Sunday, December 23, 2012
[1783 - George Washington resigns his commission in the Continental Army before the Congress]
[1805 - Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the
Mormon church, born in Sharon, Vermont]
[1834 - Joseph Aloysius Hansom patents his Safety Cab]
[1860 - Harriet Monroe, poet, editor and founder Poetry Magazine, born in Chicago]
[1913 - President Woodrow Wilson signs an Act creating the Federal Reserve System]
[1918 - Jose Greco, flamenco dancer, born in Montorio nei Frentani, Italy]
[1919 - USS Relief (AH-1), first ship designed from the keel up as a hospital ship, is launched]
[1925 - Harry Guardino, actor, born in Brooklyn]
[1929 - Dick Weber, professional bowler, PBA founder, born in Indianapolis, Indiana]
[1947 - John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain, William Shockley invent the transistor]
[1968 - Astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell Jr. & William A. Anders are the first men to orbit the Moon]
Here on the brink of the holiday that celebrates the birth of one who rejected the material life, pursued not financial gain, and drove the early financial services industry out of the temple, we see at last the true religion of our society: Consumerism. As good Americans we celebrate Christmas with an orgy of consumer activity that revolves around a spirit of 'shop till you drop.' It might work for me if all that shopping had not turned deadly on Black Friday, the traditional beginning of the Christmas shopping season in 2008.
Somehow, the image of that poor fellow who was trampled to death by a herd of crazed shoppers at a Long Island Wal-Mart still hangs like a huge question mark over this holiday season. I suppose no one really knows how many shoppers stepped over his body in the rush to seize their precious bargains before the store ran out. I can't think of any material thing in my life that I wanted that badly or needed that much. I guess it isn't so much a question mark as it is an exclamation point at the end of the answer to the question: "What is the underlying cause of the economic meltdown that marked that fateful Christmas of 2008?"
William's Whimsical Words:
How many flatscreen TVs equal one human life?
to Almanack Main Page
