HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

My wife and I were watching a bit of news on the TV when they did a spot on Black Friday.  The news spot showed people running, screaming, shoving, slamming into other people etc just to save a few bucks on something that they didn't need anyway.

Sometimes I weep for my society.

Whatever happened to enjoying a nice quiet day of rest surrounded by your friends, family and neighbors? 

Consumerism has destroyed our society. 

Now don't get me wrong, I love to look for stuff that I need that will add quality to my life, and I have more that I need or deserve.  But the simple act of acquiring has pushed our society to the edge.  Its not the having that folks are eaten up with, its the getting.

It seems that once a person has something, that it no longer generates joy in their life and they feel the need to go acquire something new to feel happy again.

There is a TV shows that is out that I have watched a few times called "Hoarders: buried alive".  It is about people that have an inordinate desire to have stuff.  Whether the "stuff" makes their lives richer, or more meaningful, that is beside the point.  They need more and more.

I dare say that most of our great, grandparents would put all of us in the category of a hoarder. 

With this said, I think this quote sums it up nicely.

THE PARADOX OF OUR TIME.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; we've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; we have higher incomes, but lower morals; we have more food, but less appeasement; we build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; we've become long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet to kill. 


I know this is not the time of the year yet to make resolutions, but maybe it should be.