The American Christmas?

[Princess of Hearts]

I was out tonight with my sister at a mall, and it was mobbed!   Here we are on the 1st of December and the shops are packed with people spending money they haven't got.      Shops and businesses have become super greedy 'hungry ghosts'.  Christmas here in GB starts the last week of October.   The shops then are feeling schizophrenic they are full of Halloween bumpf and starting to stock mince pies, xmas cards, wrapping paper, and tinsel. 

I am sometimes accused of being anti-American but I can't help think that everything bad in the world had it's origin in American or American ways of thinking.    Americans need another revolution because what you have now is "Terror abroad and repression at home." Are there no American patriots here at Susan's?  Have you never thought of joining your state's Militia?

[Princess of Hearts]

I say money they haven't got because unemployment is at a near '80s high.   Youth unemployment is higher than it was in the evil Maggie's day.  Jobs are being advertised more and more as 20 hours a week and/or temporary.   Stupid, crap jobs are treated like they were interviewing for the head of Microsoft.   They should invite to an interview the first 5 people who submit an application and employ the first half-decent person they see, but no they force applicants to undergo three rounds of interviews before they will offer someone a boring, dead-end job paying rock-bottom minimum wage of £9,600 or around $15,000 for a 40 hour week.*

Strange as may seem to Americans here in Britain we follow American fads and fashions slavishly. 

I have long believed that Britain has to break away from our false friend America and embrace Europe.  We must stop playing the obedient and highly impressionable 'little brother' to America and go our own way.   Britain has never been the same since the wicked Maggie chose to become Reagan's biatch.      That might explain my studying Italian, French, German and Spanish.





* Please do not say 'well maybe food and the cost of living is cheaper in Great Britain than it is in America?'   When I was in Florida we were astonished at how cheap the food was in supermarkets, and how cheap cars and even houses were.      Did you know that Scotch whisky is cheaper in France than it is here in Scotland where it is made?

[SarahM777]

I am sometimes accused of being anti-American but I can't help think that everything bad in the world had it's origin in American or American ways of thinking.    Americans need another revolution because what you have now is "Terror abroad and repression at home." Are there no American patriots here at Susan's?  Have you never thought of joining your state's Militia?

Let's take a look at that statement to see if it is actually true.

You say that is all bad in the world came out of America. Now if that is actually true then there should never have been any empire building before America exited.

Let's see there were the Germans,British,Dutch French,Spanish,Chinese,Romans Mongols etc that all wanted to build empires and repress other societies so much so that many of the countries around them had to pay tribute to keep the peace or they would be wiped out. Many also had kingdoms and fiefdoms that were very repressive to their own people.

Slavery I believe started long before America even existed.

Most of what is happening in the world has been happening since man came into existence. (It's only the technology has changed)

[Princess of Hearts]

This thread deviated from what I intended so the thread title is misleading.


My local mall used to have great shops now there are more charity shops and cheap crap shops than ever before.


We'll all be living in the woods and trying to avoid the cannibal armies if the bankers have their way.

[SarahM777]

Unfortunately it's not just the bankers. You also have to include the politicians and corporations. They all have their hands in the cookie jar and if you do not have power,money or influence it seems that they would just as soon that the rest of us just go away.

[Princess of Hearts]

American speculators wrecked the Greek, Portuguese and Italian economies.   The fleas have finally killed the dog!

[Jen61]

I was out tonight with my sister at a mall, and it was mobbed!   Here we are on the 1st of December and the shops are packed with people spending money they haven't got.     

So, what where you doing at the mall ? Spending money you do not have just like the rest of  AMERIANS UR POOPOING

u COME AS AN HYPOCRIT

[Princess of Hearts]

So, what where you doing at the mall ? Spending money you do not have just like the rest of  AMERIANS UR POOPOING

u COME AS AN HYPOCRIT

Actually we were at the library and didn't spend a penny.

[Princess of Hearts]

I intended this as a ' how do Americans see Christmas' and it turned into a socio-economic rant.   

[Beth Andrea]

Are there no American patriots here at Susan's?  Have you never thought of joining your state's Militia?

1. The "second Revolution", if there will be one, will *not* be announced, planned, or talked about online. First rule of security: STFU (not to be rude, but...)

2. Have you ever been to a "militia" meeting? I have. There's a saying among such groups: "If 3 militiamen are together, one's a Fed and the second is an informant...the third is a stupid ass for talking to ANYONE about his ideas." (I paraphrase, of course)

3. Christmas being "commercialized" has been a complaint of many people for at least 40 years (when I first heard it). It's because of this Golden Idol we have called "capitalism." Everything HAS to make money, or else it's tossed. (Look at our Halloween celebrations--it used to be just for kids and cheap "hobo" or "princess" costumes...now adults can spend hundreds of dollars on props and sound machines to create the perfect "haunted house"... = money in the bank for the sellers)

4. Buying gifts "with money they don't have"...assuming you are correct (and there could be a debate on that!), you're referring to the use of credit cards. True, that's money the consumer doesn't have...but it is money that the investors have, and they want a return on their investments. Again, we see the Golden Idol of Capitalism.

Welcome to the New World Order. 

Btw, have you read "The Lexus and the Olive Tree"?

[Beth Andrea]

I intended this as a ' how do Americans see Christmas' and it turned into a socio-economic rant.

They're tied together. Christmas is our national holiday, celebrating consumerism and wealth. The Christians try to remind people that it's all about Jesus, but since they're buying just as much as everyone else, no one pays them any mind.

