xmas/thanksgiving is a consumer farce
October is almost here.
Soon you will be buying things again.
i wonder what time it is appropriate to start selling christmas items? we are after all in a war. wouldnt it be good for everyone if we all started buying shit we dont need before mid october?
since the 30’s thanksgiving has been a marker not only of our american beginnings (though twisted to be peaceful) but is also a marker of when consuming is considered “appropriate”
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In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that Thanksgiving would be the next to last Thursday of November rather than the last. With the country still in the midst of The Great Depression, Roosevelt thought this would give merchants a longer period to sell goods before Christmas. Increasing profits and spending during this period, Roosevelt hoped, would aid bringing the country out of the Depression. At the time, it was considered inappropriate to advertise goods for Christmas until after Thanksgiving.
However, Roosevelt’s declaration was not mandatory; twenty-three states went along with this recommendation, and 22 did not. Other states, like Texas, could not decide and took both weeks as government holidays. Roosevelt persisted in 1940 to celebrate his “Franksgiving,” as it was termed. The U.S. Congress in 1941 split the difference and established that the Thanksgiving would occur annually on the fourth Thursday of November, which was sometimes the last Thursday and sometimes the next to last. On November 26 that year President Roosevelt signed this bill into U.S. law.
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i are not a writing genius today so i are making this a short update.
just something i was thinking about. am i just a grinch? an asshole?
farce
1.
a. A light dramatic work in which highly improbable plot situations, exaggerated characters, and often slapstick elements are used for humorous effect.
b. The branch of literature constituting such works.
c. The broad or spirited humor characteristic of such works.
2. A ludicrous, empty show; a mockery: The fixed election was a farce.
3. A seasoned stuffing, as for roasted turkey.
farced, farc·ing, farc·es
1. To pad (a speech, for example) with jokes or witticisms.
2. To stuff, as for roasting.
I am a consumer whore, humor | Comments (4)Suzuki Beane
Suzuki has started her own site to track daily activities and thoughts.Check it out if you get the chances.
http://www.processinfinite.com
It is under construction as her and i have the chance to go through ad make changes so do not be surprised at links that may be working improperly.
interesting folks | Comments (2)Charlie horse
I am sitting at work and notice my left leg has gone to sleep.
I flex my foot and calve, trying to get the pins and needles to subside.
I feel like the poster child for political/corporate immobilization tactics..
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Kept sitting in one position long enough that the numbness can set in, we find ourselves participating in a plan to consume, passify, justify the unjust, and push buttons/pull levers instead of working a machine designed by someone else, as opposed to one of our own design. Don’t worry, just sit it out. We will have a break soon. In the meantime, we are prompted to entertain ourselves, try to take our minds off the feelings we are experiencing. We all know waiting sucks though… so..
Once the numbness sets in, we are allowed the privilege of a choice:
- Stay still and hope it gets better/goes away
- Take steps to get the blood flowing properly again.
It is a catch 22. Either choice leaves us attached to the system. With the first, we could stay sitting, but need to flex, stretch, and reach out a little. Staying immobile will cause squirming or panic. We would become inefficient and lackadaisical. This inefficiency is what prompts us to lean towards option two. It feels natural, it is a reaction.. We can’t help but try to stand up. We even think it is your own idea, as opposed to a subtle Machiavellian tactic.
Standing, our thoughts begin fresh. We think “Hey! This isn’t so bad!”. It is not until 3 steps later, realizing what kind of trouble we are in, we find that we have left our support behind. With nothing nearby to lean on, the leg begins to jelly and can’t bear weight. There is a small throb. The throb felt is not in the leg, but in the dead weight that we used to think was our leg, until it betrayed us by siding with the mollification. It feels nice, this freedom of movement. We want to giggle at how foolish it was to stand up instead of waiting for our break, or letting the blood begin to flow first. The system was, after all, designed with be safest and best intentions in mind.
Experiencing the forgotten wobbly elasticity our bodies have, we immediately want to fall down again. You know what is coming next.
Pins and needles.
Alternate interpretations are welcomed.
143 years ago
an interesting quote i ran across in a book recently.
unsure if its accuracy, i did some research and was able to locate and confirm where it was gleaned from.
“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”
– U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864
From a letter to Col. William F. Elkins
Ref: The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY)
Photograph was taken a month later in December 1864