The only rational response to the insanity of "Black Friday"

it's that time again and heaven help us all... here's my thought from last year...

i like it... a lot...

NOVEMBER 23 IS BUY NOTHING DAY - NO PURCHASE NECESSARY



THE ULTIMATE REFUND: On November 23d and 24th – the busiest days in the American retail calendar and the unofficial start of the international Christmas-shopping season – thousands of activists and concerned citizens in 65 countries will take a 24-hour consumer detox as part of the 14th annual Buy Nothing Day, a global phenomenon that originated in Vancouver, Canada.

From joining zombie marches through malls to organizing credit card cut-ups and shopoholic clinics, Buy Nothing Day activists aim to challenge themselves, their families and their friends to switch off from shopping and tune back into life for one day. Featured in recent years by the likes of CNN, Wired, the BBC, and the CBC, the global event is celebrated as a relaxed family holiday, as a non-commercial street party, or even as a politically charged public protest. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending.

Reasons for participating in Buy Nothing Day are as varied as the people who choose to participate. Some see it as an escape from the marketing mind games and frantic consumer binge that has come to characterize the holiday season, and our culture in general. Others use it to expose the environmental and ethical consequences of overconsumption.

this is the first holiday season in two years i will have spent in the u.s... i can't tell you the relief it has been to be away from the incredibly intense "buy, buy, buy" atmosphere of christmas in the united states... it starts in late september and is totally in your face right on through the after-christmas sales... however, my family is here and being with them outweighs any revulsion i might feel over the frenzy of consumption... nonetheless, i'm glad to see an organized effort against "black friday..."

this was in the local paper this past sunday...

The day after Thanksgiving typically signifies the official start to the holiday shopping season, and retailers say shoppers are usually ready for the all-day shopping extravaganza, even when it starts at 4 a.m.

"It is a tradition for people," said Cynthia Moore, marketing director for Meadowood Mall. Moore has worked the hustle and bustle of the holidays for 13 years.

"The people who come out usually have a plan," she said. "I've seen families who come out with matching T-shirts and conquer shopping as if it were a sport."

Moore said there are two schools of thought when it comes to tackling the crowds on Black Friday.

"There are the people that do it because it's a tradition and they are out shopping and taking their time," she said.

"Then there are the people who consider this day a true sport. They have a game plan and they won't break until they have all of their shopping finished."

there's at least one more school of thought, the school i attend: the entire goddam thing is true obscenity, a perfect example of how people have been completely brainwashed into accepting the corporate, government, media, elite-sponsored ideology of consumption as the highest calling of every citizen... i don't know what's worse, having a "plan" and setting forth to "conquer shopping as if it was a sport," or accepting that "shopping" is a genuine holiday "tradition..." either one, to me, is nauseating...

Submit To Propeller
Tweet