Thanksgiving, Excess, and the Economy

Thursday for dinner we had turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, collared greens, macaroni and cheese, gravy, rolls, and of course dressing. For dessert we had lemon cooler cake, angel food cake [for my birthday], sweet potato pie, cool whip, and ice cream. It was a veritable feast, of excess. Friday and Saturday most of America got up early and hit the malls, shopping centers, and of course, Costco. For another type of excessive feast, the annual weekend buying spree to get every little boy and girl those special 27 gifts for Christmas. At the end of the day, we went home, repeated the ritual feeding with the Thursday leftovers and then settled into our own personal food comas, to watch another 6 football games on our 72 inch HD cable connected flat screen televisions. Over the last few years many Americans have lost their homes, jobs, families, and in some case, their lives as a result of the ongoing economic woes here in the United States, brought on in large part by a need to have more, bigger, and nicer things. It seems as if we have become insatiable in our desire to have more than we really need. The problem is we have grown as a nation to depend on it. If all of America was to suddenly decide to live a life based on real needs, as opposed to wants and supposed needs, imagine what would happen to the economy. Just consider the recent set of economic numbers from Washington. Overall they were pretty good. Until you get to new housing starts, which were down. Many leading economists believe we cannot recover from the downturn until that particular number turns around. But do we really need more new houses? Are people living on the streets because we have a housing shortage in this country? I doubt it. Yet Americans have grown into an almost cult like belief that we are entitled to everything we want, when we want it, and in large quantities, available only at Costco. Somehow when President Washington declared Thanksgiving a national day of thanks, I don't think the picture he had in his mind was what the day and weekend has become. Any thoughts?