“STUFF” AND STUFF

Posted by: Pat Johnson on: November 24, 2012

• In: Class Warfare | Current Events | Uncategorized
• 21 Comments

It starts as early as September.  The “Christmas rush” is on!

Beginning sometime after Labor Day, commercials slowly point the way toward the holiday season of buying and spending in a 3 month frenzy of ads aimed at December 25th, designed as an appeal for emptying pocketbooks and loading up the charge cards.  There’s no escape from the bombardment.

And what could be more satisfying than declaring the annual “Black Friday” sales begin at 8pm on “Thanksgiving Thursday”?  If “40” is now considered the new “30” what’s the problem here?

Walmart is one of those first in line to push this theme.  An “event” that will stuff their coffers from those willing to abandon hearth and home for the opportunity of purchasing more “stuff” made in China at a preposterous discount for those willing to stand in line for hours as if their very lives depended upon it.  Nothing says “Happy Holidays” more then watching a bunch of fools camped out for hours to be first in line to grab themselves a “deal”.

But caught in the middle of all this unnecessary frenzy are the store associates working for minimum wage and few benefits expected to “serve” the greed of the public by giving up their own Thanksgiving holiday to spend time beating back the crowds with a smile on their faces.  How “fair” is that?

The Walton family annual income is somewhere around 6 billion dollars.  Their money is kept within the family.  These are the powerful 1 percenters who “live the good life” as their employees scramble to maintain a living on part time hours and low wages.  Powerful enough to beat back any hint of unionization and collective bargaining as many of their employees must look to food stamps to supplement their pitiful income.  How much does the Walton family need to ensure their opulent lifestyle?

These are the people who must rely on Medicaid for medical access.  The same program the 1% feels is necessary to cut as a means of balancing the budget.  Some must work at other jobs to support themselves and their families as most are hired as part time employees.  This guarantees that they are not eligible for benefits.  Paid slightly above the minimum wage these associates find themselves easily replaceable.

This is the philosophy that Mitt Romney went out of his way to protect during the campaign.  Why share the profits when you can have it all?  Then condemn those who must live under the yoke of corporatism in suggesting they only want “stuff”.

The “stuff”, as I see it is the crap that is being sold to the masses as “must have”.  How many “broken hearts” will we see from those unable to grab that discounted piece of junk they have been told they cannot live without?  Idiots all too pleased with themselves in giving up one holiday for the sake of another to be “first in line”.  And if it means getting there by pushing, shoving, and elbowing each other out of the way then is that not a “success” in itself?  Just listen to the sounds of cash registers in the background signaling the sounds of Christmas. Music to the ears of the Walton family raking in even more profits on the backs of their employees.  Goodwill to all!

There’s “stuff” and then there is “stuff”. Stuff is the waste of money on gifts forgotten hours after the package has been unwrapped.  Stuff that requires giving up time spent with family in a rush to obtain it.

The other “stuff” is having the means necessary to live with a sense of dignity without having to rely on the government to take up the slack because benefits have been slashed to protect those whose bottom line is having more than they could ever spend in a lifetime.  Stuff is a living wage, medical access, and collective bargaining.  Stuff is a share in the work they provide a company by dint of their labor.

Mitt Romney and the party of “family values” don’t see it that way.

Walmart and their competitors illustrate all that is wrong with the American system of corporate power. They have managed to sell their souls at the altar of greed.

Black Friday, Early Thursday, says as much. 

Unmitigated greed on full display.

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Tags: "family values", Black Friday, Mitt Romney, the Walton family, Walmart