cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/4118072
Consumerism is part of the climate problem and perhaps more so a waste disposal problem. Consumerism probably cannot be stopped but it can be reduced. It’s disturbing in the current climate that #BlackFriday still exists. To encourage the kick-off of mass consumption a month before Christmas likely does a lot damage.
I suppose cancelling Black Friday would be impossible in the US (where I suspect it started). A large number of democrats would oppose it and probably every single republican in the US would fight to their death an anti-consumerism action like that.
But what about Europe? Doesn’t Belgium and Netherlands restrict store-wide sales to just two weeks or so out of the year? For Europe, perhaps instead of cancelling it (which many would view as over-interventionist) they could double the VAT rates on that day on clothes and electronics. IDK.. that’s probably crazy talk. Ideas welcome. There’s no real issue with sales on services, but consumption of goods is where the damage is done.
I hate the idea that one of the most environmentally reckless companies in the world (#Amazon) gets a huge boost in sales on Black Friday. It makes the day depressing to see the masses rush to enrich a company they should be boycotting all year. I loved Black Friday back in the days when I was a loose cannon consumerist myself. Now it’s just a shit day where I deliberately avoid shops in order to not support it.
UPDATE
To be clear, I would not propose cancelling the unofficial holiday US employers often give on Black Friday. Just the sales.
I don’t think so. If that were true then there would be no reason for a retailer to have a Black Friday sale as they would be selling the goods anyway. Black Friday sales exist to move more goods than previously. Non-retail workers get the day off which they use for shopping, so it’s a chance to sell a lot of the kind of gifts that are well planned (like appliances and electronics).
If retailers were to give their staff the day off (and give them equal treatment to non-retail workers), then more Christmas shopping would be pushed off till later, provoking procrastination. That’s a good thing, I think, because last minute gifts are more likely to be less harmful environmentally (consumables like chocolates, fruit cakes, and services like massages).
Black Friday sales originated in the USA as the traditional beginning to the Christmas shopping season. The sales would start early to bring in shoppers, but also as a form of arbitrage to differentiate bargain shoppers from other kinds of shoppers.
The Black Friday arms race collapsed in the last few years as it became apparent that deals were no longer worth it, shopping shifted to Cyber Monday and other times, and a lot of major Christmas gifts shifted to hard to supply products where it didn't make sense to cut margins. Even then, there is still some form of traditional starting of the Christmas shopping season.