The Party's Over

The President told us to go to Disneyland. The mayor told us to go to the mall. I bought a fancy printer. But it wasn't enough.

The damage was more than skin deep. The spell broken, the decades-long, post-cold-war boom busted, the peace dividend spent, our optimism on the wane, shop as we might it just isn't enough.

That printer wasn't made here. Nobody new got a job from that act of defiance, except perhaps low wage workers stocking the shelves at a big box in the suburbs down the street from the big box that closed. The shelves might be full, the product might be moving, but the labels on the outside all say the same thing:

• made in China
• skilled labor need not apply
• service economy or bust

So bust it is. We can spend, spend, spend. We can buy, buy, buy. We can root for rosy holiday shopping cheer, but it just isn't enough.

The party is over. The glitter is gone. The revellers are rolling in the street.

And there's a mob around the corner.

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