“Memorial Day Sales” are an Insult and a Disgrace
Time for another Memorial Day weekend which means yet another national holiday for America’s corporations to exploit for maximum profit.
Have they no shame?
Have you no shame?
Take a look at all the “Memorial Day Sales” happening all over the country today, tomorrow, and Monday. At car dealerships. Retailers. Jewelers. Furniture stores. Home appliances. You name it, and there’s some kind of a “sale” going on this weekend, and even on Monday, the sacred date that’s ostensibly set aside once per year both to remember and honor the incredibly brave men and women who died in so many wars in the nation’s defense.
Yeah, nothing says “let’s honor the war dead” more than rushing out to Best Buy to take advantage of a 20 percent discount on the 72-inch HD television.
How disgraceful.
How insulting.
I get that people aren’t going to spend an entire day paying tribute to veterans who died and sadly are mostly forgotten. I get that some people plan to travel and take vacations around the extended weekend. I get that people are even entitled to enjoy a day of leisure. I totally get all that.
What I don’t get is using such a solemn occasion to pimp junk we mostly don’t need. I mean, isn’t that what Christmas was created for? You know, Christmas — the spending spree designed “to honor” that other dead guy?
“Sales” — that’s perfectly fine. I’ve got no problem with opening stores and welcoming customers, even on the holiday. But using “Memorial Day Sale” as a marketing magnet strikes me as disgusting.
Besides, if you really need that 72-inch TV and want the biggest discount, wait until the “Holocaust Remembrance Day Sale.” I mean, if crass commercialism is all we stand for and represent as a culture, then we might as well plunge all the way into the abyss of sacrilege.
On the button. I’ve been saying that for over 40 years, but not so effectively to a larger audience. Kudos.
I am an Israeli, I visited the USA during memorial day a few years ago and was astound to learn that the US memorial day is a shopping spree day. In Israel it is kind of a “holy” day, schools finish early, most stores are closed early and national TV broadcasts mainly documentaries about the fallen. I know Israel is a young country and the memory is still fresh for the Israelis, but the way most Americans dishonor this day by shopping and barbequing really amazed me. I really hope that Americans will find the way to honor the heroes that enabled the USA to be what it is today by sacrificing their own lives.