[Thanos]

If it puts a dent in the endless consumerism and materialism as more people realize, as they're forced to actually be patient & wait instead of receiving instantaneous satisfaction, then that too is a good thing. It's one of our many moral & ethical disasters that've turned the planetary population into little more than Pavlovian dogs. That's entirely due to the endless numbers of salesmen, from the internet billionaires to the disgusting politicians, who all accrued far too much power & wealth simply by providing quick gratification to a world full of people starving to have some real meaning to their lives.

This house of cards had to get blown apart someday. We're just fortunate to see it happen in our lifetimes. Having less is actually good for you. Trust me on this one, I learned it the hard way, and my only real regret is not learning that lesson about thirty-odd years ago when it would have made a much better and greater impact in my life.

[Scape]

Assuming all things remain constant. Can we though? Right now the bookcase is rocking back and forth and a few books are falling out but what we may be looking at here is the whole case falling over.

Don't want to be dramatic just to make a point but to restate this is a cascade failure, one collapse will trigger the next and so on like dominoes and we will ALL be left picking up the pieces. On the upside at least we will not have to worry about inflation it will be getting supplies and services will be the issue. Resilience will be the touchstone. Grow your own garden and buy local.

[Scape]

[Thanos]

You mean there's supposed to be more to the so-called most wonderful day of the year than buying pointless un-needed crap for the people in our lives?

[Strutz]

Thanos Thanos:

If it puts a dent in the endless consumerism and materialism as more people realize, as they're forced to actually be patient & wait instead of receiving instantaneous satisfaction, then that too is a good thing. It's one of our many moral & ethical disasters that've turned the planetary population into little more than Pavlovian dogs. That's entirely due to the endless numbers of salesmen, from the internet billionaires to the disgusting politicians, who all accrued far too much power & wealth simply by providing quick gratification to a world full of people starving to have some real meaning to their lives.

This house of cards had to get blown apart someday. We're just fortunate to see it happen in our lifetimes. Having less is actually good for you. Trust me on this one, I learned it the hard way, and my only real regret is not learning that lesson about thirty-odd years ago when it would have made a much better and greater impact in my life.

I agree and you stated it well.

It's funny too because I have recently had several conversations with people about this very topic and I have expressed that IMO it's not such a bad thing that there may be things/crap/stuff that people may not be able to throw their money away on this Christmas as that is what they seem to be focusing on as the "OMG What is everyone going to do?". FFS

I as well have learned in recent years that I need very little to be satisfied and am in the process of yet another round of gathering more misc crap to get rid of.

[Thanos]

We're like three or four weeks away from the yearly horrifying/amusing sights of idiots getting into fistfights over a half-priced flatscreen TV or trampling each other to death in a rush to get an XBox off the shelf at Walmart on Black Friday. If those moments aren't confirmation that there is something deeply wrong and awful with this way of living then I don't know what else there could be to confirm it.

[CDN_PATRIOT]

Thanos Thanos:

We're like three or four weeks away from the yearly horrifying/amusing sights of idiots getting into fistfights over a half-priced flatscreen TV or trampling each other to death in a rush to get an XBox off the shelf at Walmart on Black Friday. If those moments aren't confirmation that there is something deeply wrong and awful with this way of living then I don't know what else there could be to confirm it.

The first time I ever saw a Black Friday stampede on the news was an eye-opener. The fact that people are willing to injure their fellow human being over material goods is shameful and disgusting to say the least. Society is broken, period.

-J.

[DrCaleb]

CDN_PATRIOT CDN_PATRIOT:

The first time I ever saw a Black Friday stampede on the news was an eye-opener. The fact that people are willing to injure their fellow human being over material goods is shameful and disgusting to say the least. Society is broken, period.

-J.

Society isn't broken, that is our nature showing itself. 'Society' is us resisting that urge. The monkeys in '2001' are us; we will beat our enemies to death with the leg bone of any animal, if the threat of jail wasn't there. The occasional riot is just an excuse to let the primitive side of ourselves out for the rare stroll around the grounds. If we have to elbow grandma in the chin to get that new Supreme schwag, so what?

