An evaluation of Black Friday: are the holidays what we make them to be?

Black Friday is capitalism at its worst.

Thanksgiving, though a holiday with an irreparably problematic history, is promoted as a holiday that is meant to celebrate gratitude and appreciate the people, resources and environment surrounding us. Thanksgiving is made out to be a holiday about peace, contentment and finding solace in what we already have, rather than seeking out more. Of course, this attitude is destined to hit the bricks as soon as Thanksgiving turns to Black Friday, ringing in the biggest day of the year in shopping, sales and consumption.

The turnaround time from a holiday of appreciating what we have to a day devoted to buying things we probably don’t need, is enough to give anyone whiplash. Black Friday reveals one of the main values of most American holidays—consumption.

The ability to sell the idea of holiday spirit is one that enables some of the biggest conglomerates in our economy today to benefit from the altruism and generosity that we want to believe the holidays are truly all about. Capitalist motivations keep this goodwill and cheer an arm’s length away from the average shopper, maintaining that the only way that you can truly participate in the holidays is through buying the next new and shiny thing.

While Black Friday very clearly exposes capitalist irony through the absence of any break between a holiday of gratitude and a day devoted to enabling and celebrating consumption, the entrepreneurial motivations backing the ‘true meaning’ of the festivities applies to every holiday we celebrate. After all, what is Valentine’s Day without a bouquet of red roses and box of Godiva chocolates for your sweetheart? What is Easter without Cadbury Eggs and Jordan Almonds? What is the Fourth of July without burgers, fireworks, and American flag-themed tablecloths, paper plates, and decorated cupcakes?

Without the marketing and shopping associated with each of these holidays, the economy that we operate within would falter. These seasons provide steady and predictable profit for already overinflated companies to grow, justifying the performative embrace of the holiday season that fills our catalogues, Instagram ads, and billboards for months. 

Without this financial compensation, it is likely that these holidays would not mean the same thing that they mean to us today—would the vast majority of Americans still get work off for Christmas and Thanksgiving if the value of these holidays was not exacerbated by capitalist ideals? Would we associate these holidays with such grandeur and heartwarming attitudes were they not backed by the fantasies provided to us in countless advertisements? It is questionable whether these holidays would mean much of anything at all to us without entrepreneurial encouragement.

Beyond all of this, it is essential to recognize that the consumption-oriented backbone of the holidays is one that does significant damage to the environment every year. In the United Kingdom, money.co.uk estimated that carbon emissions from online shopping alone produced 429,000 tons of carbon in 2020. A 2019 report from Building a Circular Economy showed that 80% of Black Friday purchases will end up in a landfill or incineration. Beyond even addressing the capitalist scheming that goes into the holiday spirit that we associate with this time of year, the environmental impact of Black Friday alone should be enough for us to bring into question whether or not consumerist holidays are even worth it.

Evaluating the consumerist relationship with American holidays is a difficult pill to swallow; to question these ideals and meanings that have been fed to use for so many years is essentially to question much of what the American experience means today. The arduous nature of this process, however, does not minimize its importance.

This holiday season, it may be worthwhile to examine your own relationship with the holidays, and whether any experiences and emotions associated with this time of year come from a place of true jubilation and gratitude or from a more manufactured source.