That photo illustrates the mental illness of consumerism perfectly to me. When I look at it, I imagine the woman in black on her knees fantasizing about how much better her life was going to be after getting that tv, or giving it as a gift, and how this other woman was going to get it and take it away from her, and she had to fight or lose the fantasy she had created around this tv set (that maybe she couldn’t have afforded otherwise?).
Although I feel like this kind of thing is probably much rarer than the sensationalist media would like us to believe, my heart still goes out to the people behaving this way. They need real healing, I hope they get it, instead of continuing to buy the cruel and manipulative myth that they can fill the hole in their hearts with new shinies.
Re: The origin of “Black Friday”:
Just as Jesus intended.
I quite enjoyed Cracked’s take on Black Friday, dating back to three years ago now:
I enjoyed The Onion’s take from two years back:
I thought my parent was mistaken when she said London, England. But now I see this on Boing Boing. The insanity have spread!
I saw that while eating rice and beans. Now I have to clean my screen.
Black Friday makes a sort of sense in the US because so many people have a four day weekend for Thanksgiving. They eat with family on Thursday and then go shopping on Friday. But in the UK? There’s no such four day weekend to leave people free for this stupid Friday shopping orgy. Seriously, UK, this is a piece of cultural appropriation you can totally do without. Ugh!
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if your version is correct, and some fantasy of idealized gift exchange and/or fulfillment is being dashed; but there is also the possibility of Black Friday as consumer blood sport.
Just trading some credit card debt for a TV is a terribly dull affair, getting and spending we lay waste our powers, etc. Now, on Black Friday, when you go hand-to-hand in an adrenal battle from which only one can emerge the victor: you didn’t just buy that TV, you won that TV like a postindustrial gladiator.
You bastard. Now what am I meant to do?
Oops, this wasn’t in reply to anybody in particular. I meant to just post it as a reply to the whole subject.
From the article:
In other words, videos of the type of violence that takes place on Black Friday are being used to sell the shopping holiday back to us, the capitalist serpent swallowing its own tail.
I was surprised to see UK too. When did that start? UK don’t do Thanksgiving though. What about other countries?
Perhaps it’s more than just the rich shaming the poor. It might also be a form of capitalist entertainment and self-justification for exploiting the poor.
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