Shoppers already lining up for Black Friday deals

[Journeyman]

14. I camped out for 4 days on the steps of The LA Forum in 1971, waiting for Who tickets . . .

hell of a party, great memories. Had front row seats. Well worth the wait. Shortly thereafter, the promoters instituted arm bands, then ceased selling tickets at the venues entirely.

Yeah, it's crazy to camp out for a week for a cheesy tv or laptop, but who am I to judge? The way the economy is structured, this sort of hyper sales effort is a critical part of the process. Something like one-quarter of all personal spending takes place during this "season." Were we to get rid of it without transitioning to something different, our economic model might collapse.

Ceaseless criticism is counterproductive. We need to focus our efforts as a society on building an alternate economic model, one that sustains us without forcing us to pursue such an unhealthy, non-productive cycle of somewhat mindless consumption.