WE’RE GETTING PUNKED
By now, most Americans know that the reason Daylight Savings Time still exists is because of persuasive lobbying efforts on Capital Hill by the National Retail Federation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The extra hour of daylight that they add to each day is meant to coax consumers to spend money when, as the skies darken, most might otherwise head indoors. This effort is continuously to the detriment of any near-term impacts on people's mental and physical health, as well as on aggregate worker productivity.
Separately, something a lot of Americans may not know is that the reason the Christmas advertisements seem to start obscenely early has to do with the price of ad slots. Indeed, just as inflation has you doing a double-take at the grocery store, the prices for advertising slots are way up, too. That's because holiday retail sales are growing by huge percentages. In 2022, you guys spent over $930 billion, up 5.3% from the year prior, and in 2021, your buying was up 12.7% from the year before that, when we were still dealing with the pandemic. These robust sales mean marketers put a premium on ad slots, particularly ahead of Black Friday and through Christmas. Consequently, businesses hoping to reach their customers are starting to promote earlier and earlier. In fact, there's even a name for this new period - Hallowthanksmas! I am not kidding. 😒
All these efforts have only one goal in mind - rigging the landscape so that it is easier to access your wallets. This is just how ravenous consumerism works in a free society; it is so blatant that consumers would not even bother to notice it. They just go along with it everyday.
So, consider these things the next time you open your mouths to rail against social conditioning. Yes, we are getting punked, right now - but we're cool with it, right? I mean, did you play along and get out of bed and head to work at the new time? And just how much money are you planning to spend during the Season of Giving? You see it now, right? We all contribute to the madness with no real reconsideration or protest. And so, it will never change.
Smh . . . That’s it. The end of my rant.
