales volume knocks them into the black column where credits are larger than debits - right... Well how about Black Friday for the home? Let's get creative with our gifts and save our money.
Americans are nuts! Cannot imagine being a part of that madness. Have never liked to shop and have done it 'on line' for years. That's the method to my madness!
ReplyDeleteHappy holidays and Merry Christmas everyone!
How many of those people are carrying guns?!
ReplyDeleteXmas is a disgusting holiday that celebrates greed and hate.
ReplyDeleteThis enlightening article does a good job of explaining the evolution of the Black Friday madness.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/11/the-meaning-of-black-friday/
What an enlightening article. I learn so much from Gryphen's postings here, as well as from the comments left. (I not counting the Palin trolls that appear here now and again.)
DeleteThank you for posting this....
Half of them are only there to perform, knowing that TV cameras (the real culprits) will be there.
ReplyDeleteYes, because nothing demonstrates one's conviction that 'Jesus is the reason for the season' like taking your voluntary subservience to consumerism to a pathology.
ReplyDeleteThere was "Hands up, don't shop" memorial for a man who died in New York in a walmart stampede. The crowd management of this was terrible.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those odd birds who does all her holiday shopping in the summer and all year long. It's not that I don't like shopping, to the contrary, I just can't stand stampedes, people acting nasty, and crowds of people who are willing to kill to get the "it" present of the year.
ReplyDeleteNo thanks, I have the internet for those few I forgot, and I spend my time relaxing by a fire while wrapping presents.