February 14, 2008
As you can see from the date above, today is Valentine's Day.
But where did the real Valentine's Day go? It went like so many other things in our wonderful country to the excesses of the competitive system which we call capitalism.
The Day used to be a minor celebration for children in the first and second grades. It was fun and at the same time taught them a little bit of one of the basics of being human. It had the same "educational opportunities" as as school celebrations for Halloween. It invited them to be creative with drawings and "cut and paste" with take homes for their parents.
But along comes Hallmark. Stores with hundreds of linear feet of Valentines (for adults). The day will never be the same again as adults responding to the marketing genius of Hallmark and others (restaurants, florists, jewelers, Oprah, Ellen etc,) with their slick advertising campaigns stampede the consumer into compliance.
They are starting to pick these special days off one by one. I suspect that Groundhog Day will be next when the exploitation of Valentines's Day is complete.
As the title of the blog says this is: as I see it.