CONSUMERISM and greed gobble up Thanksgiving
Stores are facing a 26-day sale cycle for the Christmas Holiday season, which is making retailers nervous. With such a short sale season, many stores have decided to open up on Thanksgiving – family be damned. If you are one of the buyers who gets to choose between getting a really good deal, it might be time to consider what your actions mean to those families of people who have no choice but to work while you shop.
The very fact that stores are opening earlier on Thanksgiving than ever before points to the weak economy. An economy that has replaced middle wage levels with service sector minimum wage jobs. Those minimum wage jobs are taken by moms, dads, brothers and sisters, who will not be able to enjoy the annual Turkey Bowl, sitting in front of the TV yelling at the football teams or giving thanks for the time that they get to spend together around the dinner table on this one day of the year.
Instead, they will be responsible for supporting the very institutions that are ruining the fabric of society with increasing demands on family time and decreasing paychecks to pay for it. Is the deal that you are going to get worth taking time from someone else’s family?
Your shopping habits will determine whether or not stores continue to sacrifice to Mammon Thanksgiving and the family time that it enables people to enjoy. Rather than perpetuate a destructive, consumerist society, you can do something better for your community. Eschew all national chains and move your shopping to local retailers.
Your money spent locally will bolster the economy in your community about three times more than when you spend at a chain. That means more jobs, and because your local retailers care about their families more than any national chain cares for its employees, you can be assured that no one will have to miss out on the traditions that form the basis of our communities and our identities.
This story originally appeared on examiner.com. Some stores have begun to phase out Thanksgiving openings.
The very fact that stores are opening earlier on Thanksgiving than ever before points to the weak economy. An economy that has replaced middle wage levels with service sector minimum wage jobs. Those minimum wage jobs are taken by moms, dads, brothers and sisters, who will not be able to enjoy the annual Turkey Bowl, sitting in front of the TV yelling at the football teams or giving thanks for the time that they get to spend together around the dinner table on this one day of the year.
Instead, they will be responsible for supporting the very institutions that are ruining the fabric of society with increasing demands on family time and decreasing paychecks to pay for it. Is the deal that you are going to get worth taking time from someone else’s family?
Your shopping habits will determine whether or not stores continue to sacrifice to Mammon Thanksgiving and the family time that it enables people to enjoy. Rather than perpetuate a destructive, consumerist society, you can do something better for your community. Eschew all national chains and move your shopping to local retailers.
Your money spent locally will bolster the economy in your community about three times more than when you spend at a chain. That means more jobs, and because your local retailers care about their families more than any national chain cares for its employees, you can be assured that no one will have to miss out on the traditions that form the basis of our communities and our identities.
This story originally appeared on examiner.com. Some stores have begun to phase out Thanksgiving openings.