This morning brought the distressing news that a "black Friday" Wal-Mart customer in California gained a competitive edge on her consumer competition by pepper-spraying other shoppers. Witnesses said she was trying to get to some Xbox game consoles before they were all gone.
There are other news stories of holiday shoppers around the country losing their purchases to armed robbers in the parking lot. On the bright side, so far I haven't heard that anyone has been trampled to death this year.
Our consumerist culture has turned a religious holiday into a social pathology. Although the practice of� exchanging Christmas gifts goes back many centuries, I believe it's been only in the past 150 years or so that gift-giving became THE most essential part of the holiday, instead of church services and a big family dinner.
By the time the poster above was published, in 1918, Christmas had become so important to the U.S. economy that the war-depleted government urged people to get out there and shop, already. Now we've got the Crazy Target Lady urging us to shop aggressively. The former Christmas shopping season is turning into the hungry ghost season.
I agree with Nathan that at the root of this pathology is a deep sense of inadequacy. Advertisers have gotten very good at tapping into our (probably hardwired) urge to maintain status among our peers/families/neighbors. Do you dress correctly? Are your teeth white enough? Do you really want to be seen driving that car and not this one?
I say this is hardwired because nearly all species that live in herds or packs form status hierarchies, to one extent or another. For example, elephant families are headed by a matriarch who has lived a long time and remembers where to find water and food. And the other elephants mind elephant social convention in order to keep their place in the herd. But in humans, the three poisons have subverted a useful evolutionary trait into something else entirely.
Along with the pepper spray, there are reports of customers trampling store displays and merchandise. What might be happening is that crowds are so think people pushing from behind are forcing other customers into the shelves and displays. This is dangerous.
It's also well, remarkable, although not in a good way. History is full of bread riots. But Xbox riots?
The whole "black Friday" phenomenon got out of hand as retailers began opening earlier and earlier on the day after Thanksgiving to lure shoppers into their stores. Then stores began opening in the middle of the night. This year Toys R Us and Wal-Mart stores opened at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving. At some point, will Thanksgiving be sacrificed to feed the Christmas hungry ghosts?
Robert Frank writes in the New York Times that at this point, the retailers are making no more money than they did in the old days of regular Friday shopping hours. But they feel they have to open early to remain competitive with the stores that open early. It's a race to the bottom, in other words.
Maybe next year some stores will try opening late and offering a mayhem-free shopping environment.
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