Black Friday, Part II

Black Friday is one of the most disgusting days on the American calendar. People trample and fight each other the very day after supposedly being thankful for what they already have. Such widespread hypocrisy is absurd, though hardly surprising. Recall the 2008 death of a temp holiday worker at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, NY: "Suddenly, witnesses and the police said, the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains. One worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, was thrown back onto the black linoleum tiles and trampled in the stampede that streamed over and around him." And last year in a Target in South Charleston, WV a man collapsed and died while some shoppers stepped right over his dying body. "Vance was found laying in the electronics department at the Target store. A witness told WSAZ.com some shoppers didn't have any concern for Vance and continued shopping, but there were others who did try to step in and help." And here are some headlines from 2012's Black Friday: "Gang Fight at Black Friday Sale" "Man Punched In Face Pulls Gun On Line-Cutting Shopper" "Shots Fired Outside Wal-Mart" "Shoppers Smash Through Door At Urban Outfitters" "Customers Run Over In Parking Lot" "Woman Busted After Throwing Merchandise" "Thousands Storm Victoria's Secret" "Mayhem At Nebraska Mall Where 9 Murdered in 2007" "Shoplifter Tries to Mace Security Guards" "Men Steal Boy's Shopping Bag Outside Bed, Bath, and Beyond." Americans consume far more than anyone else on the planet. Of all industrialized nations, America is also the most obese. Just take a look and observe how many fat asses are out there next time you're out. It hasn't always been this way. In 1962, only 13% of Americans were obese. But now overeating is a national sport. Now approximately 36% of Americans are obese, and it is projected that the number will rise to 42% by 2030. Even our poor are the fattest in the world. While we are gorging ourselves with food, what else do we like to do? That's right - we love to watch television. The average American watches 28 hours of television every single week. Living rooms have become the new opium dens, with satellites beaming into our veins and NetFlix and DirecTV the new cartels. We have become completely and totally addicted to entertainment, and we have become conditioned to constantly be "plugged in" to something. Our lives have become all about constantly feeding our greed and selfishness. Why? This is our societies' response to the enormous apparatus of nothingness. It's escapism at its finest. Religion, drugs, television, stuff...it's all the same. Convenient panaceas used to obfuscate the fact that we're all bleeding pieces of meat careening towards our inevitable demise. What kind of people feel better about themselves because their shirt has a horse, or an alligator, or an eagle logo on it? Black Friday is a national fucking disgrace. Shopping isn't a tradition, or at least it shouldn't be. Americans are crucified by their consumerism, entangled in a neverending gluttonous orgy fueled by neoliberal American capitalism. A massive and painful restructuring is needed, but until then they'll bow their heads in complacent acquiescence and whisper "fill me with your poison."