But it's gonna CREATE JOBS! Flurbulgurble! JOBS! ...


AMERICA!

The oft-referred US debt is from government spending money - not people's credit card bills.


No one is forcing you to spend money except them, Sarah.

Much like this article, what actually crashed the economy was the attempt to create substance out of nothing.

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Christmas sucks.

You are exactly right. A lot is in crisis now, but nothing will ever substitute for making real economies with people you respect earning fair wages. Anyone with any money is obliged to do that first, bitch about everything else second. Money spent on local business comes back to you in every possible way.

GW Bush started the shoppers as heros meme, when he told people to rush out and buy new cars and stuff to support the economy after 9/11.

How many of us are driving Japanese or German cars? Those bike tires, where did they and the componets come from? Locally?
Are bike tires even made in the US anymore?
Look, I'm in agreement here for the most part, but things are just not so black and white.
We do need shoppers to buy products obviously. It does generate jobs. It does help the economy.
I think we need to look at countries such as Germany for how much their personal savings are in comparison to ours. I think the old figures I saw said Germans saved about 10% of their income - the Japanese around 14%(?), while here in the US it is about 2-3%
, roughly.
I'm not against business trying to come up with new angles for selling shit. I just won't bite.

My friends and fam are getting inexpensive and practical gifts from the Saturday Market and from Etsy, such as socks and soap. I recommend this tactic to anyone who doesn't have a lot of money and wants to celebrate a low-key christmas while having a positive impact on local and small business crafters.

"And secondly, why is everyone insisting that a day in which we're encouraged to spend money online as a 'holiday'?"

Who is everyone? I have not heard Cyber Monday referred to as a holiday. If it is one, I'm talking to my boss. I want it off next year.

Although I think both Black Friday and Cyber Monday are a little silly, blaming Americans for overspending appears to be a cipher:

http://bostonreview.net/BR30.5/warrentyagi…

The tighten-your-belts-and-consume-less concept is absolutely ridiculous. We spend less and we get better goods compared to any time in the past. Instead we spend all our money on essentials- housing, health care, transportation, food. If we lived in a country where those things had not raised in price by preposterous amounts over the last 30 years, the amount of holiday spending we currently do wouldn't matter at all. If you want to be angry, be angry that the middle class is gutted- not that people want to buy gifts during the holiday season.

I kinda like buying gifts for friends and family during the holidays. I think some of these people are still mad from x-mas of '91 when mom did not get them the Air Jordans they asked for!

Somewhere a freshman is writing this exact article in his or her writing 121 "free write" exercise.

Ohhh please excuse all those IM's yesterday. I misunderstood what cyber Monday was about.

It's OK I didn't have any money anyway after buying a years worth of cat food (yes it weighs the same as Alison) on Black Friday.

"locally rooted businesses who treat their workers ethically"

Is this supported by any shred of evidence? Does Samsung treat its employees worse than Hotties, Voodoo donuts, or your typical local, professional kitchen that doesn't provide health insurance for its employees?

This is a load of shit, and so is holding a smarmy sign saying HURRY! in a mall. Wake up from your infantile pseudo-communist fantasy, base your "ideals" on knowledge and understanding, and try to be a little more substantial. Then, people might listen to

Wow. Seeing things like this in the Merc is maddening. I have a blog which I update infrequently, but I often spend way too much time worrying about whether my points are supportable (with links to polls and stats) and making sure that I don't come off sounding like a kid who just took her first PoliSci 100 class and just now learned that the world is unfair. And no one reads my blog. So here I am, reading the Merc's blog and I keep seeing posts like this one. I think the only thought that went into this was "Americans are dumb! Shopping is bad!".

Those of you who are making your gifts (as I admit, I am - for the most part) or trying to buy local - good for you. You vote with your dollar. But don't walk around touting your sainthood. You *vote* with your dollar. You shouldn't get to be sanctimonious about voting.

Also, don't local businesses have websites as well? Why is Cyber Monday a "scam"?

It doesn't count because all Portland businesses are local and sustainable and don't use materials made by the tiny hands of Vietnamese toddlers....

Oh.

Sarahfina- Maybe these shopping protesters would get what they want if the actually did vote. This is why the right wing gets what they want, because they vote while the left stays home on election night

Buying local lets you see and understand the people and the work first hand. The point isn't that they're better paid or better treated, necessarily; the point is you can have a real understanding of what you're doing when you pay them. It's possible to make informed choices because you actually know something. A distant company is opaque. You have no idea what your money is doing. Statistics don't help; relationships and conversations help, and most of us don't have those with Amazon or Buy.com Also, it's easier to see and understand money in a small business. I don't think either habit of buying is de facto "ethical" or "unethical." But I do think it's impossible to act ethically without knowing something. That's the downside of doing business with large, distant corporations.