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Posted by on Nov 27, 2015 in Blog, Politics, Rants and Raves | 1 comment

Capitalism’s Hamster Wheel Spinning Out of Control

 

HAMSTER

 

If and when the chronicle of capitalism’s decline and ultimate demise gets written, the ideal starting point as to why the fall happened would be today’s grotesque gargoyle of greed — better known as “Black Friday.”

 

Nothing so acutely illustrates the twisted paradox of our collective values than humbly folding out hands together, bowing our heads, and giving thanks for the blessings we have on one day….and the very next morning (or increasingly, later that same night!) storming out of the house and diving hysterically, clutching credit card in hand, into the national mosh pit of bargain-hunting mass madness.  The hypocrisy goes beyond epidemic.

Polls show that an overwhelming majority of us complain that the holiday season, and specifically Christmastime, has become way too commercialized.  Indeed, it has.  Yet, we’re our own worst enemy.  We habitually run along with the stampede, on cue to the steady drumbeat of corporations and advertisers beckoning us to spend our way into more debt — much to the jubilation of loansharks banks offering us credit at 23.9 percent annual interest.  We spend far too much of our own personal time maneuvering our way through the maze of parking lots, shopping malls, and department stores than actually enjoying much of it, failing to contemplate the alleged real meaning of the season, whatever in the hell that used to mean.  Sorry, but they lost me a long time ago.

Confusing isn’t it?  Goodwill towards men?  That’s something we can call get behind, just so long as they aren’t Syrian refugees.  Peace on earth?  Lovely, but first let’s bomb the shit out of somebody somewhere because it makes us feel good.  Actually, the Christmas holiday was supposed to have something to do with Invisible Sky Daddy’s last reported visit to earth, some 2,015 years ago.  Even though the story’s probably a myth, at least I’m somewhat in agreement with the notion we can amuse ourselves with this whopper of all fairy tales, much in the same consistent manner we inexplicably honor an insatiable colonialist who once triggered a mass genocide across North America (Columbus Day), and so-called religious freedom-seeking pilgrims who later built an entire nation based largely on the slave trade and repeatedly breaking treaties with the natives (Thanksgiving Day).  If that historical burden is way too heavy to deal with and such cynicism seems like a downer — well then, there’s always Santa Claus who can help us forget things and make us all feel jolly.  Ho.  Ho.  Ho.

See.  I’m already beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

But no one’s thinking much about Baby Jesus or Santa Claus.  Not on this day of worship of quite a different dirty.  Not while there’s a giant 65-inch screen television set on sale for half the price, always with the disclaimer — “while supplies last,” which is just another way of saying “you were stupid enough to fall for the bait, but we only had a half dozen in stock — do you really think we can actually afford to sell a giant 65-inch screen television set on sale for half the price?”  We’re in business to make money, and that means sucking you into the store and fleecing you.”   Maybe America is a theocracy, after all — money and materialism our gods.

Here’s an amazing video:  LINK HERE  I loved the soft serenade of Christmas music playing in the background to crazed shouts and fist punches (Note:  Some have suggested the video is fake, but reports of shoppers swarming and competing violently for goods are very real).

This weekend launches a month-long frenzy of guilt-driven advertising, the most powerful of which is television commercials.  Jewelers are the worst.  I’ve never felt so unromantic as when I’m strong-armed into feeling guilty that I didn’t rush out and buy the two-carat diamond on sale at Zales, which “shows her how much you love her.”  When I discovered what a couple of karats cost, I think I’d rather substitute carrots instead.  Automakers are just as bad.  Consider how Lexus so artfully makes us all feel like shit for not rushing out to buy our husbands and wives a brand new $82,000 luxury car with the pretty red bow on top.  Capitalism’s new definition of love?  How much we’re willing to go into hock.

Indeed, this is what capitalism does.  It’s a starving man-eating snake that can’t help but consume everything in its path towards satisfying an insatiable appetite, including biting off its own tail.  Pretty soon, the belly of the serpent is bloated and wants more.  It pounds you over the head, punches you in the face, and kicks you in the groin until you’re doubled over into a fetal position, sort of like how we saw Tony Romo posed much of his Thanksgiving.  Spend.  Spend.  Spend.

This year, I witnessed Christmas decorations being put up in department stores — way back in September.  In a few years, the madness will probably creep into August.  A few days ago, I saw numerous news reports of some horribly confused consumers lining up as early as Tuesday night for sales that were to begin on Friday morning.  They were camping out, not just hours, but days in advance, for electronics and other bargain-priced gadgets.  Stores no longer even bother closing on that hallowed occasion once known as Thanksgiving Day, that 24-hour stretch that used to give their employees a short breather before the onslaught of spending and buying.  Not if there’s a buck to be made.

What’s truly mystifying isn’t that the holiday shopping season has become such a monster.  Consumer-driven capitalism fueled by rampant materialism is the dirty coal feeding a bellowing economic engine that’s really bad for the environment of greater humanity.  Worse than that, it’s perpetual fraud.  It’s the utter failure by just about everyone to grasp the fact that the average consumer is not going to rush out and spend more money simply because there are more big sale days and shopping opportunities.  Make an entire month of Black Fridays — spending and thus gross revenues will be exactly the same.  For most, our disposable income allocated for holiday shopping is a finite expense, and no amount of cleverly-packaged enticements are going to get most of us to run faster on the hamster wheel.  If we buy that 65-inch TV, it means we aren’t spending that money somewhere else.  Not when consumers are a collective $75 trillion in debt and all the credit cards in America are already maxed out.

Black Sunday isn’t a holiday, folks.  It’s the anti-holiday.  It’s a mass epidemic.  It’s a sickness.

Besides, anyway, the real sales begin after Christmas.  Sales will begin on December 26th.  Count on it.  Now, since the holiday season isn’t long enough, there’s always the post-game program, coaxing us to go out and spend even more.

Ho.  Ho.  Ho.

Spend.  Spend.  Spend.

Enough.  Enough.  Enough.

1 Comment

  1. Nolan writes:
    “Indeed, this is what capitalism does. It’s a starving man-eating snake that can’t help but consume everything in its path towards satisfying an insatiable appetite, including biting off it’s own tail.”

    Nolan, even you probably have no idea of the utterly deep wisdom of your statement here. I would explain a few of my reasons borne of my of own life experiences as to why your statement is so wise, but my opinions can be hugely unpopular and I don’t feel safe sharing them.

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