Shop 'Til You Drop

The United States and Egypt averted World War III with a tenuous but still worthy cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians of Gaza, and Egyptian President Mohammad Morsi is rewarding himself for it by assuming new powers pending the adoption of a new national constitution, but Americans don't seem to care.  They've been too busy shopping to get lots of cool things on Black Friday . . . and also in the late hours of Thanksgiving.  We are told that people are taking advantage of these fantastic sales to purchase Christmas and Hanukkah gifts at low, low prices, but I don't (no pun intended) buy that . . . well, except for the Hanukkah gifts, because Hanukkah takes place sooner.  Most people are buying for themselves - and they're probably not getting the low, low prices they think they're getting.  They're probably paying more than what the products they're buying are worth.  

Post-Thanksgiving sales have been starting during Thanksgiving because American retailers, having seen their sector of the economy grow anemically over the years, are pulling out all the stops in an ever-escalating war to grab as much of the retailing business as possible, even as there's not very much of it.  There are still plenty of customers for them to tap, though, because Americans will always be inclined to buy things they don't need and may not have even once thought they wanted.  Napoleon once called Great Britain a nation of shopkeepers; the United States, in comparison, is a nation of shoppers.

I understand that the remainder of the calendar year after Thanksgiving is when retailers make most of their money, but, as many an observer has noted, it's a curious tradition to give thanks for what you have on Thanksgiving and then go out to get more stuff the day after. 

Today is Small Business Saturday, another crock.  Small Business Saturday is a day when we're encouraged to buy products from locally owned retail stores to keep money in our local economies - so what if most of the products sold by local retailers are probably made in China anyway? -  and strengthen our communities.  On one day? Why not all year round?  Good luck in finding a small business to spend your money at on any day of the year, though. The typical local hardware store has been put out of business by Home Depot, the typical local jewelry store has been put out of business by Jared, and the typical local record store has been joined in oblivion by the record chain stores, replaced by Internet CD sales and Internet music downloads.

Okay, there are still many local retail businesses in our communities, as well as many local eateries, but for many Americans, it's too easy to go to Target or Best Buy, and then go to Applebee's for lunch afterwards.  The available free head-in parking is too much of a temptation.