Holidays are all capitalist bullshit

[Fizzzzle]

Pretty much all modern holidays were created by companies to get you to buy products that you otherwise wouldn't buy. Father's day is coming up in a couple weeks. The origin of the holiday was some girl who wanted to honor her single dad who raised 6 children by making a holiday about dads, which is sweet, but no one gave a shit. Then, 20 years later a bunch of companies who made pipes and other dad shit were like "this is a GREAT idea!"

 

Valentine's Day (as we know it) was literally invented by Hallmark. Hallmark also tried to get "Boss's Day" going. I wonder why that one hasn't taken off and who proposed it...

 

How many days a year do you need to be specifically about YOU?! No one make any plans or cancel them if you already have, today is about mememememememe. It's the same problem I have with gender reveal parties. You already have a baby shower, get the fuck over yourself. You don't need a second one.

 

The shitty thing is I participate in it, because if I don't, I'm an asshole. And I care what people think about me. I can't boycott holidays by myself, that would just make me look like a turd. It needs a grassroots effort.

 

 

 

.... I AM fun at parties...

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

You already have a baby shower, get the fuck over yourself. You don't need a second one.

 

 

 

That being said, as a capitalist movie theater owner, MAN DO I LOVE A MONDAY HOLIDAY

[TheLeon]

Hey, I got a couple free meals out of “Administrative Professionals Day” this year. 

[Bacon]

I love Holidays since that's when D1P most often gives me games

[Brian]

1 hour ago, Fizzzzle said:

 

. It's the same problem I have with gender reveal parties. You already have a baby shower, get the fuck over yourself. You don't need a second one.

 

 

Bud you are forgetting about baby moons and push gifts. Shit keeps on escalating 

[Nokra]

"Inside every cynic is just a disappointed idealist."   

 

I think you're right that capitalist companies have clearly taken over holidays to try to sell us more shit that we don't really need. But still, I think that the holidays themselves can (should?) be celebrated for what they're supposed to represent without necessarily supporting the capitalist takeovers. For example, IMO it's a good thing to recognize and show appreciation for fathers, mothers, veterans, etc. but you don't have to buy anything to do that. Some nice words and spending time together are free, and they'll probably be more meaningful to the recipient(s) anyway in the long-term. 

 

[Fizzzzle]

1 hour ago, Brian said:

baby moons and push gifts. 

WHAT?!

[Fizzzzle]

34 minutes ago, Nokra said:

"Inside every cynic is just a disappointed idealist."   

 

I think you're right that capitalist companies have clearly taken over holidays to try to sell us more shit that we don't really need. But still, I think that the holidays themselves can (should?) be celebrated for what they're supposed to represent without necessarily supporting the capitalist takeovers. For example, IMO it's a good thing to recognize and show appreciation for fathers, mothers, veterans, etc. but you don't have to buy anything to do that. Some nice words and spending time together are free, and they'll probably be more meaningful to the recipient(s) anyway in the long-term. 

 

I think it's good to do those things, I just don't like that there are specific days where we're told to do them.

 

But I've also been a holiday scrooge for a long time. Why do I fucking hate party holidays (St. Patty's, cinco de mayo, halloween, etc)? A) because those days are amateur hour at the bars, so people act more stupid than normal, and B) no one tells me when to party.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

If I don't get the day off from work, then it's not an actual "holiday".

[Fizzzzle]

28 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

If I don't get the day off from work, then it's not an actual "holiday".

I have never had any holiday off work except for Thanksgiving and Christmas sometimes.

 

The capitalist machine has to go brrrrr

[Dodger]

Bosses day is the worst because there is always that brown noser hitting everyone up to pitch in to get the boss something. I hope nothing but the deepest darkest pits of hell await that fucker in the next life.

[Jason]

2 hours ago, Dodger said:

Bosses day is the worst because there is always that brown noser hitting everyone up to pitch in to get the boss something. I hope nothing but the deepest darkest pits of hell await that fucker in the next life.

 

I've bought something for someone I worked for precisely once and it was because the guy metaphorically threw me a life preserver while I was floundering because of some really bad personal shit I was going through, and probably kept me from getting fired for bad performance. So acknowledgement for doing me a major fucking solid when he didn't have to. Not just for being my boss.

[TUFKAK]

3 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

If I don't get the day off from work, then it's not an actual "holiday".

If I don’t get extra pay or extra time off banked it’s not a holiday.

[SoberChef]

Genuinely glad that this thread exists. I am SO sick & tired of the commercialization & consumerist based path that all things Pride month have become. Yet if I, a "cis-gendered white male" vocalize such a thing, I must somehow be automatically homophobic or whatever. Look, unless its an actual rainbow in the sky (OR EVEN A DOUBLE RAINBOW!) then that's amazing, rainbow flags, not so much when it's at the point wherein that symbol is more used for corporate bullshit than anything else nowadays.

 

Can we have this conversation? Speak out about how commercialized this month has become over the course of the last say ... 8ish years or so, all while still being an ally to those under the alphabet banner?

[unogueen]

They tried with Juneteenth and still do. Why is Cinco de Mayo a fucking thing in America>? Why not import all holidays if you don't give a shit.

[unogueen]

Capitalism is incapable of respect and veneration. It's downright hostile towards history in hoping to sell you the next piece of crap.

[TheLeon]

On 6/2/2023 at 7:55 AM, SoberChef said:

Genuinely glad that this thread exists. I am SO sick & tired of the commercialization & consumerist based path that all things Pride month have become. Yet if I, a "cis-gendered white male" vocalize such a thing, I must somehow be automatically homophobic or whatever. Look, unless its an actual rainbow in the sky (OR EVEN A DOUBLE RAINBOW!) then that's amazing, rainbow flags, not so much when it's at the point wherein that symbol is more used for corporate bullshit than anything else nowadays.

 

Can we have this conversation? Speak out about how commercialized this month has become over the course of the last say ... 8ish years or so, all while still being an ally to those under the alphabet banner?

It’s an odd conversation to have, because nothing Pride related really has anything to do with us. To say you like don’t like corporations blatantly co-opting the iconography of Pride to sell their products is fair, but beyond that… does it matter? If Tide slaps a rainbow flag on their laundry detergent bottles for a month, that’s probably not helping the cause, but I don’t see how it hurts anyone either.

 

The best course of action is probably to treat it like Christmas and remember the “reason for the season”. Don’t pay attention to the corporate BS and instead focus on the celebrations of a marginalized people. 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, TheLeon said:

It’s an odd conversation to have, because nothing Pride related really has anything to do with us. To say you like don’t like corporations blatantly co-opting the iconography of Pride to sell their products is fair, but beyond that… does it matter? If Tide slaps a rainbow flag on their laundry detergent bottles for a month, that’s probably not helping the cause, but I don’t see how it hurts anyone either.

 

The best course of action is probably to treat it like Christmas and remember the “reason for the season”. Don’t pay attention to the corporate BS and instead focus on the celebrations of a marginalized people. 

I don’t have any take on the issue with regard to Pride month celebrations, but a perspective from somebody who was seen how turning Juneteenth into a federal holiday has already seen some…troubling things from corps.

 

There was lots of debate amongst Black folks for decades about whether to push for it to be a federal holiday, because you really immediately take the event out of the hands of the people it has belonged to and welcome whoever wants to co-opt it in.

 

I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer on it, though I would lean towards your position of making it what matters to you without regard for the outside influences.