Thanksgiving Greed

One of the most anticipated days of the year is almost here: Thanksgiving. The day when you are allowed to be a total glutton, and nobody can judge you. After demolishing a plate full of food, rushing from the dinner table for Black Friday shopping is probably the last thing you want to do. Yet millions of Americans continue to do so year after year.

Black Friday simply defeats the purpose of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is celebrated to be grateful for what we have, not to buy more things. Instead, people go out after Thanksgiving dinner to buy items that are not necessarily needed. Why is the sole basis of Black Friday capitalism, while we celebrate a holiday of thanks one day before?

Materialism aside, the “celebration” of Black Friday can also cause harm to consumers. Many injuries and deaths have been occurred during Black Friday shopping hours.

The term “Black Friday” was coined by the Philadelphia Police Department in 1961 to describe the absolute chaos near downtown filled with violence, traffic accidents and excessive pedestrians on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

In a world where we are trying to stop violence, events like Black Friday greatly contribute to the issue. In 2008, New York Wal-Mart worker Jdimytai Damour died while being trampled on Black Friday. 11 others were severely injured, including a pregnant woman, when over 2,000 shoppers broke down the store doors to enter.

During a holiday where we appreciate the goodness of humanity, fighting to get the last pair of shoes in size nine seems slightly trivial, don’t you think?

According to the National Retail Federation, over 99 million people shopped on Black Friday in stores in 2016. However, this number is slowly decreasing as the push for Cyber Monday escalates.

Cyber Monday is online shopping for the lazy and more savvy people of the world. Marketing companies use Cyber Monday to compete with Black Friday deals while providing the comfort of shopping from your own home.

According to USA Today, Cyber Monday profits inched close to $3.45 billion in 2016, exceeding the amounts from the previous year by 12.1%.

Soon enough, brick-and mortar companies will deteriorate as the shift to e-commerce progresses. Being an avid Amazon shopper myself, I purchase more necessities online rather than in-store.

Whether you participate in Black Friday or Cyber Monday,