What does it really say about our society that we have allowed every holiday to be turned into

[WCGreen]

yet another opportunity to sell crap.

How shallow do we appear to the consumer experts to think that every minute waking hour is to be spent on contemplating purchasing some kind of crap with no chance to ponder anything deeper than what shiny pretty thing I can snag for a cheaper price.

Perhaps if we really are more than that, we would never have let ourselves become so distracted.

We are slaves to consumption.

A few years ago, I started to really look around to see what was important to me.

Over the years, I have scaled down my wardrobe, cut back on my incessant collecting of things and got rid of a mess of stuff that I just didn't need any more.

Good lord, I had over sixty ties! I now have five and I do not care if they are the right length, the right width and the right fabric.

Don't get me wrong, I still love to buy things. But big things, things that make me happy to have. I bought a good guitar and a good keyboard, I was once in a band, and I have been getting much joy and comfort from taking the time and learning about my instruments and how to play them as well...

What I mainly concerned about now, I guess, is that so many people in charge of our political and economic think the only way we can get ourselves out of this Malaise, is for us to start spending again.

Maybe it's time we stop looking at ourselves as meerly consumers and start thinking about the true value of a life well spent.

After all, if your live is all about spending, about mindlessly accumulating things rather, than than perhaps you have wasted your time on this earth.

All I can really say is I want my life to be more than that.

I'm not banking on an afterlife, but if there is, I am pretty sure that those of us who never contemplated anything deeper than how I can get my hands on a ........ all will be well, then you may be condemned, like Sisyphus to keep pushing up that hill and falling back just to start again....

[gopiscrap]

1. That we have become a shallow

crass greedy nation!!!!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. The older I get, the more I agree with you.

The gifts I get from my family that I value most are things I use. My daughter makes soap from time to time, and I love it when she gives me some...

It won't take up huge amounts of space, and best of all, I love using it. The perfect gift. Personal and useful.

Socrates, according to Plato, said: The unexamined life is not worth living. I agree completely. Consuming things does not allow us to examine the meaning of our own lives...

[Ron Green]

3. Hey, we're Americans. Shopping is what we do.

[Horse with no Name]

4. Agreed

I have spent the last several months decluttering. Who really needs 6 sets of dishes?

I have gone through the house 3 times...and getting ready to make another sweep.

For Christmas...we only bought for the kids. BUT...everything was purchased second hand and the result was that the kids got REALLY nice stuff...stuff we couldn't go into the store and purchase new because we didn't have that kind of money. It wasn't easy to find what we were looking for, but we did. We didn't go into one Big Box store and purchase anything.

We had a nice family dinner and that was our gift to each other.

One thing I have been noticing...my friends are now scouring the thrift stores, yard sales and flea markets. They love that we have replaced all of our frumpy furniture and filled it with painted, fun vintage and antique repurposed furniture and now they are doing the same.

[Luminous Animal]

5. I live with 2 packrats...

About once every 3 years, I can't take it anymore and clean the "stuff" out. Everyone once in a while I feel so overwhelmed by stuff that I freak out and my husband and daughter point out all the stuff that is mine. AND then I point out that most of that stuff are things that they've given me. And then, of course, I feel like a chump... as though I am ungrateful for all that stuff that they have given me.

I actually convinced them to not give me anything anymore. That lasted for 3 years during which I had to abide with sad faces on every gift giving occasion.

If my family were to pack up and move, my personal stuff that I would want to keep would fit into 7 boxes. Each of them would need 50... at least.

[RKP5637]

6. I'm fed up with American consumerism, have been for years. Consumerism

seems to be the high point of many peoples lives. What a hollowed out existence. .... money, money, money ... buy, buy, buy ... what a waste.

[Bombero1956]

7. the older I get the faster time seems to pass

I blame it mostly on the holidays. The week after Christmas my local store already had Valentines Day cards and candy on display. Today I saw an endcap with St. Patrick's Day crap on display with an Easter display right next to it. The Hallmark Channel is the biggest offender followed by the jewelry stores.

[Lint Head]

8. The shame of current society is that the world turns on money.

[NYC_SKP]

9. MLK day is presently a happy exception.

Enjoy while you can!

[woo me with science]

10. K&R