Guest Opinion/Commentary*
'Is This Really Thanksgiving?'
By Paul Proctor (11/24/07)
Take a look at the following video footage taken in Mesquite, Texas on the 23rd of November 2007. Oh, and be sure to turn up the speakers on your computer to get the full effect:
Video clip
Were it not for the accompanying caption, one would think they were witnessing some horrendous tragedy unfolding – a gang related incident – a shooting – maybe an earthquake or some other natural disaster. On rare occasions, I’ve seen a similar kind of frenzy breakout on a much smaller scale when certain celebrities arrive to walk the red carpet at some staged Hollywood event; but nothing as large, intense and spontaneous as what was recorded here.
Now, if people act like this just to gain entry into a shopping mall to spend their money on bargains in times of plenty, how will they behave when the stock market plummets to near half its value, banks close their doors for days or weeks at a time and the U.S. dollar collapses on world markets – when food, water, shelter and the bare necessities of life suddenly become scarce, unavailable or just unaffordable? Are we ready for that?
Are you ready for that?
Because this video was shot in the heart of the Bible belt, I suspect many, if not most of the shoppers captured on tape attend churches each and every Sunday – but probably not with the same kind of fervor. That’s not to say their pastors and church leaders don’t try to create this kind of atmosphere, considering they proudly employ many of the same customer-oriented, emotionally-driven, impulse-evoking tactics, strategies and marketing principles the malls and their tenants use to stir up business.
Unless there is something else at work here that I am not aware of, I think its safe to assume that the stampede we see in this video clip is probably not caused by a shortage of merchandise or an over-abundance of spending money, but rather by an over-abundance of merchandise and dangerously dwindling cash reserves and credit limits that are telling worried card holders: “If you want it, you better get it now” – much like a homeless wino begs for money from nameless passersby to purchase himself one last bottle of holiday joy before the liquor stores close.
But, you know, when I drove past the Nashville Rescue Mission yesterday and saw the crowds of street people surrounding it right before Thanksgiving, they didn’t look near as desperate and delusional as all of those shoppers clamoring to get inside the mall.
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”– Revelation 3:17-18
© 2007 Paul Proctor - All Rights Reserved
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*Ed: Views are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of American Daily.
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