Black Friday, a day celebrated in the US with an orgy of consumerism and deadly Walmart stampedes, seems like a good day to repeat the Idler’s Freedom Manifesto. Named for a series of essays by Samuel Johnson, the UK based Idler publishes a magazine, holds online classes and puts out some beautiful hardback books.
Are we free to shop at Wal*Mart, or is that the wrong kind of freedom? So hard to keep up with these things these days…
Are these classes like AA for consumers? I am afraid I have partaken before this inspirational, mountain-top blog post appeared.
And don’t tell me what to do
And don’t tell me what to say
Oh, I don’t tell you what to say
I don’t tell you what to do
So just let me be myself
That’s all I ask of you
And, I am going to Walmart again tonight! But, I only go after midnight. At our store we had an escaped prisoner enter, causing a lockdown. The police caught him in men’s wear, getting clothes to change into and escape. There was a huge fight, two guys. I asked what they were fighting over–a woman. I was told “they were beating the crap out of each other.”
Oh, NO! That posted before I could run and hide.
Thank you, kind Californians, for featuring our manifesto. We love your Epicurean website. “Competence is the foundation of happiness,” William Cobbett
Thank you Tom for idling so well all these years. Sorry that we have exported Black Friday to the UK.