Are you ever disgusted by the greed and consumer lust that occurs this time each year?

I’m disgusted by all types of greed. Consumer lust is one of the worst in my mind.

I read that too, and was again saddened by human nature. The good news is, there are many, many people out there who fight against our basest instincts. The bad news is, we are outnumbered.

I just read that too, I even lost my appetite, this is just too much….

laureth I agree w/ you. The holidays have become way too commercial.

I will tell you that we are swimming against the tide. It has taken multiple years of fussing and bickering w/ extended family to “dial down” the gift giving.

I am pleased to say that finally most of the adults will not be exchanging gifts this year and the gifts for the kids have been scaled back. Don’t get me wrong….there will be plenty of stuff for the kids. Just not obscene.

One year my in laws brought down garbage bags full of gifts. I cried. Literally. They thought I was an idiot.

I haven’t shopped on “black friday” in years. There are plenty of great bargains online, year round.

I just commented on the other social site, about this article. It’s disgusting! I can’t imagine that the savings equaled a human life or the injuries, to others. I’m sure the family of the victim thinks it was worth it.

I am not a spender and don’t allow obscene purchases for the children, either of them. Also, we make sure they understand why we are celebrating the holiday. This year, each person is also making a present to give, as well as the purchased items. I think it’s important to get back to basics. We do set a budget, the children are aware that there are limits and it’s not a free-for-all. The adults have agreed not to exchange and just to do a game night. I have parents with heavy medical expenses and a sister that is barely on her feet, financially. We have tons of medical bills, but are managing them pretty well, so far; however, in this economy, I take nothing for granted!

I wouldn’t use the word doomed, but we are definitely reaping the consequences of consumerism and excess. Now I have another reason not to shop at Wal-Mart.

Oh yeah, big time!

Oh absolutely, that’s why I celebrate Buy Nothing Day!

“poor minimum-wage-earner”

What? Why not just “poor person”?

This greed disgusts me year-round, but definitely more this time of year because it exists more than ever. But I have to say that it saddens me more than disgusts me!

@asmonet: Some jobs are paid a premium because they’re known to be dangerous, and workers know they’re assuming some risk. This poor dude wasn’t, though. At least, I presume not.

While that situation is disheartening (and inexcusable), my view on the retail spending has changed since the economic meltdown.

I feel bad for those men and women who are struggling to meet their holiday sales goals—and for the scores of them who will be laid off as the economy continues to shrink.

While I don’t condone the purchase of useless crap, the holiday retail cycle is a large driving factor for the success of many businesses, from retail to wholesale to mom-and-pop pack-and-ship stores, and this year will not be a happy one for most.

True, that.

So… here’s the thing about that. Obviously, I feel bad for the loss of life—it was senseless. However, whenever you get a frenzied group of people together, there is always a dangerous situation. We hear about this every year at the Running of the Brides, Black Friday, or any other frenzy (when X team wins the World Series, if Obama’d lost, some places because he won). Frenzied humans are dangerous. We already know, from psychology, that the more people there are in a place, NO MATTER HOW OBVIOUSLY YOU ARE HURT, the less likely they are to help you (and it maxes at 6, even if you are stabbed in front of them, if there are 6 people around you basically won’t get help unless a miracle occurs). Especially with so many people, you get that mob mentality.

So I don’t see this more as a Black Friday tragedy, so much as either a bystander intervention in an emergency tragedy or the logical conclusion of a group of frenzied people. The person who tries to stop their frenzy gets the brunt of it. It’s horrible, but people as a mass are horrible.

And there is basically no way this guy didn’t know what he was getting into—there are deaths or serious injuries from Black Friday almost every year. Frenzied people = bad times. Always. Even if he hadn’t ever heard the news, his co-workers would have been talking about it days before. Despite not getting hazard pay, the atmosphere in the days leading up would have let him know it was sucktastic day to be at work and that injury was entirely possible. Add that to having him on the doors? Probable.

I feel for him and his family. But I don’t blame this on consumerism at all.

And you can argue that the consumerism is what worked the people into the frenzy outside, but I have a number of arguments: 1. stores create these sales to encourage that kind of frenzy at any cost, 2. if our psychology were different, if we were better able to identify an emergency and that our intervention was necessary then he would have been saved. I think the psychological factor is more relevant than the “but the stores created the frenzy” factor. Because the stores put all they can into creating that frenzy.

That’s pretty much what turned me into a Scrooge. But I’m actually a little happier about Christmas these days. My family got together and decide to exchange one gift per person (so we buy one gift rather than 7 and draw numbers). My partner’s family is now doing the same thing. We no longer have a gift exchange at work, but choose a charity as a group and put money or gifts toward it. In our own small way, we’re trying to make a difference…..maybe it will spread.

I was thinking about this subject on my way to work today as I passed a mile and a half long line of traffic sitting completely still while waiting to get into the local mall. A major highway was blocked even tho it was obvious there would be no place to park even if they reached the parking lot.

I have never shopped on a Black Friday, and doubt if I ever will. I feel terrible for that poor guy who died and for his family. How sad to lose a loved one , especially at this time of year.

Seems like it’s time for the Walmart’s of the world to soften the big sale days. I am thinking that this poor man, a visitor to our country, has a family (with him? left behind?) who are now left to grieve his senseless death. We are a people who are easily whipped up by the notion of gaining some “stuff” for “less.” It’s capitalism in its full glory.

@JohnRobert I hope his family doesn’t see this. That was pretty insensitive.