The identity gap between the West and everyone else has ceased to exist.
How? Black Friday.
On November 25, North American consumers took part in the annual tradition of going crazy over product discounts. Black Friday is the yearly day of discounts just after American Thanksgiving that is propagated by retail stores. This year, 226 million Black Friday shoppers reached new financial heights by spending a record-breaking $52.4 billion.
In addition to breaking spending records this year, Black Friday shoppers drew media attention with several violent incidents. At one Wal-Mart location in Los Angeles, a woman pepper-sprayed 20 other shoppers in order to hold on to an Xbox gaming console. At another Wal-Mart in San Francisco, a man was shot during an attempted robbery. And yet another medical emergency hit Target, where a man collapsed of a heart attack, and was not helped by other customers, who reportedly stepped over him to continue their shopping. In addition to these extreme incidents, videos of frantic mobs pushing their way into stores and fighting over products have gone viral and received millions of views online.
It is no stretch to say that Black Friday brings out the worst in North American consumers. On no other day of the year is it socially acceptable for thousands upon thousands of shopping-hungry people to camp outside department stores waiting for the chance to spend money. However, perhaps an even more disturbing aspect of Black Friday is the obligation felt by many American’s to take part in the spending frenzy.
This notion of obligation is the dark side of the North American consumer’s mindset. Black Friday’s genius lies in its ability to convince the general population that spending as much possible at a particular given time is a necessary activity. Critical thought is thrown out the window, and people willingly push and jostle to reach the front of mobs surrounding products. In the mind of the consumer, not only is there a distinct need to capitalize on opportunities to spend money, but also a deep-seated fear of what life might be like without excessive material goods.
When put into context, Black Friday really does showcase the absurdity of the Western world. The majority of people who scramble to buy electronics and kitchen gadgets do not face any of the life-threatening problems that affect billions of other people on Earth. For a staggering number of people, survival is a daily struggle, and life is centred on finding ways to barely scrape by. For them, the newest electronic at a bargain price is completely irrelevant to their lives. That said, in the worst of situations, people may turn to aggressive methods to secure things necessary for survival.
However, in North America, where we essentially do not face any of these challenges, we adopt inhuman tendencies when presented with a blowout sale. As a population who seldom has cause to worry about civil war, water contamination, or famine, we push and shove to reach the front of a cue. We become ruthless to show dedication to big box stores. Ironically, we get so caught up in the red-blooded consumer frenzy that we shatter our built-up image as the developed civilization of the world. Instead, we become everything that we seek to distance ourselves from.
Black Friday’s madness should serve as a severe jolt to our North American mentality. The consumer hype surrounding the day is a misguided fallacy that degrades our identity. To regain our humanity, North Americans must distance themselves from the insanity that is Black Friday.
