And so it begins.
Looks like most Coloradans have survived Black Friday and the T.M.X. Elmo frenzy in one piece.
On the other hand, the holiday season is still young – as are your demanding children.
The dreaded Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and typically the busiest retail shopping day of the year, has been a success for retailers. More giveaways, more early openings and more presents for the kids. Which in turns means a strong holiday shopping season.
That’s good news for everyone.
Regrettably, this is also the time of year we hear plenty of naive grumbling about “consumerism,” materialistic people and “things we could do without” – which typically translates into what some humorless do-gooder has decided you could do without.
Anchoring this movement is an event called International Buy Nothing Day wherein, according to the group, “thousands of activists” and “concerned citizens” in 65 countries engage in a 24-hour “consumer detox” and refrain from buying those inexpensive LCD sets.
“Buy Nothing Day activists aim to challenge themselves, their families and their friends to switch off from shopping and tune back into life for one day,” explains the release.
In Colorado, a local self-proclaimed “anti-consumerism” group called Ringo Kamens Foundation planned to host an all-day protest against buying stuff at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Aurora. There have been similar protests in Colorado Springs over the years.
“Excessive,” of course, is a subjective word. And fortunately, the influence of these particular groups is relatively insignificant. What’s surprising, however, is the number of intelligent and well-meaning locals who sound like guilt-ridden monks when it comes to shopping for all those goodies.
So let’s live the utopian dream for a moment and see what happens.
Imagine we all indulge our anti-materialistic instincts and stay home listening to our favorite jam band instead of shopping this week.
You can be sure local merchants – your neighbors – will be affected in a dramatic way.
Many of those young people working at the Northfield Stapleton or Cherry Creek Shopping Center, selling cellphones, punching tickets at the movie theater, helping figure out where anything is in Outdoor World, may find themselves without a job next year.
For many smaller businesses, a strong fiscal Christmas season is often a necessity to survive. For chain stores, a hit on sales would mean a loss of jobs, falling stock prices – which in turn is bad news for your portfolio, retirement or college savings funds.
And since we’re all globally conscious now, many of the products you purchase during the holiday season are manufactured in developing countries. We hurt their economies and their futures when we leave all those cool toys on the shelf.
Finally, we have the state’s tax receipts, which, naturally, would also take a pounding. How will we survive?
And Buy Nothing Day includes “zombie marches” through malls, organized “credit card cut-ups” (because credit cards are immoral, not the person swiping it) and “shopaholic” clinics.
In other words, they think shoppers are idiots, nothing more than addicted zombies.
In reality, the opposite is true. Consumers – and yes, we often buy incredibly preposterous items for fun – are for the most part cautious with their hard-earned dollars.
So shop. Don’t feel guilty. Shopping doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue to fret over the meadow jumping mouse. And it doesn’t mean you can’t go to church.
What would Jesus do?
He’d probably be shopping.
(And charity begins at home. If someone in a certain columnist’s family happens to run across a James Bond DVD Pack, it’s not really for me, per se – you’re actually helping everyone.)
David Harsanyi’s column appears Monday and Thursday. Reach him at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
