It'd have been impossible to ignore, if you were driving home from your Thanksgiving festivities or at least tuned into the news, the long lines of people camped out in front of malls, big box stores and retailers otherwise, waiting patiently for the doors to open and thus begin Black Friday. And while the eager consumers have been easy targets for jokes and criticism from late night hosts, twitter comedians and those Pilgrim-saluting traditionalists that sat comfortably in their living room and looked down on those that forwent vaunted family time to get in early shopping, the coupon-driven pandemonium is less a joking matter than a symptom of the desperate economic situation so many Americans are facing this holiday season.
Black Friday, for many stores and customers, became pitch Black Thursday night, as big box chains such as Best Buy and Toys R' Us welcomed in shoppers on Thanksgiving evening; other stores opened in the wee hours of the morning, with people lined up on the sidewalk in the cold to get first crack at sales. What those who criticize and poke fun at the deal-starved camper don't consider is that many of them weren't there for the sport of it -- it's a necessity.
With massive unemployment draining consumer spending, Americans are searching for every deal they can get. The twisted part is that to get them, they're forced to sacrifice their nights of sleep and warm beds to sit outside the massive chain stores that have closed down so many small businesses, to buy products that are generally produced overseas.
It's a sick system that robs middle class Americans of their money, then forces them to pay with their time to grab a sliver of that cash back. It almost seems like a premise of an Onion article, especially in light of the fact that higher end retailers are doing far less Black Friday promotion than in past years, knowing their wealthier consumers don't need much help these days.
Still, regardless of whether it's done at mom and pop shops or three-story megastores, consumer spending drives our economy. So what's been especially disappointing is how much of the left has responded to the Black Friday madness with disdain.
While I've been a great admirer of the efforts of Occupy Wall Street, including their "Move Your Money" push to drive deposits from big banks to community credit unions, their boycott of spending today is ill-conceived. Great structural inequities in how businesses compete must be addressed, but in the immediate future, a strong retail holiday season will only mean good things for the economy, stifling job cuts and maybe even spurring hiring. If possible, it's very important to buy American made goods at small stores, but for many, that's simply -- and sadly -- not an available option.
In fact, while it may seem silly at first to compare those camping out in Occupy sites throughout the world with those that spent the night under tents in front of stores, aren't they both just looking for a fair shot in this economy? Both groups, it seems to me, are victims of the vast inequities of our system today -- right down to the pepper spray assaults.
So sure, pundits, criticize these shoppers all you want. But when you start talking about the plight of the 99%, the same people you make fun of are the people for whom you purport to care.
And how many people will buy TVs or games with credit cards, deepening their consumer debt?
I've lived in 3rd world countries. And let me tell you, you "99%" are the same as your so-called "1%"
To me, someone struggling to make ends meet, the OWS movement seems absolutely ridiculous.
And so does this rampant "me me me" necessity-named consumerism.
I can't help but suspect that some of the people so deeply offended by the teeming masses of Black Friday shoppers are wealthy elitists who can afford to have their flunkies buy anything they want for them and their loved ones all year round.
For members of the 99% who pass judgment on Black Friday shoppers and fellow 99% consumers in general, I ask, is the rat next to you responsible for the indignities and unsustainability of the rat race? Does sitting around pointing our snarky paws at one another for our tiny bit roles in the sewer economy solve anything in a vast sewer system designed and ruled by a tiny plutocratic class of fat rats?
We in the 99% need to look past our differences and fight as ONE if we are going to change things for the better. Otherwise, we may as well write each other off and pledge fealty to our inevitable overlords in the 1%.
Rather than boycott the retailers or poke fun at shoppers, do something positive with your time off.
Excuse me, but it's NEVER a "necessity" to go out and buy a flat-screen tv or an Xbox gaming system. If Americans cannot afford those eh, hem, "necessities" than they should go without them.
In fact, wouldn't it be refreshing if we all just took this holiday off - took a break from being consumeristic drones. Stay home, bake some cookies and give those away as gifts. Spend time with your family, you know, talk to them, get to know them - something that is WAY more valuable than any gift wrapped in a box.
Not to get all high-and-mighty about this, but this year I plan to give much needed clothes and food to families in need as appose to filling my house with more junk I don't need. I suggest more Americans who can afford to do so, do the same.
Unfortunately, this is what you get in a purely materialistic society, where our self-worth is tied to our ability to spend our money. Again, selfish greed is NOT a "necessity". Black Friday has now escalated to violence - all in the name of getting a good "deal". It doesn't matter that you got that $1500 tv for $400 bucks - you still spent $400 bucks!!! If you cannot afford it, you cannot afford it - at ANY price!
Not buying this. It's a necessity to get the latest fad toy for the elementary school set? It's a necessity to buy the newest video game console or flat screen TV? If these people were lining up for bed linens winter coats, or food staples, then your necessity argument might wash. But as it is, our consumerism in this country is so off the charts, we think that an iPhone isn't a luxury.
The faces of the black Friday crowd are the faces of greed, not need. Just watch the videos.
Any of us, regardless of how well or poorly we're doing, can opt out of the madness. Participation is a choice - and not a choice driven by necessity.
Also, the flip side of spending money to prop up the economy is taking care not to overspend and get one's self into debt: in this economy, it is simply too risky to spend more than is absolutely necessary.
Glad I stayed home on Black Friday: I slept in, spent time with my dog, exercised, caught a couple of the games and had a pleasant day. Am missing none of the deals I passed up...
Instead, make things to give as gifts. It's more meaningful.
More to the point, is the middle class and its consumption of goods necessary for the survival of America?
Many posters here seem to have missed this point entirely. While Black Friday has become an ugly symbol of the desperation of the middle class, it also represents hope for millions of working class citizens, a fleeting taste of the purchasing power and material access taken for granted by the wealthy.
Like it or not, 70% of the U.S. economy is consumer spending. If the middle class stop spending, what takes the place of their consumption in the economy? Where will jobs come from when the middle class stops spending? These are questions we should be prepared to answer if we want to talk about building something better than a mindless consumer economy.
The consumers are the workers, the 99%; they didn't create the economic model they toil under, but they will try to do as best they can for themselves and their families with what they've been given. Why don't we focus on the top, on the wealthy few who are the real economic decision makers, instead of blaming millions of middle class Americans for trying to save a buck?
And that is the problem right there. Something needs to replace consumer spending as the main economic driver in this country.
We have to quit pretending that the economy can be ever-expanding, and especially an economy based on purchasing cheap consumer goods made in other countries. There is an end-point to this mindless consumption, and people won't like what it looks like.
Think Wall-E.
By the way, I think Wall-E is a great movie, but it doesn't present any solutions to our current and future economic problems. My point is, I don't want us to wait for Wall-E to happen so I can say, "Excessive consumerism is bad. Told you so."
What we need are short and long term solutions we can get a majority of people, the workers and consumers, to rally around. Judging each other based on our unfortunate consumer habits ain't gonna do it. So many people seem to think the solution lies in declaring a new "War on Consumerism." It doesn't. If we destroyed consumerism over night, the majority of us would become instantly destitute. What's required is for workers and consumers, the 99%, to band together based on mutual understanding of who we all are. Together we can put in play meaningful long term plans to sustainably better ourselves and our society. Divisively we will continue to do nothing.