Reply #18: While some people enjoy it, this is more a sign of a

[nadinbrzezinski]

very sick society. No, not a moralistic judgement... People at the close of the Roman Empore enjoyed gorging and vomitoriums too.

And of course there were some of the customs of the Victorian Era.

I could also mention what was popular for Spain or the Netherlands.

Yes, this could be very well signifying the end of Empire. Hey, look on the bright side, all Empires go through some excesses, and this one is an excess. This is a HISTORIC observation and has little to do with morals by the way.

Oh did I mention it is not sustainable either? Oh and all those cheap baubles, a lot of that money is NOT staying in the US either... and they are made by slave labor in horrible conditions... and each job at Wally World, cost counties in medical care... as well as taking away one and a half from LOCAL employers, and actually reduces competitiveness and economic health in the long run.

It does come with a very real cost.