Reply #122: Now at least

[marions ghost]

you're getting more creative than just not voting. Stop all discretionary spending...well that's happening now whether people choose it or not. And how long are people supposed to do this kind of extreme self-denial so that it will make a difference? And how do you separate necessities from luxuries? Most people in the US see a car, a washing machine, a TV, as necessities. And how well do people do when they have no entertainment, no distractions from misery? Entertainment can be seen as a luxury or a necessity.

I can tell you've never been poor. When I was growing up, my family was poor. We'd go to a movie or dinner out even when we had to sacrifice a "necessity" to do it. Just to get out, just to feel normal, if only for a little while.

Only the fairly well off would consider this no spending idea. People have tried pushing this notion many times. Americans don't seem to go for non-consumption. For one thing, they have been made into consumers who depend on Things. Searching for things is a hobby, even to the level of the current "retail therapy" addiction. You can't take it away without having something to replace it with.

Our corporate masters have thought of all this. They have strategies too.:-(