I am often undecided on things. To me, opinions are as fragile as a rose in a blizzard. I find my opinions change and evolve because there is always more information left to be learned and perspectives to encounter that will change these feeble sentiments. It allows me to think objectively and simultaneously gives me both a lowered and heightened world view. Yet while I can see a lot of beauty in life, there is one thing that I believe to be so deplorable that it should be banned for all existence. It brings out some of the worst of human nature -- specifically our greedy competitive natures. It offends me, irritates me, and makes me so disappointed in America more than any other thing. It is the scornful Black Friday.
Lets just take a look at what occurs not a day before: Thanksgiving, a holiday which we, in theory, spend giving thanks for what we have. For having food in our bellies, roofs over our heads, and warmth in our hearts. Despite all of our downfalls, mistakes, and hardships we look at the bright side, see our families and loved ones, and embrace them and their presence. We, again in theory, are content with what we have and thank God or whatever we believe in just to live in the world we do.
Regardless of the way we view the inception of Thanksgiving, it's a time where we can celebrate all of our fortunes and be thankful for what we have, no matter how minuscule.
That being said, we are beginning to lose Thanksgiving. People are lining up at stores Thanksgiving night, when we used to be enjoying dinner and spending time with our families. Television is riddled with black Friday commercials while stores are opening earlier -- midnight, eleven o’clock, nine pm, seven. Not an hour ago, we were supposed to be thankful for what we have.
Why do we do this? It's all in the name of getting more stuff. We are indeed a consumer culture in every form of the word. We buy things, go to work, and work all week for what? More things. We live in a monotonous cycle where we work to buy and buy to satisfy our selfish needs. In this case, we all go out in spaces way past a comfortable capacity and push, argue, and tear our way just to save a quick buck.
How many people are starving in the world? How many kids need a home? How many are fighting just to survive in a world infested with hate and greed? Where is our compassion? Where is our love? It is all focused on ourselves.
Watch a bit of this video:
Look at the way people fight, how officers, and store clerks are forced to act to counteract the madness. We go from kind people minding our own business to adrenaline filled barbarians viewing everyone around us as enemies.
Yet each year we line up at ungodly times to spend ungodly amounts of money on ourselves or our families. This festival (if you can call it that) is outrageous, especially the day after Thanksgiving. Can we get anymore ironic? Can we be any more hypocritical? Thanksgiving and Black Friday, both American, are the embodiment of contraries. We stress contentedness, but at the same time are rooted in a constant pursuit of shallow joy and material possession.