That's what capitalism has taught us. 'Consume mass quantities'.

[bootlegga]

This is an interesting take on why there are labour shortages across North America - a lot of people haved moved on from McJobs to better ones, even careers.

$1:

Wages and COVID-19 restrictions pushed workers out of the restaurant and food services industry and into professional service roles in white-collar sectors, according to an analysis by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

By February 2021, almost a quarter-million workers in Canada who used to be employed in food and accommodation had found new jobs outside that sector, many of them switching to roles as secretaries or assistants for accountants, lawyers, architects and more, the study finds.

Employment in food services is now 14.8 per cent below its pre-pandemic level, according to Canada’s September labour-force survey. That’s an improvement from the worker shortages during third-wave restrictions earlier this year, but it means there are still 180,000 workers who left food-service positions in February 2020 and never returned.

It’s no surprise restaurant workers have flocked to secure jobs with higher wages, said David Macdonald, senior economist with the CCPA and author of the report, titled “Tipping point: Pandemic forced restaurant and bar workers into better paying jobs.”

“Restaurant jobs in the sector are harder now than they were pre-pandemic. Not only are you exposed to a deadly health risk, but you have to wear a mask all day, endure customer abuse while enforcing mask and vaccination rules, all while hoping new lockdowns don’t shut your job down for the fourth time,” said Macdonald.

https://www.thestar.com/business/2021/1 ... finds.html

[bootlegga]

Thanos Thanos:

If it puts a dent in the endless consumerism and materialism as more people realize, as they're forced to actually be patient & wait instead of receiving instantaneous satisfaction, then that too is a good thing. It's one of our many moral & ethical disasters that've turned the planetary population into little more than Pavlovian dogs. That's entirely due to the endless numbers of salesmen, from the internet billionaires to the disgusting politicians, who all accrued far too much power & wealth simply by providing quick gratification to a world full of people starving to have some real meaning to their lives.

This house of cards had to get blown apart someday. We're just fortunate to see it happen in our lifetimes. Having less is actually good for you. Trust me on this one, I learned it the hard way, and my only real regret is not learning that lesson about thirty-odd years ago when it would have made a much better and greater impact in my life.

Agreed, I used to buy crap all the time and then use it for a little while and then toss it on a shelf or in a box and never use it again because I was so busy working. The consequence of those decisions kept me broke and miserable.

Now, I hardly buy anything other than real needs and my finances are much, much better. I certainly don't miss buying stuff and trying to fill a hole in my life with junk.

[Zipperfish]

A very American strike. Gig economy and other low wage workers didn't--or couldn't-- organize and unionize. They all made their own rational decisions, independently, to simply not go back to work.

[herbie]

Told our local Chamber of Commerce that Black Friday meant that from that day until everyone completed their Christmas returns in January, no one would darken their doorway. They'd all be travelling to the city to shop.
They all got their backs up and pretended that wasn't true.

Owned a shop here for 25 years with price comparable to the Big Box guys and December was the worst sales month for at least 20 of those years.

[Zipperfish]

Thanos Thanos:

If it puts a dent in the endless consumerism and materialism as more people realize, as they're forced to actually be patient & wait instead of receiving instantaneous satisfaction, then that too is a good thing. It's one of our many moral & ethical disasters that've turned the planetary population into little more than Pavlovian dogs. That's entirely due to the endless numbers of salesmen, from the internet billionaires to the disgusting politicians, who all accrued far too much power & wealth simply by providing quick gratification to a world full of people starving to have some real meaning to their lives.

This house of cards had to get blown apart someday. We're just fortunate to see it happen in our lifetimes. Having less is actually good for you. Trust me on this one, I learned it the hard way, and my only real regret is not learning that lesson about thirty-odd years ago when it would have made a much better and greater impact in my life.

It's midnight at the vomitorium, boys and girls.

[raydan]

Thanos Thanos:

Having less is actually good for you.

Strange that the less you have, the less you want.

[Scape]

Well it's official: