A Corporate Thanksgiving -- Or Not

I had been planning on writing today about Thanksgiving v. greed.  When I checked my emails, I found that someone, somehow, has deleted the blog I had posted on The Charleston Patch on Monday.  The article was about shopping on Thanksgiving, and about choosing to give our holiday business to those who respect their employees enough to give them a living wage and time to spend with family.  It may have been an error, but I am tending to think that I ruffled some feathers, and that the feathers didn't belong to a Thanksgiving turkey.

As I get older I am tending to focus ever more on the quality of my remaining years.  I am more likely to want to spend time reading a good book than cleaning house.  Although I have to pinch pennies, I am glad that I am retired and no longer under the control of a boss.  I am very happy to finally have the time to write, and the internet and blogosphere where I can share my thoughts with others.

The shame is just how much time we are forced to spend trying to make ends meet.  Jumping through hoops to keep a job.  Paying more and more for things that provide less -- less quality of life, less security, less peace of mind, less joy.  The greed that grows each year as corporations continue to get fatter and more powerful is a tragedy.  It is wrong that so few can control so many, and do so in their own interest.  Our health care is driven by the profit motive, and the movement to privatize and profit is continuing to encroach and jeopardize the ability to enjoy the best education available.

So this holiday season, I will continue to ask that you do not shop at those stores who do not pay a living wage and who force their employees to work on that day that has up till now been left for the freedom to enjoy one's family, or just a day of rest.

And finally, I am glad that, despite whoever banished my words from the Charleston Patch, I am able to send them to you here.

Happy Thanksgiving.