Black Friday: Consumerism Kills

11/28/08  Print This Post Print This Post    2 Comments      Written by Eva Holland
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Here’s a piece of news that reads like a dark satire:

A Wal-Mart employee on Long Island was killed this morning by crazed, stampeding shoppers, who actually broke down the doors of the store at its 5:00am opening time.

According to Reuters, four shoppers — one of them a pregnant woman — were also injured in the rush, and taken to hospital.

I don’t even know what more to say about this, beyond the fact that it’s a pretty sickening, real-life allegory for our consumerist addiction.

One American family suddenly has a whole lot less to be thankful for.

Photo by Brave New Films (Creative Commons)


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About the Author

Matador ID: deva

Eva Holland is a contributing editor to the Matador Network. She recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of quitting her day job to write and travel full time.

2 Comments... join the discussion!

  • Hal replied on November 29, 2008

    I've always tried to participate in the alternative to Black Friday–Buy Nothing Day. Check it out: http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd

    (Report comment)

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  • tomiddes replied on November 30, 2008

    The story is a sad comment on how far the consumer craze has come during the holiday season. I never go out on "Black Friday" as a form of personal protest. I didn't know that there was a campaign. Thanks for posting the link.

    (Report comment)

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