“The story of the Pilgrims and the Mayflower taught to every American child in every American school is less than half of the actual story. Obviously there are a lot of day to day details left out, but the most striking of the omissions is the fact that the endeavor was a for-profit business.”
I don’t have the book, Americana: A 400-Year History of American Capitalism by Bhu Srinivasan, but it looks like an excellent read. He goes on to say that The Virginia Company was chartered in 1609 by King James I. Unfortunately the business was unsuccessful, but in 1614 the company took one last chance – on the “Pilgrims” (English-refugee churchgoers). After continued failures, Plymouth eventually became a colony of freemen and no longer in debt to the company.
First Thanksgiving lore will have us believe the pilgrims and the First Nation Tribes all sat together, enjoyed a shared meal, and gave thanks for the bounty, or some such drivel. “In fact, it took place over three days sometime between late September and mid-November in 1621, and was considered a harvest celebration.” Although it was a celebration, giving thanks to the god(s) for a good harvest, it was also a celebration for those being among surviving members of the voyage from Europe and surviving the winter. Although it was a time of peace and celebration, it was short-lived as the 1662 massacre and ensuing battles left countless dead on both sides. We know how that has worked out for the original people of this continent, and they are still having treaties broken, with no warning or reason given. Their way of life, of hunting, fishing, raising crops have been all but completely decimated by the ‘spreaders of democracy.’
Of course the disruption to the First Nation Tribes’ lives had not begun with the pilgrims. The Spanish conquistadors, traders and others had many ‘super-spreader events’ which wiped out (killed) from 50% to 90% of these native people.
“The overall native population of temperate North America in the 17th Century may have been as high as three hundred to five hundred thousand. When people quote figures about fifty or a hundred million, they are borrowing stats from the population of the entire Western Hemisphere in the 16th Century. Only about 2% of that population lived north of Mexico.”
For hundreds of years now, we have been testing our democratic framework, laws, and way of life – a fragile democracy based on the same thing the early settlers were trying to escape, and the reason our democracy was born. Well, at least that’s what we are calling it. Seems there is a definite ‘class system’ which constantly keeps the 99%+ taxed but with no actual representation.
Not long after that first ‘Thanksgiving’ (as long as the indigenous people keep giving, we are thankful!) the concept of the greatest day of consumerism was invented. A mere few hundred years later, as capitalism was driving the last nails into the coffin of our democracy, Black Friday came to be, with 1961 being its first mention found.
In the article Consumerism by Gary Cross updated Dec 11, 2020*
“…some people consider the 1950s and 1960s as the ‘golden age of consumerism’. During this time period, goods became much less expensive and some products were able to sell on a very large scale due to effective marketing campaigns. In general, marketing refers to the advertisements that companies produce to sell their products to a large audience. Marketing had always been a popular method of selling a good but the marketing campaigns of the 20th century became much more sophisticated. For example, many of these campaigns promoted a sense of identity in relation to their products and caused people to associate their social standing in society with their level and quality of consumption. This caused an explosion in modern consumption rates, as marketing is still an important consumerist tool in the 21st century. ”
And from the encyclopedia.com take on consumerism is this:
https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/consumerism
“With theories developed by the Frankfurt school and other Marxist cultural critics from the 1920s, the Left saw the mass consumer market as undermining the potential of individuals and society. It destroyed class consciousness by luring workers into the pursuit of personal comforts and pleasures and by tying them emotionally to bourgeois and nationalist values. One example is the English embrace of chauvinistic themes promoted in popular newspapers and music halls between 1900 and 1914.”
“The German sociologist Georg Simmel (1858–1918) acknowledged that money and the things that it could buy increased personal freedom because consumption freed the individual from constant dependence on employers and an often oppressive folk culture. Keeping up with shifting styles of adornment, display, and entertainment did more than fill empty lives with fleeting pleasures. Such spending met the social as well as ego needs of the individual.”
They go on to point out that the Right and Left both shared the assumptions that new mass production would mean a shift to leisure values, leaving workers less motivated and conservatives worried about work ethic. But that was not the case.
“This seemingly counterintuitive idea that expanding desire disciplined workforces has often been identified with Fordism, named after Henry Ford, the American automaker who introduced a high wage in 1914 to create a market for his cars and a disciplined consumer workforce.”
