Over the last decade Black Friday, the?massive shopping holiday?the day?after Thanksgiving, has morphed into a gargantuan money making?machine which has gone from Black Friday, to Cyber Monday, to Green Tuesday, to even Magenta Saturday?? No, I’m not making this up.? Last year saw record sales of?$59.1 billion.? Quite an astonishing figure considering the unemployment rate at the time was 7.8 percent and the majority of Americans were still not faring well economically.? One would think people would be?pinching their pennies and cutting back.
But such is American consumerism.? The need to constantly buy things we don’t need, the latest this and that, and trample, punch and even kill in the process of doing so.? Quite ironic, when “we’ve” supposedly just?moments earlier finished giving thanks for what we already have.? I don’t know that I can fathom a more?glaring contradiction.
So how did we arrive at this place of insanity?? What is the driving force behind consumerism?? Well it is a culmination of factors: manipulative marketing, the tel-A-vision, cultural trend, and even a loss of spirituality.? Consumerism by its very definition robs us of our humanity because it is insatiable.? Regardless of how much we already have, we still feel the need for more.? We never feel complete.
It is a cultural trend because it comes from the top.? The CEO’s and corporate executives who are unceasingly obsessed?with inventing new?ways to increase their bottom line even if it means destroying the lives of their fellow citizens and our environment in the process.? And via that highly persuasive screen on the walls of our homes, they’ve convinced us that more is better.??We are not complete if we don’t have the newest drug they are peddling.
We are swiftly moving towards a soulless society and if we, the 99 percent, don’t make a drastic shift in our paradigm there is no hope for our future generations.? And it must come from us, the people.? Meaningful change has never come about because those whom hold the power suddenly grew a conscious.
Historically, change came about through the courage and determination of those within the grassroots movement who refused to accept the status quo.? Abraham Lincoln was forced into glory.? It was Martin Luther King who pushed Lyndon Johnson to act morally.? We cannot wait for the?Mike Duke’s,?Steve Ballmer’s, Glen Murphy’s?and all of the other evildoers?to create a different paradigm.? It is not in them to do so.? The one and only thing they recognize and appreciate more than profit is more profit.
And yes I dare call them evil.? The definition of evil is?morally wrong or bad.? Is it not morally wrong and bad that one individual makes more in one hour than the people who work for him make in a year?? Is it not morally wrong that the very people who make up the backbone of a retail store are paid so little they can’t afford to feed their families?? Is it not morally wrong that men, women and even children are forced to work in slave shops under deplorable conditions earning 64 cents an hour?? Is it not morally wrong to?pollute the air and water supply, to?contaminate the earth’s resources beyond reparation?
But we have the power to change all of?this.??We are the source.? We are the key.? We are the link that binds the chain.? Without us there is no Amazon or Nike or Verizon.? And when we begin to speak to these corporations in their language, money, then and only then?will they begin to change.
I realize what I am writing about takes great sacrifice for many but I do not write this from a place of empathy.?I too love?Dolce and Gabanna and a?princess cut solitaire just as much as the next girl.??I get goose bumps every time I see a 4-door Jeep Wrangler.??But I also recognize the dichotomy between the?two worlds and that they?cannot coexist.
If we are going to live in a harmonious world where immense poverty and wealth disparity does not exist then we cannot give into our every material desire.? We all must sacrifice for the greater good of humanity.? We all must delve deeper and ask ourselves what kind of world do we want our children, our grandchildren to inherit.??Moreover, what values do we want them to inherit?? The belief that an individual is defined by the brand of his/her shoes or the latest technological gadget he/she owns?
So this year let’s see if we can turn Black Friday into White Friday, a ghost.? Stay home with your loved ones, open up a good book and read, eat, drink and be thankful for all the things we already have….material and non.
Edited by SS
