Ammon Brown

AAAARGH! This is what I get for depending on Blogger. A magnum opus of a blog post gets wiped out by an “Internal Server Error”. Piece of junk. OK, I will try to recreate as best I can the marvelous post I wrote earlier. I am sure its magnificence has faded somewhat in my memory, so please bear with me.

Affluenza: I have been reading this book, and it feels so much more relevant in light of this weekend’s “Holiday”. I tend to agree with Bill Maher’s book on parts of this issue (which, by the way, is HILARIOUS). He said it is ridiculous that we are asked to consume to help the economy, or the war effort, or the government. By buying more junk to surround ourselves with, we are only feuling government tax revenues and corporate profits, which turn into campaign contributions anyway. Whatever happened to keeping out of debt? Whatever happened to planting a victory garden or saving tin? No, we should all go out and buy more stuff to give our lives meaning. I like the idea of Buy Nothing Day. Not because it is a slap to the economy, but because it points out an important issue. Affluenza. Even I (yes, I!) fall victim to Affluenza occasionally. Heck, I have way too much stuff. Why, if I did not define myself by my belongings, I would just throw it all out!