Is there anything more American than charging a mall or department store for 24 hours, in a frantic search for high end merchandise at bargain prices?
Is there anything more American than an entire day dedicated to this frenzy of pure and unadulterated materialistic consumerism?
Yes, there actually is believe it or not.
It is having this day, where the only thing on our agenda is buying things, following a day dedicated to family, sharing and togetherness.
This scar on the face of our society is “affectionately” known as Black Friday.
The idea of a day devoted to shopping, while a shallow and rather simple minded concept, is in and of itself still harmless.
Not surprising, the lust Americans have for consumption has blown completely out of proportion.
Inside a Target in West Virginia, a 61-year-old man collapsed while shopping.
According to news reports, he was left on the floor while other people shopped. He later died.
In malls and department stores all over the country people assaulted one another as they were shopping, and even resulted to armed robberies in parking lots.
All this after the Walmart incident of 2008 in Long Island, in which an employee was trampled to death by a mob of charging shoppers.
In this supposedly enlightened and progressive culture we claim to have, our repulsive obsession with consumption is now causing us to harm and kill each other, and for what? An electronic appliance or a piece of clothing.
Freedom is perhaps the first word that would come to an American mind when asked why this country is great.
But how can we say that when this horrendous ritual follows Thanksgiving?
Corporate America dangles sales in front of our faces like a piece of meat, and we proceed to engage in an animalistic feeding frenzy like pigs fighting over a bucket of slop.
It is utterly depressing to think this is how low we’ve sunk as a society.
We should all be embarrassed.