[Princess of Hearts]

Americans have you noticed the rash of crapo shops in your local mall?   'Don't ask the price because everything is £1.00 type of shops?'    Do a lot of goods seem cheap and nasty?   Have you bought a kettle and seen it last 6-10 months?   My mother bought a kettle and it didn't last two weeks.   The lacking of purchasing power is behind this.  People simply can't afford decent things like £60.00 kettles so they buy kettles at £19.99 and after a year or less they need to pay another £19.99 for a new kettle.  What this means is that they have forked out £40.00 in a year when they could have paid £60.00 for a kettle that would last 10 years.   This is a false economy spending £200.00 over 10 years keeps factories a humming but people still end up with shoddy goods.

[SarahM777]

Americans have you noticed the rash of crapo shops in your local mall?   'Don't ask the price because everything is £1.00 type of shops?'    Do a lot of goods seem cheap and nasty?   Have you bought a kettle and seen it last 6-10 months?   My mother bought a kettle and it didn't last two weeks.   The lacking of purchasing power is behind this.  People simply can't afford decent things like £60.00 kettles so they buy kettles at £19.99 and after a year or less they need to pay another £19.99 for a new kettle.  What this means is that they have forked out £40.00 in a year when they could have paid £60.00 for a kettle that would last 10 years.   This is a false economy spending £200.00 over 10 years keeps factories a humming but people still end up with shoddy goods.

It's called planned obsolescence and it's done on purpose so that you will end up having to buy it again sooner. (They have been doing that for about 40 years now)

[Princess of Hearts]

1. The "second Revolution", if there will be one, will *not* be announced, planned, or talked about online. First rule of security: STFU (not to be rude, but...)

2. Have you ever been to a "militia" meeting? I have. There's a saying among such groups: "If 3 militiamen are together, one's a Fed and the second is an informant...the third is a stupid ass for talking to ANYONE about his ideas." (I paraphrase, of course)

3. Christmas being "commercialized" has been a complaint of many people for at least 40 years (when I first heard it). It's because of this Golden Idol we have called "capitalism." Everything HAS to make money, or else it's tossed. (Look at our Halloween celebrations--it used to be just for kids and cheap "hobo" or "princess" costumes...now adults can spend hundreds of dollars on props and sound machines to create the perfect "haunted house"... = money in the bank for the sellers)

4. Buying gifts "with money they don't have"...assuming you are correct (and there could be a debate on that!), you're referring to the use of credit cards. True, that's money the consumer doesn't have...but it is money that the investors have, and they want a return on their investments. Again, we see the Golden Idol of Capitalism.

Welcome to the New World Order. 

Btw, have you read "The Lexus and the Olive Tree"?

Good points.

I haven't read that book I'll look out for it at my local library.  Who was the author?

I'd rather take that book out from my library than pay for it.   

[Beth Andrea]

Actually, I wonder if those $1-for-everything stores are a "front" for money laundering. (Sit for an hour and count how many customers go in, and how much they buy...I don't believe the volume is enough to support the store)

I could be wrong, of course.

[Beth Andrea]

Thomas Friedman.

http://www.amazon.com/Lexus-Olive-Tree-Understanding-Globalization/dp/0385499345/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322799278&sr=1-1

Short version: Prior to WW1, the world was divided by empires...after WW2, the world was divided by East (USSR/communism) and West (US/NATO/capitalism)

Capitalism won out, so now the world--the "New World Order"--is based on investors who are willing to cross borders send their money overseas (and thereby influence gov'ts.)

No investors = economy tanks, revolution happens.

If you want investors, you have to do what they say, or else they take their trillions and go elsewhere.

[Annah]

this whole anti american crap is getting old.

You hate america. Fine. People have their own opinions. But writing a sh*tload of forum posts on the same topic is tiring.

You need to get over the whole "I hate America" thing or at least consolidate it in one thread versus two to four new ones a week.

America has our own issues but so does every other country in this world. Including yours. It's assanizing when you push this anti america propaganda in countless of posts when it is clearly obvious you have done very little research on the topic. If you want to blame people for over spending, blame the person themselves. Because, no, not every american spends out of their level. And yes, there are those who do. It's called personal responsibility. It isn't an American trait. It's a human trait.

It's your opinion and I respect that but I get tired when someone bashes the place I live in week after week.

[Princess of Hearts]

Interesting BA.  I've noticed that since the collapse of the Soviet Union things have gotten worse.   What I mean is that now the people don't have a choice between communism and capitalism the politicians and business elite don't need to care about what the people are thinking.  The 'masters' attitude is one of 'work for us for whatever pay and conditions we decide or sit naked under a tree and eat worms and drink from puddles, and die in Winter."   At least the viable presence of the old USSR kept the west focussed upon the peoples' needs in case there was a 1917 style revolution in the West.

[Beth Andrea]

Interesting BA.  I've noticed that since the collapse of the Soviet Union things have gotten worse.   What I mean is that now the people don't have a choice between communism and capitalism the politicians and business elite don't need to care about what the people are thinking.  The 'masters' attitude is one of 'work for us for whatever pay and conditions we decide or sit naked under a tree and eat worms and drink from puddles, and die in Winter."   At least the viable presence of the old USSR kept the west focussed upon the peoples' needs in case there was a 1917 style revolution in the West.

One of the things that I' noticed (which ultimately led me to get that book) was the odd coincidences...like "gay marriage" was proposed in a dozen different countries within weeks of each other...immigration backlash/riots/rights also in many countries, all within weeks of each other...mass revolutions in otherwise stable areas (ie, middle east) almost simultaneously...

etc etc.

Ah well, it's beyond my paygrade anyway.

[Joelene9]

  Me and my siblings quit buying for each other years ago because of the economy in the family.  Usually the young kids and spouses get the gifts.  Any other gifts are simple things like boxed candy to handmade items we make ourselves.  We had enough of the cheap "gotta have it before the Joneses" crapola that loses its luster after awhile! 
  Joelene