Holiday

The Good Side Of Thanksgiving And The Bad Side Of Thanksgiving

thanksgiving-dinner-photo-by-marcus-quiqmireI have to admit – of all the holidays on our calendar, Thanksgiving is one of my favorites. It is a time to gather with family and friends, and it is a time to give thanks for all the good things that have happened to us this year. And the remarkable acts of generosity that happen during this time of the year remind all of us that there are still people out there that are trying to do the right thing and to be lights in their communities. But of course all is not well in America this Thanksgiving. As I write about so often on The Economic Collapse Blog, poverty is growing, close to 50 million Americans are struggling with hunger, and the number of people sleeping in homeless shelters in New York City just hit an all-time record high. Sadly, even with such great need all around us, Americans continue to be some of the most wasteful people on the entire planet. In fact, one newly released report says that Americans will throw away 200 million pounds of turkey this Thanksgiving alone… (Read More...)

No Christmas For Millions Of American Families This Year

For millions of American families, there will be no Christmas this year.  The sad truth is that an increasing number of families simply do not have money for Christmas presents or any other luxuries right now.  The number of Americans that fell into poverty set a new all-time record last year and extreme poverty is at the highest level ever measured in the United States.  This Christmas, a lot of American families will be deciding whether to spend the little money that they do have on food, heat or medicine.  All over America, the poor are getting poorer and each year the economic pain seems to get even worse.  But there are also many American families that will have no Christmas this year for other reasons.  Some are just sick and tired of all of the materialism that is involved in Christmas.  Others are trying to be “politically correct” and don’t want to offend anyone.  There are even a growing number of Americans that are Christians but that believe that Christians should not celebrate Christmas for spiritual reasons.  Once upon a time, Christmas was pretty much considered to be a nearly universal holiday in the United States, but that just is not the case anymore.  There are millions upon millions of Americans that simply will not be celebrating Christmas at all this year. (Read More...)

Chaos On The Streets Of America

Should we just expect mass chaos on the streets of America every time a major holiday rolls around?  At least 42 people were hit by gunfire in New York City over the Labor Day weekend.  The violence got so bad that even the mayor felt compelled to publicly address it.  In Chicago, at least 6 people (including a man in a wheelchair) were killed over the Labor Day weekend.  Sadly, this is just a continuation of a trend that we have seen build over the past few years.  At the beginning of the summer, there was terrible violence all over America during the Memorial Day weekend.  We also saw violence break out during 4th of July celebrations.  It appears that wherever large groups of young people gather in America today, there is going to be a very good chance that chaos is going to erupt. (Read More...)