A man died yesterday, a security guard at Wal-Mart. He was run over by stampeding shoppers as the doors opened for Black Friday shopping. I haven’t felt this much shame for being an American in a while. What does this say about us to the rest of the world?
With the desire to grab that bargain, save that extra dollar, shoppers lost sight of fundamental values, common decency and the value of life. A man died today because people trampled on top of him just so they could get that Xbox or flat screen TV cheaper. I wonder if those people who got their bargains and walked away from the store with their bag of goodies felt it was worth it? I wonder when they install their new flat-screen TV and throw the empty boxes away, if they will sit back and think, “a man died today because I stepped on him, along with hundreds of others, so I could enjoy this new TV?”
I wonder if they think about, because I think about it. As we all should. I wonder because I question whether or not I am complicit in that man’s death. I looked at all the ads the day before yesterday and wondered what I might buy for cheap. I thought about going to my local Wal-Mart or my local Best-Buy in the darkness of night and wait in line for hours till the doors open. I wonder if, in my zeal and excitement to beat everyone else to my coveted bargains, I would have raced into that store no matter the cost. I wonder whether or not I would have stopped and helped the man up or would I have simply lifted my foot and stepped on him.
It’s easy for all of me, who wasn’t there to judge and tell myself, “I wouldn’t have done that…I would have stopped and helped the man up.” But I don’t know myself well enough. I don’t know if I would have had the ability or the wherewithal to stop breal free from being swept up in the crowd and help the part-time security guard off the floor. I’m sure that the people there, people who were part of the crowd and may even played a part in the man’s death rationalized their actions. “I didn’t see him.” “I didn’t know he was there” “It was crazy, I didn’t know what was going on.” “I may have stepped on his hand, but certainly not on him.” No one’s guilty if everyone is, goes the thinking.
I did some research and found that the self-storage industry (where people rent storage units to store things they can’t fit in their house) is a $20 Billion Industry. To put that into perspective, the film industry makes about $9-$10 Billion annually. That’s every movie made in America. The coffee industry makes about $11 Billion annually. That’s every cup of coffee sold in the world. In other words, the self-storage business is big business. Why is that? Well, because people have stuff they can’t keep or don’t want in their house, but they don’t want to get rid of. So, they rent a storage facility where they can put their stuff. Of course, there are exceptions, people are forced to move to a smaller house and self-storage spaces are used as temporary places for people to put their things. I’m sure this is happening all over now with people losing their homes due to the housing crisis.
But more often than not, the self-storage industry thrives not from temporary costumers, but from permanent costumers, the kind who pay year after year, even upgrading to bigger spaces when they run out of room in their smaller storage spaces. So, I ask again, what does that say about us to the rest of the world, especially those living in poverty? I can only speak for myself, but I know I feel a sense of shame. That as a consumer culture, our houses aren’t big enough to store everything we own? That we must rent space somewhere else, in order to put the stuff we can’t have in our house.
And what about the collapse of the housing market? It’s easy to point fingers at the Fannie Mae’s of the world and assign them the blame. Or the greedy house buyers who turn and flip property as if they were pancakes. But what’s also happening is that people are living beyond their means. The housing market provided the necessary incentives and resources to buy a bigger house. Why buy a bigger house? Well, because we’ve run out of places to put all our stuff. Stuff we keep accumulating and storing or simply throw away. And why not buy a bigger house? It’s easy enough. So, yeah, why not get a brand new house and get into even more debt?
Paul Simon expressed these sentiments best when when he wrote a song called, "An American Tune." He wrote:
So then, what is the point? The point is, we have a problem with our stuff. We can’t afford it, we borrow too much pay for it, we buy too much of it, we have no place to put it, we don’t really need it, we want it when we want it and demand it to be high quality and cheaper, and we don’t really care who or what it effects when it’s made or what happens when it’s thrown out. That’s us. That’s America. It’s why some people hate us.
Paul Simon expressed these sentiments best when when he wrote a song called, "An American Tune." He wrote:
"And I don't know a soul who's not been batteredAnd in the end, does our consumption make us any happier? Do our purchases give us peace of mind? Do they enrich our lives? I certainly have time and time again felt the sting of buyer's remorse or even the numbness of nothing when using or gazing upon my new purchase. It certainly does not equal the mirth I feel when I am with friends or family, the joy of travel, experiencing new things. I know it all sounds touchy-feely and borderline "liberal", but is that new video game or pair of shoes make you feel that much happier? Is it really worth it?
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
or driven to its knees
but it's all right, it's all right
for we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what's gone wrong"
So then, what is the point? The point is, we have a problem with our stuff. We can’t afford it, we borrow too much pay for it, we buy too much of it, we have no place to put it, we don’t really need it, we want it when we want it and demand it to be high quality and cheaper, and we don’t really care who or what it effects when it’s made or what happens when it’s thrown out. That’s us. That’s America. It’s why some people hate us.
And I have to be honest, right now, with the death of the Wal-Mart security guard, a man named Jdimytai Damour on our hands, a death caused because people couldn’t be bothered to stop and help him up so that they could shop, I hate us. We have to do better.
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3 comments:
Thoughtful as always, Andy, and some great points.
But I wouldn't read too much specifically American significance into this one terrible event. I see it as an unfortunate expression of a few intersecting psycho-sociological phenomena that are common to many if not all cultures--the so-called crowd or mob mentality, diffused responsibility, and yes, greed and selfishness. None of those are exclusive to the USA, although we certainly seem to have particularly large helpings of each.
For the record, as I read it in the NYT, the crowd burst through the locked doors of the store before it was open, and after the tragedy the store was shut down for the day. So I don't think anyone actually bought anything there yesterday.
I see what happened at Wal Mart yesterday as a criminal failure of the store's management. These sort of things only happen when there is a vacuum of authority on hand to keep an excited crowd in check. They should have been prepared for a large turnout, and there should have been sufficient numbers of trained personnel on hand to keep things from getting out of control. But it's no surprise that this happened at a Wal Mart. They don't exactly have a great track record when it comes to labor matters. I'm sure poor Mr. Damour was paid a low wage and had minimal if any training on how to handle a large crowd.
And I don't think it was your intention, but the appearance from how the train of argument flows in this piece is that rampant consumerism is a contributing cause to the national debt. I don't think one has much to do with the other, apart from the possible argument that each serves the interests of the super-wealthy.
The national debt is largely a consequence of our outgoing administration's policies of slashing taxes during wartime. That is a certain recipe for deficit. And bank deregulation in the credit card sector was the key factor that enables people to buy beyond their means.
Thanks for the comments, Matt. I realized this morning my error about the national debt and had meant to correct it. But thank you for pointing it out.
The incident at Wal-Mart from what I read might have differed from the account you read or perhaps I might have read something different. My understanding was that people did continue to shop. I also saw in the news later in the day, how people came to store and even after hearing about the death, continued to shop.
Regardless, I think you got the point I was trying to make. My wife and I had the very same discussion about whether or not Wal-Mart was complicit and I agree with everything you said. She thinks they are not to blame.
Again, thanks for reading.
You're right, the times had a follow-up article over the weekend (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/nyregion/30walmart.htm). Apparently the store closed for a few hours then reopened. Also in the latest article, the victim is described as a maintenance worker. It gives a little bit more detail about the moments of the incident, which definitely support your image of people literally rushing over his battered body on their way to shop. The article also states he died about an hour later.
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