Today is Buy Nothing Day. Which is an annual grassroots movement to fight the shame of consumerism that grips our country. The news of a Walmart employee that was trampled to death as crazed shoppers rushed the store for some killer once-in-a-year deals. How sad that a human life ended over something so silly!
Who’s to blame for the chaos?
1. Businesses: I think it’s crazy that these business are so desperate to move goods that they create a frenzy that truly causes people to act in ways that make no sense. It seems to me their has to be a better way to start the holiday shopping frenzy. I understand the economic importance associated with the holiday season. And I assume that most people would act civil. But that is not the case and I think these stores need to take that into consideration.
2. The Consumer: Consumerism is such a tough topic. Because we’re all consumers. There is no definite threshold that needs to be crossed to identify consumerism…So how do I define if I’m consumeristic? I guess is someone dies while I”m frantically shopping-then I could consider myself an addicted consumer.
This issue is more complex then I understand. For many families ”black Friday” helps them get the items they need within the budget they can afford. This is important for many low-income families.
So I don’t think we can reduce today to some sort of horrible evil for every shopper, but I do think today is a symbol of how far we’ve gone down the path of consumerism and how the negative impact that our country is facing because of these poor decisions.
Great post, Chris. A woman also miscarried a baby as a result of being trampled at that same Wal-Mart in New York. It’s just unbelievable, so unnecessary, and so, so sad.