It's Thanksgiving, not thanksbuying

We now have "Black Thursday"

One of the more distressing images of the holiday season is the annual shopping frenzy on "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving, when hordes of bargain-seekers trample over one another to get that new video game or HDTV at dirt-cheap prices.

Thanks to Walmart, Target and others, we won't have to wait until Friday to see footage of rabid shoppers wedging through double doors in search of some electronic gizmo.

In fact, Walmart will open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving because it's never too early to get that package of tube socks for a pittance.

The occasional worker or shopper may get crushed to death, but that's a small price to pay for record corporate profits. Gotta keep that stock price up.

Walmart, of course, is the poster-child of retail corporate cruelty. Read this story on how Walmart is a dead-end place for almost all of its workers, many of whom live in poverty.

So, who better to make work on Thanksgiving night than the poorest people in our country. It's the spirit of giving, isn't it?

For a company that claims to promote "family values," Walmart does its best to break up the family on a day when we should be celebrating all that we have, not what we can get on aisle 27.

What's particularly sad about all this is that we are conditioned by our modern society to behave this way.

We are told to spend, spend, spend, because that is what drives our economy. Who cares if the credit card is maxed out.

Then we're told to pay down our debts. Save, save, save.

It's enough to make us all schizoid.

Sadly, shoppers will likely have less to spend this holiday season since so many are struggling to handle their monthly cell phone bills. Check out this story on the monthly $300 bill for smartphones and data plans.

What makes Black Friday enticing for so many consumers is that it helps stretch that dwindling dollar.

We're making less than we did 20 years ago, when adjusted for inflation, and we need cheaper goods no matter who makes them or how little they are paid.

Here's hoping that most people stay home on Thanksgiving even if it means arguing with the in-laws or falling asleep early from eating all that turkey.

The best things in life aren't things.