Christmas in November and What it Says About All Of Us

This comic has been making the rounds. I always figured a turkey would want
us to overlook Thanksgiving, yknow, because they all die and all...

     "Everybody complains about the weather, but no one ever does anything about it." 
                                                                                                   - Grant Gilchrist 
                                                                                                     (seriously, I was the first to say that!)

     I have heard a lot of complaints about how early Christmas decorations are appearing in department stores, and about how early Christmas music is playing on radios. People saying things like "let me have a Thanksgiving before you start playing Christmas music!" It's a valid complaint, but want to know what really bothers me about it? No one who complains about it does anything about it.
     I asked a friend of mine who manages a department store why they are always put out their holiday decorations earlier and earlier. His answer? Because it makes money. He said it as blunt and matter-of-fact as that. Because it makes money. If putting out Christmas decorations early didn't make money, of course these stores wouldn't do it. It's like people don't realize stores and radio stations are trying to turn a profit.
     So, if you are a person that is frustrated by how early a store puts up Christmas decorations in October, or advertises Back To School Savings in June, or is ruining the planet or exploiting workers or whatever, STOP SHOPPING THERE. It's that simple. It's not like the weather - we can actually do something about it. Just stop spending your money at that location. Corporations are very good at knowing what influences how people spend their money. If playing "Baby it's cold outside" makes money, they'll play it. If it loses them customers, they won't.

     In the United States of America we vote in four major ways. In order of importance: How we spend our money, the links we click on the internet, the things we watch on TV, and the people and policies we vote for. Did you notice how actually "voting" really isn't as important as spending your money? That is how you make change in this country. You spend your money differently. People don't do this. They buy whatever is cheapest/easiest/coolest, in some order. I believe this is a problem.
     I've been giving this idea a lot of thought lately (the idea that we vote with our dollars but people seem reluctant to change their habits). For all of the people in the country that are worried about global warming, how many of them do you think started biking to work? Or heat their houses in a more eco-friendly way? Or grow their own vegetables and try to reduce and reuse more than recycle? My guess is very few (and I live in Oregon, where the above things actually happen with astounding frequency). People don't want to actually change, they want to buy a prius and "energy efficient" appliances that aren't as efficient as just hand/sun drying your dishes and clothes. Making small, non-intrusive changes to ease the conscience is preferable to a fundamental, day-to-day change in our lives.
     The strength of democracy lies in its people. Unfortunately, the weakness of democracy also lies in its people. Right now, I feel like there is a massive, debilitating sense that an individual making a stand or a principled choice can't have a real impact on society. Why should I vote for X if it's not going to change anything? If we could all coordinate and decide together "let's stop shopping at stores that play Christmas music before November 30," we could make a change. This coordination and communication is the challenge.
     That's where Twitter, Facebook and other, relatively new mediums of communication are so cool. They can really allow us to communicate ideas to masses, and let masses give feedback on ideas. If you hate Christmas in November, start telling people what stores to avoid, and other people that hate Christmas in November might start avoiding them. (The major drawback to this idea is, what if you and your opinion are in the minority? Then it might not matter how many people you get to stop shopping at Awful Store X, they'll still keep their decorations up early, but, it might help some other store to attract you and your friends).

     And as a side note, this is what astounds me about the Occupy movement. They are working so hard at being "leaderless" and organic, that they haven't just come out and said "everyone at these rallies, stop banking at Bank of America" or something similar. There are a lot of smart, informed people at those things, and I think the movement has potential to truly make a difference, but not if they don't really get organized (keep in mind I know less about this movement than I do about Batman).

     (As another side note, it's easy for us to recognize the value of our individual inputs at a football game at Autzen. Every member of the crowd seems to understand that if we all yell loud enough we can make that quarterback mess up a snap or two, but it takes a vast majority of the people at the stadium yelling for it to happen. This is different from real life in some major ways: we are all there together, we all have a common enemy, it only lasts for a short period of time)