I hope you don't mind a freewrite about this post of yours, because I don't have time to make it as coherent as yours.
Revenge is definitely the wrong word. It's yet another attempt to make us feel bad about ourselves. I am buying stuff so that I have the necessary stuff when SHTF. Revenge has nothing to do with it. You invest with the future in mind. Same thing really.
What one feels one needs for the future is very personal. If someone thinks they can't live without musical instruments, they are right to invest in musical instruments. If one thinks piles of cash will see them through, they should amass some piles of cash. If we all think alike, we will be screwed. I'm investing in tangibles such as land, musical instruments, precious metals, etc. You promote investing in intangibles. You do you. That way, we've all got each other covered.
Funny!:
To be surprised by increases in spending once people are "allowed out" but still can't eat out or travel is like the people in Finland who haven't changed to winter tires and are "surprised by the snow" every year.
All I do is freewrite - I never mind :)
I think most people are just buying crap though. What I question is, how much influence is held over us in what we think we need for the future? I think a lot of what we consume is meaningless, but we feel we should - it is much like the education system that largely teaches irrelevant information, saying it is important for us to have a good career.
Some of us have started to think for ourselves. A great many of us in fact. We do not need to organize, we do not need to protest, we do not need to form groups. We need to all start thinking for ourselves.
But yeah. If you're not thinking for yourself, you're awash in influences that tell you to buy stuff you do not need. Also to believe stuff you do not need to believe, fear stuff you do not need to fear, and do stuff you do not need to do.
thinking for ourselves, consuming from each other.