Live From the Malls
Recovering somewhat from Thanksgiving lethargy, I dragged myself in front of the tube yesterday to get some non-food news. I did see a report on Michael Brown's new consulting career, that supplied the material for my last post. But for most of the day, I was treated to Black Friday "coverage"--breathless on-location reports of mall parking lot conditions and mini-riots among avid consumers, mostly from CNN's digs in my home town of Atlanta.
I understand that the Christmas Rush is incredibly important to retailers, and I also understand this is a capitalist economy in which being "in the black" is generally important to all of us. But still, Lord have mercy: do Americans have to be spun by the news media to make the Spirit of Christmas one of acquisitive frenzy? I mean, really, absent high-profile encouragement to get out there and fight for the latest baubles, is there any serious risk that our countrymen will turn Christmas back into a religious holiday?
Digby has a good rant on the subject you can read, but more generally, it seems to me that it would be healthy to limit Black Friday coverage to the business report.
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