Black Friday: Sticker Prices Don't Reflect True Costs of Unbridled Consumption

Shoppers have now been scavenging the shelves of big-box stores for hours. It is, after all, the yearly spectacle of Black Friday. While Americans brave the crowds in search of the best deals, let's look at some the realities behind this consumptive free-for-all.

In the frenzy of the day, people are gobbling up crap without regard to whether they need it or not. They are consuming for the sake of consumption, and satisfying pseudo-needs. It's a testament to the triumph of advertising, and the all-encompassing nature of corporate power. Americans are eagerly parting with their hard-earned money, enriching miscreant corporate entities in exchange for worthless items. It's a voluntary and inequitable transfer of wealth. Perhaps Steve Jobs summed it up best when he said, "[a] lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them." It's a deeply disturbing fact that many Americans now achieve fulfillment through the accumulation of consumer goods.

By participating in Black Friday, shoppers are implicitly accepting exploitative labor practices that maximize profits at workers' expense. In the US, many employees had to leave their families, or forgo celebrating Thanksgiving altogether, to work their Black Friday shifts. These employees probably have no health insurance; work for substandard wages; qualify for food stamps and other governmental assistance; and, as at-will employees, can be fired at any time, for no reason.

Our appetite for cheap consumer goods has accelerated the global race to the bottom. US-based multinational corporations operate slave-labor manufacturing facilities in developing countries to meet America's consumptive needs. Servitude in dangerous facilities: the secret of success for the modern corporation, and the reason for our low, low prices.

Our rampant consumption is also contributing to the climate crisis. It's consumption by western nations, most notably the US, that is the driving force of climate change. Seven percent of the world's population is responsible for half of all carbon emissions. Black Friday stands as a monument to America's voracious appetite for stuff, and illustrates why America's carbon footprint is so much higher than the rest of the world's.

Consider these things next time you go shopping. The price of consumer goods is actually much higher than advertised.