An Increasingly Asinine Nation — Has Essentially Eliminated Thanksgiving in Order to Begin Black Friday Consumerism a Few Hours Earlier — Jesus, Yaweh, Mohammed and Buddha Would Ask Us What We Think We’re Doing

© 2012 Peter Free

 

24 November 2012

 

 

In an avaricious, air-headed culture like ours, it is easy to lose sight of what’s important

 

Thanksgiving (past tense intended) was about expressing soulful appreciation, no matter how humble one’s circumstances.

 

Today, Thanksgiving is merely a date that marks the beginning of the rampant consumerism that has obliterated the once holy meaning of the Christmas season:

 

For decades, stores have opened their doors in the wee hours on the day after Thanksgiving. But this year, major chains such as Target and Sears ushered in customers on Thanksgiving itself, even before the turkey leftovers had gotten cold, turning the traditional busiest shopping day of the year into a two-day affair.

 

Despite an outcry from some employees, both stores and shoppers seemed to like it. Some people went shopping with a full belly, going straight from the dinner table to the stores. Others slept off their big meal and went to the mall before daybreak on Black Friday.

 

"I ate my turkey dinner and came right here," said Rasheed Ali, a college student in New York City who bought a 50-inch TV for $349 and a sewing machine for $50 when Target opened at 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving. "Then I'm going home and eating more."

 

This new approach could become a holiday shopping season tradition.

 

"It's Black Thursday and Friday combined," said Jackie Fernandez, a retail expert at the consulting firm Deloitte. "This is going to be a new normal of how we shop."

 

© 2012 Anne D'Innocenzio, Successful Thanksgiving sales could spell end to 'Black Friday', Associated Press via Las Cruces Sun-News (24 November 2012)

 

America’s true religion is Avarice, combined with the worship of Mammon.

 

 

The moral? — In silence and meditative non-activity, we strengthen (rather than weaken) spiritual connections

 

Building soul is virtually impossible to do, when one is uninterruptedly engaged in selling and buying.

 

Greed is not a sound foundation for spirit.

 

My support is with Wal-Mart’s striking workers.  Their labor dispute is ultimately about more than working conditions.