Anti-American Man Dressed as Santa Berates Shoppers as ‘Parasites’

-By Warner Todd Huston

Apparently Mark Dice gets his jollies berating Americans. That’s why he dressed as Santa and drove around California’s shopping malls calling shoppers “parasites on this country” and telling them they are “destroying the very fabric of society” on this year’s Thanksgiving shopping day.

With many large retailers opening on Thanksgiving Day, the traditional Black Friday shopping was extended earlier by a day. But opening on Thanksgiving upset many traditionalists. It is easy to understand their ire and to a degree I agree with their raised eyebrows.

It may be a step too far to be shopping on Thanksgiving instead of enjoying family, home and hearth on a day when we are supposed to be giving thanks to all that we have, granted, but let’s try for a bit of perspective, shall we?

What this Dice guy did was a step too far. In fact, in many ways it is he that is un-American in this case.

Dice is one of those goof balls that sees a conspiracy around every corner and makes a living fearmongering about gold, silver, and the mysterious (and fictional) Illuminati. Then he claims he is the one acting like a true American.

In any case, in this video he is heard screaming that shoppers are “destroying” the tradition of the holiday (both Thanksgiving and Christmas presumably), yelling that they are essentially harming the low paid workers of other nations by indulging in a shopping frenzy here in the states, and calling them “parasites” that are “destroying” our own society.

But Dice’s histrionics runs a bit contrary to reality. Firstly, American shoppers are actually a major benefit to those low-paid workers in other countries. The US economy and our shopping habits have raised the standard of living for everyone in the world. What would Dice rather see, foreign people without jobs at all or making a better living then they could otherwise making goods for others?

If we took Mr. Dice’s recommendations, I suppose we’d all be working subsistence farms and barely scratching out a life that is nasty, brutish and short.

Further, consumerism is what this country was built upon. Even as far back as Alexis de Tocqueville’s visit to America in the 1830s our consumerism was a noted aspect of American lives. So, to act as if this is somehow “new” is idiotic of Mr. Dice.

A little healthy criticism of society is always warranted. Maybe even a bit of scolding of capitalism to some extent is not untoward. But Dice’s comments are over the top, un-American, and just plain wrong. In fact, his only alternative is communism and that couldn’t be more anti-American… in fact, it’s anti-human.

Could this country use more reverence for tradition, family, and moderation. Sure. Have too many of us forgotten what our holidays and families mean? Undoubtedly. But are we all “parasites” for wanting to find a bargain at the store. Only an idiot would say so.

You, Mr. Dice, are that idiot. Congratulations.

Let’s have a bit of balance, here, shall we? But what do you think?
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson

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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, MrConservative.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, Wizbang.com, among many, many others. Huston has also appeared on Fox News, Fox Business Network, CNN, and many local TV shows as well as numerous talk radio shows throughout the country.

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