'Tis the season

Big media is excited this week about the upcoming American "holiday" Black Friday, the day-after-Thanksgiving day when retailers hope to move "into the black," and some of us move away from peace to frenetic nutsiness. Here in my country, a day doesn't pass without someone noticing that the holiday hype began pretty darn early this year -- like maybe in September. I would be the first one to advocate the holiday spirit all year -- make every day like Christmas or Hannukah or whatever holiday your culture creates under the auspices of love, peace, and understanding. But in my culture, the holiday spirit is inextricably linked (or is it?) to consuming -- consuming under the auspices of love, peace, and understanding, but consuming, nonetheless.

But the initial impulse that started all this was the impulse to give. We here at HumanKind Media like that impulse and want to encourage as much giving as possible, and our HumanKind policy is to be a piece of media that stands up for something, not against. We're only anti- the anti's. (Get it? Yuk, yuk.)

So, instead of anti-consumerism (for which we refer you to the venerable AdBuster's Buy-Nothing Day site (check out the pig video) we'd like to take a look at what's possible, as usual: We're up for conscious consumerism, meaning if you're a person out there who feels compelled to join the excitement of shopping the day after Thanksgiving, you do it more consciously. Maybe you just walk around and sip a latte and fight for a few parking spaces just for the sport of it, but then you go home and order a goat for someone as a gift donation for your brother, or get your parents a a gift certificate to shop at Kiva to help a couple with their business somewhere in the world, or write a note to your nephew listing the best books you've ever read and give him $10 to buy one. And, if you must buy, you think about what you're buying -- from who made it and where it was made, to what impact the making of it had and what impact it will have when it's gone. Here are my favorite photos (click on "intolerable beauty") to remind me of this. They're by Chris Jordan, whom I hope one day will grant us an interview.

We're in favor of reconnecting with the original impulse -- giving -- in a new way. How can each of us look at how we give in terms of the connection with each other, the consequences of consuming, the burden of stuff, and the desire to give something meaningful to someone we love? Questions for connection. Let us hear your ideas.

Comments

[Barbara]

Perhaps this is a good time and place to tell the real story behind the term "Black Friday".

It was in common usage when I was a retail worker in a NJ mall back in the mid to late 70's, long before retailers put a positive spin on the phrase sometime in the '80's. The Friday after Thanksgiving was referred to as "Black Friday" because it was such a horrible day to work -- customers were rude, pushy and obnoxious, hours were long and the pressure was intense.

I'd sooner cut off my right arm then shop Thanksgiving weekend. People actually enjoy this?