On Black Friday

Humanity, I ask you, what have we become? The passing of yet another Black Friday marked the beginning as always to the holiday shopping season. As in previous years, throngs of consumers gathered in the early dawn eagerly awaiting the opening of only the most popular corporate conglomerates. Crowed and in some cases cold, huddled together like cattle the mass public waits with one thing on their mind: I must get the bargain before it is gone.
When the flood gates open the sea of shoppers pour into the stores. This year, a man hired by Wal-mart for crowd control was trampled to death by the stampede of shoppers. Crowd estimates were above 2,000. This mad hoard of bargain crazed madness could not even be held back by mere glass and metal. The crowd broke down the door and flowed indiscriminately over the helpless man. To what end? So, they could get a 25% discount on an HDTV or, maybe, buy one get on free DVDs? No matter how hard I try to comprehend and understand the mentality, I can’t. At what point does our humanity breakdown to the dull mindlessness of dumb beasts? What is your humanity worth to you? I now question the percentage of people who would trade their humanity for a few hundred dollars.
In my hometown this year, again at a local walmart, two grown women physically fought each other for a TV to the extent that the authorities were called. Scanning news headlines and articles for the day, one comes across a multitude of varying acts of violence and mayhem. Most look to the retailers form blame saying that they knowingly created this ravenous frenzy through advertisements of time sensitive dramatic bargains and a disregard for proper crowd control. Some look to local law enforcement saying they should have preempted the foreseeable rampage and worked closer with retailers to enforce the control required. Although I do agree with both these statements, I place the majority of the blame on the crowds of people themselves.
Man has lived on this earth for tens of thousands of years. We have supposedly evolved above the other beasts and creatures the inhabit this planet. We are the only beings we know of that govern each other by laws and rules. We each have a mind capable of processing complex logic and rational thought. And yet, we will kill each other for an insignificant amount of money. We gather like lemmings and stampede like scared cattle for the chance to own an ultimately meaningless electronic device. We become animals. It is no ones fault but our own that innocent people die because of our greed and ignorance. We each have the capability to rationally look to at a situation and weigh costs versus benefit. I have never seen the spectacle that is Black Friday. To me, I am quite comfortable paying full retail price to avoid the insanity of bargain hungry masses. To me, its just not worth it. I inquire to those of you who participated in this season’s madness, was it worth it?
I think the issue of Black Friday is certainly one that needs to be addressed in more detail. Not only from a legal standpoint regarding the civil safety of our citizens, but also from a deep physiological and philosophical standpoint. For lurking beneath the seemingly normal human exterior of the average consumer, there lies a dark animal that will stop at nothing for their discounted material possession. Greed, aggression, violence. Are these the new markers of the Christmas holiday? Not that I by any means am a deeply religious man, but there is and ideal and for most a spiritual aspect to this highly commercialized holiday that should be more important to most than these material items.
Ultimately, it pains me to hear of these tragedies. I feel whole heartedly for those who lost a loved one in such a meaningless display of violence. It pains me to think of humanity and where we are headed. Unfortunately, I believe this in not simply an isolated day where people suffer from temporary insanity. No, I am of the school of thought that this is what is lying beneath the placid surface of humanity. Dark waters and future increased destruction. I hope I am wrong.