Thanksgiving/Black Friday and/or Buy Nothing Day

My thanksgiving was spent with my moms side of the family. They're big church goers. They don't really like me and mom but we went anyway. My mom played piano the whole time and me and my cousins rode around in the gator. No one really discussed anything about the day. We didn't do that thing where you go around and say what you're thankful for. It was creepy cause we were in my aunts new house which was her friends who killed himself in the bedroom of the house and it was weird because they kept talking about him like about how much of a good person he was. It was creepy. They told me to go up in the attic and take anything I want out of all his stuff. I chose not to because I believe in ghosts.
I got texts from some of my moms friends saying happy genocide day but that was the most of what was discussed about the day itself. My aunt kept saying how nice it was to be with family. My uncle got drunk cause he always does and he's my favorite family member. My cousin also got drunk and told me she's going to take me out dancing soon. That probably won't ever happen.
I think the American people often try to blind themselves to ignore the evil things we've done to other cultures, and focus more on how good we are. We sit around proclaiming thanks for all these things that are in our lives, and we feel better about ourselves afterwards, as if somehow giving all that thanks shows how grateful and kind we are. We play ignorant from the destruction we've caused. This doesn't reveal much about how to live a good and meaningful life. It reveals what not to do, which is to pretend we're something we aren't. We focus on how we are going to be perceived, and if that means sitting around stuffing our faces and pretending to be thankful for those around us shows what grateful and good people we are, we will do it.
We drove back that same night. I spent Black Friday at home. The only thing I bought that day was a metrocard. I did buy soup that night but it was after midnight so I figured it doesn't count as Black Friday, so I guess you could say I participated in buy nothing day. I didn't really do it intentionally. I just hate big crowds and people who push and I knew everyone would be out that day and even if I wasn't shopping I'd probably get really annoyed. By midnight, it was nice out. I bought french onion soup and a coke.
It's strange that the day we're supposed to sit around discussing all these amazing things in our life that we are thankful for and how we can't be greedy because we've got so many amazing things, is followed by a day in which we rush out and try to buy new things to make us happy. It's all about temporary stimulation for the American people, and then denying it. We put up this false persona as if we have everything we need from our family and from what we've been given, and then we rush out to consume more and more. We're just a bunch of liars.

big paper-dom messages

It's no secret that we live in a world controlled by corporate media. We are sent messages through these corporations, telling us the best ways to live. These supposedly best ways to live, are usually those that consume the most. Within media, we find there are three different types of messages. The first are dominate messages, which are the messages we see the most often, and those that are most visible. The next are marginal messages. These are messages that we only occasionally see. Finally, there are prohibited messages, messages which corporate media would not want to be sent to the public.
One of the most dominate messages we can find is that we are not as good as we could be. We are shown things that would somehow improve the state we are at, whether that be our appearance or through our relationships with others. We are constantly being told that we are good how we are, but we could be better with the help of what they can provide.
We can see this dominate message a lot through magazines.

election

I never wrote my response to the election so i'll do it now.
It was really exciting to watch that happen. The second it was announced people were screaming and cheering around my neighborhood. The buzz around the election and voting had been going on for so long that I had never actually stopped and considered how greatly things might change if Obama were elected. I think this was an incredible feat for our generation, especially because it was the first time for many of us to actually vote. I think it was amazing that we were able to participate in such a drastic change, we were able to see that we are capable of change, and we are capable of being heard. Our generation has been so jaded when it comes to politics. The first most of us ever heard of politics was when the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal came to light. Shortly after that, when we grew older and were finally capable of really comprehending political issues, all we have ever known was this Bush administration. We've grown up with such a negative and jaded view of politics and what its capable of, and its all we've ever known as for politics. It's incredible to see that for the first time many of us have had the option to vote, we were able to basically control the outcome of the election. A huge victory for a generation that has been so let down for so long.

worker dies at long island wal mart

It's really disturbing that people would be capable of something like that. And it's even worse that they continued into the store to shop, despite the guy dying on the floor. I think it is proof that people can be corporate zombies. I don't think someone can really use this and respond saying "Oh but that was only in one place in long island, it doesn't happen everywhere", but the fact that it happened anywhere at all, it matters. Even if the people had stopped and walked out of the wal mart, I still would have seen that and been proud that people were capable of realizing how horrible an act that was. I wouldnt simply say "oh but only some people did that". I would just be happy anyone did that.
It's scary when you really think about how it must have been like to be there. The people sound like animals, bombarding the door and trying to break it down.