The running of the poor

This wasn't the year of the most extreme Black Friday coverage--likely because the economic situation is too dire for the condescension that such stories require. Typically, whether in print or on television, the stories feature hordes (with the racist connotations of barbarians) in front of Wal-Marts or Best Buys. These hordes are greedy gobblers. They take consumption to one of its extreme, the drive to do anything for a bargain, a deal.

The stories of the lenders and mortgage brokers, of their greedy deals, of their drive, aren't such good television. We don't see them trampling people, even though we know that we do. We don't see people stomped to the ground, even though we know they are.

So, what do accounts of the running of the poor, of people who will stand in line for hours, go to stores at 3:00 am, all to save maybe ten or twenty dollars on some items tell us or what are they trying to tell us? That being a good shopper takes the same commitment as being a good producer? I don't think so. Do they tell us that bargains are available, that capitalism can supply everything we want--and at rock bottom prices? I don't think this is right, either. I think these are stories of mockery, stories that mock our desperation, that mock the way we are imprinted by advertising and desire. I think they mock the fact that, yes, ten or twenty dollars makes an enormous difference for many of us.

And maybe, maybe, the stories, or the point from which they are told, contain a kind of fear as well: for what would happen if these people, these greedy hordes, stormed Tiffany's or Barneys? Madison Avenue or Rodeo Drive? What would happen if they stormed the stock exchange, network headquarters, corporate offices? What would happen if they stormed the White House?

There are a lot of people out there. They have drives. And, sometimes they up very, very early in the morning to get what they want.