“...Since the 1960s European opponents of consumerism have rallied around movements for environmental protection, noncommercial leisure, reduction of work time, and consumer education. According to the political scientist Ronald Inglehart, in the 1960s a "postmaterialist" cohort began to emerge in Europe. The gradual disappearance of those age groups which had been shaped by the economic insecurity of the depression signaled a "cultural shift" toward the post-scarcity values. In the 1960s and 1970s New Left advocates of postmaterialist values expected a political shift from questions of distribution, growth, and security and toward quality of life and consumer rights issues.
…the environmental, or green, movement opposed the impact that unrestrained consumption had upon land use (for roads, for example) and pollution of the ecosphere.”
Sums his thoughts up nicely in the last paragraph:
“Despite these protests against consumerism, there does not appear to be any systematic alternative to its value of limitless material innovation and social and self-definition in and through goods. While many Europeans question the long-term viability of the consumerist ethic for the environment and the seemingly corrosive effect of consumerism on social relations and political commitments, few have seriously questioned the benefits of growth or have found ways of effectively articulating a form of postmaterialism.”
I guess we will have to try harder. Some people have no imagination, and throw their hands up in the air if you talk of disrupting their deep-rutted systems of money, labor, government, commerce, wages, human value… not able to ascertain a method to get off this runaway train heading ever more precariously over the edge of its merry-go-round tracks. It is leaning so hard on total destruction at this point a true and honest alternative should already be in the works, instead of a leap toward authoritarian rule. In their recent story “Consumer Capitalism Stumbles Towards Collapse” veritas curat describes Consumer Capitalism: “it is revealing its true nature as a sacrificial cult. Sacrificing the planet for short-term profits and reveling in willing human sacrificial victims.” Yes, our economy survives on ever more production, ever more consumption, and ever more environmental destruction. Our economy is killing us.
Black Friday might not be so appealing then, no? This ‘Black Friday’ event has come a long way over the years, with exploding consumerism (and showing all its putrid green underbelly that reeks of destruction.) Today we devour such stories as “7 Easy Ways To Maximize Black Friday Shopping Deals” (forbes.com), “The 5 best Amazon Black Friday deals you can get this weekend” at USA Today’s website. Mashable was already sounding the alarm a full week early, with the warning headline: “Best Buy's Black Friday ad is here and the deals have already started.”
Although Black Friday’s Pavlovian attraction, as demanded for years, where wants become needs still demands the attention of millions, its hysteria and mayhem might have peaked back in 2011. Walmart’s website crashed on this quintessential shopping day.
“Disgruntled online shoppers found their carts empty, the website crippled and the login page not working, causing many to lose out on what probably felt to them like deals of a lifetime.”
“…that same day in 2011, a mother – with her two kids in tow, we might add – pepper sprayed at least 20 fellow shoppers at a Los Angeles Walmart, a woman was almost crushed to death at a Mesquite Walmart, and a man was shot by armed robbers outside its Northern California location.”
Many others have been injured, maimed, killed, arrested or had other trauma just so they can save some MONEY. Money they would not even spend had they not heard that these dolls/TVs/phones/cookware will be the hottest item, will be impossible to find, must have, MUST HAVE!!! Look, the Jones’ are NOT coming by, so you don’t need to throw a blanket over your old TV or hide the 80’s cookware that has worked so well for so many years. If they do, honestly, do you REALLY want to keep up with the Jones’? They have bought in to all of this hype, and honestly it is a racket. A Capitalist Racket!
In summation, Black Friday is the epitome of consumerism, which I view as the evil pied piper of capitalism. The enticement of the mass-media driven event, advertised on all channels for days or weeks, pop-ups and other ads on websites, the constant in-your-face demand you must get the best deals, come early, door-busters (too many times literally), and so much manufactured ‘news’ about what the day will bring are all meant to get you to buy things you do not need. I view all of this advertising – and likely 90%+ of the advertised items – as futile wastes of human energy, natural resources, and our environment. Black Friday as a consumerism event is not a cause for celebration, but instead one the most glaring examples of ‘consumerism gone wild’. Enjoy some time with family (via Zoom, NOT IN PERSON), get outside, reflect on how we might make a better future for all of us. Don’t let them TAKE your holiday — it belongs to you, not the capitalists! Peace
*that’s what their website says, so who am I to argue?