Black Friday - The Thin Line Between Entertainment and War

The concept of Black Friday has really got me scratching my heads on what Canadians will do to save a couple bucks.  Are you buying to save money on Christmas presents?  Getting the latest gadget/electronic because last year's model isn't quite cutting it?  Did you spill coffee all over your tablet when you heard about Black Friday sales and now need a new one?  North American culture has turned simple retail holiday sales into a basic animal instinct frenzy of angry, furious and physical shoppers.  Has this become our cultural norm?  "The land of the greedy and home of the depraved", as one online user commented and I couldn't agree more!

"In Romeoville, just outside of Chicago, an alleged shoplifting incident resulted in a man being shot by police after dragging an officer with his car." -Globe & Mail

Why is all of this relevant to AFGM?  Well my friends, I simply hate the commercialism that has formed behind the months of November and December as we part ways with our wallets in exchange for the next upcoming distraction for our lives.  It makes no difference what side of the 49th parallel you are on at this point, the companies you buy mass quantities from only care what their profit margin will increase to.  And since most current governments want to continue this tradition to "stimulate the economy", this doesn't look like it's going to end anytime soon.  That being said, I couldn't think of a better flashback for Friday than my original Black Friday band, Rage Against The Machine!

They fix the need, develop the taste

Buy their products or get laid to waste

Coca-Cola is back in the veins of Saigon 

And Rambo too, he got a dope pair of Nikes on

And Godzilla pure muthafuckin filler

To keep ya eyes off the real killer.

The band released this song ("No Shelter") in February of 1998, and resonates sentiment even more now as our credit cards continue to compound with interest, declare bankruptcy, foreclosures on houses, and pay rates being cut lower and lower to point of where living just above the poverty line is the country's standard of living.  It only makes sense that the once superpower of the world would attempt to push as much product as they could so that the it would eventually trickle back to the gov't.  I think the other funny fact is that now police officers have take away from their normal duties and patrol routes to intervene with a few delinquents fighting tooth and nail for $1.28 towels.  F**king towels people!  I highly doubt that the slave labour kids making these product(s) would get any benefit out of something as Black Friday.  Can you imagine an ad like this:

"For one day only on Black Friday, slave workers will now only be paid $0.08/hr instead of the usual $0.10 and are now passing the savings onto YOU!"



More pieces to the puzzle granted, but I'm sure you can relate to and enjoy the sarcastic commentary I am providing here.  So back to the music side of things.  Rage Against the Machine has a long standing feud with commercialism, elitism, lack of transparency, and overall lack of freedoms that humans, not just Americans, should have as a right...not a privilege.

The world is my expense

The cost of my desire

Jesus blessed me with its future

And I protect it with fire

So raise your fists and march around

Dont dare take what you need

I'll jail and bury those committed

And smother the rest in greed

I know it seems like I am going on a tangent here with my sentiments towards Black Friday and [in big picture] what it stands for.  I just cannot stand the fact that we have people spending an average of $292/person on a single day and almost 1/2 the country (as well as US) will be taking part in these "savings".

"In Las Vegas, a man returning from a Black Friday sale was shot at and robbed of his new TV." -Globe & Mail

Sounds like fun right?  Do you find that this kind of mentality for shopping and simple distraction will be a decline in society or a increase in our economy?  Do YOU feel Black Friday will help us as a whole or hinder us?  Does it create more or less of a middle class society?  Not to mention the current mentality of our big box stores (Walmart, Target, etc.) that most customers flock to for savings.  That extra couple bucks you just saved could have paid the employee you ran past a salary that is above bare minimum wage or even some health benefits for the eventual concussion they are going to receive when opening their doors in early hours of the morning.  Don't believe me?  Feel free to look up past Black Friday incidents that have occurred and where the majority of them have taken place.

"When you live in a capitalistic society, the currency of the dissemination of information goes through capitalistic channels. Would Noam Chomsky object to his works being sold at Barnes & Noble? No, because that's where people buy their books. We're not interested in preaching to just the converted. It's great to play abandoned squats run by anarchists, but it's also great to be able to reach people with a revolutionary message, people from Granada Hills to Stuttgart." -Tom Morello



So the next time you are hitting up your favourite store, ask yourself at what cost and benefit is it for you to save that $50-100 for an iPad that [chance are] will break within a few years either by your own hand or the manufacturers.  Just in time to get back in line with hundreds of others and go gladiator style on each other.  Tis the season to be shopping.  Cha-ching!  I'll be sitting at home, sippin on a coffee and cranking my Rage Against the Machine.