And speaking of junk, last night the subject of women’s clothing was raised, and the ranges of prices asked for such.

Yes, it’s hard for some of us guys to appreciate that women are willing to dump a thousand dollars on a piece of clothing, but that is the nature of society.

People pay money for what they want.

I have been watching how jewelry is doing these days, and it is pretty clear that gold is way beyond the ability for many Americans to afford. Walking around local fairs and exhibits I observe very, very, very little gold, and what I see is plated gold over a silver base, and by plated I mean barely plated, enough so that the color is influenced by the underlying silver.

Not too long ago in men’s mass commercial jewelry alternative metals were a fashion - titanium, steel, etc., often set with wood, “carbon fiber”, or other masculine looking material. Fashion though is fickle and I think that trend has sailed.

I was at a fair recently and was reconnoitering at one of the few jewelry stands that wasn’t selling junk (e.g., plastic, tin, etc.), mostly sterling silver rings and necklaces. The rings themselves were made from very fine gauge silver wire, and the asking price was less than $20 for ones set with a common stone (amber, quartz. etc.). I overheard (ahem.. on purpose…) women asking “how much”, and when the price came up it was clear they didn’t want to pay.

This, I thought, was a sign.

A sign of how deeply entrenched cheapness has become.

It’s the Walmart-i-zation of America.

At these same fairs people willingly plunk down $20 for horrid (artery clogging) junk food for a couple, but pay less than $20 for a ring of semi-precious material? Never.

This is the Flea-Marketization of America.

It’s why we have cheap white resin plastic “furniture” rather than ones made of wood or metal.

It’s also why my local stores carry flavorless oranges from Australia (right now) when oranges in the neighborhood are falling off the trees (well, those trees that are left and haven’t been cut down.)

Honey-Boo-Boo appears to be a public vision of what we want to become.