What I really want for Christmas this year.
December 21, 2003
Boycotts: Individuals only have the power to boycott when they join together.
Crossgates Mall Experience: A perspective on Crossgates Mall and what it means to me.
Does Walmart Destroy Communities?: Not more then other big chain stores destroy communities.
Giving Thanks: Some thoughts on what I'm thankful for this Thanksigiving.
Got Bottled Water?: Bottled water is both silly and bad for the environment.
Obesity: Obesity seems to be a real problem in a society of plenty.
People, Property and Rubbish: Thoughts about why we value some things, and not others. The idea of this essay is to question the disposability of some items, while we seem to hold people aas ultra-sacred (even when they aren't rea
Save the Planet: Buy Less: The simplest way to reduce your impact is consume less.
Still Like Walmart: Despite our offical disdain, we still spend our bucks at Walmart and the alike.
The Throw-Away Society: Commentary on landfills, our notion of waste, and modern American Society.
Thrift Shops: Not only will you get a good deal, your also saving resources.
Walmart in Perspective: A look at the big box in small town America.
Wanting A Bigger Truck: My irrational desire to replace my Ford Ranger.
There are many nice gifts out there in the stores. They fail to give us anything beyond temporary happiness. They are material things, and not what we really want. We want freedom, love, Christ, and ourselves as individuals.
You can not buy or sell freedom. Every definition of freedom from Milton to Arendt to Hobbes is problematic. Habermas' ideas of freedom resonate to the author, but seem to still fall short. We need to find ourselves through free reason and debate, but that is not freedom per se. Maybe freedom is a utopian dream.
It's easy to love your girlfriend. What about the man on the street who begs for money, or the dark dirty prison where a man sits rotting his life away? We dehumanized and forget about love too often during the holiday season. Christmas should ultimately about love of everyone, and particularly our enemies.
We drink during the holidays. They are a time for people to let their guards down, and to somehow escape the oppression of the regular self. Just don't go too far, and don't drink or drive. The jails are filled with people who went to far on the holidays.
Christmas gifts are often a lot of crap. We don't need more material junk that will wear out in a few weeks and have to be tossed. God bless Rapp Road. New stuff is just garbage in a shinny package.
You can get a flesh colored Christ from your 5-and-10 store, or something called religion from your local church. The later might help you understand yourself better, but remember that all organized religion exists to also oppress society and reinforce capitalist values. Too often religion is all about putting more money in the coffers of church people.
You may now resume your holiday celebrations. Pass the egg nog!
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