There’s a middle way between rampant cheap Made in China consumerism and condescending anti-whatever…amen to this constructive rant via my friend Tom!  ~ ed.

A note, via Tom: “I didn’t go shopping this morning either. I’m not saying people should – I’m just annoyed by all the hypocrites bitching about “consumerism” and how evil others are for shopping today.”

Rant: Anyone posting anti-consumerism/anti-“Black Friday” crap

…needs to take a minute and look around the room: $10 says you’re posting from a $1000+ computer or $400 smartphone. If you’re so anti-consumerism, why not use a computer at the library? Why not use pay phones? How’s that for an idea?

Reality: if you live in a relatively wealthy, modern society and you are a consumer – you buy and consume things. When you reposted a Facebook status/photo that contrasts “Black Friday” shopping with starving children in Africa, it makes you look like a shallow, hypocritical, attention-seeker. No one is forcing you to buy shit (why not participate in “Buy Nothing Day“?) but even if you don’t shop today, you are still a consumer.

Abstaining from shopping one day a year doesn’t change that fact, so stop calling the kettle black.

~

Bonus on-the-other-hands: “Why You Shouldn’t Shop at Walmart on Friday: A half century ago America’s largest employer was General Motors, whose full-time workers earned an average hourly wage of around $50, in today’s dollars, including health and pension benefits. Today, an average Walmart employee earns $8.81 an hour.”

And: Six More Reasons To Avoid Walmart This Holiday Season.

13 Buy Nothing Day Posters.