Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, started based on an accounting term when records were kept in ink with red signifying a loss in profits and black signifying a profit. Retailers generally operate in the red (unprofitable) throughout the year and depend heavily on the holiday season sales to end the year in the black with a profit. While Black Friday is not considered a national holiday, it has been commercialized as such a big deal that employees are given this day off in the hopes of increasing the number of shoppers. Although Black Friday is a tradition for many families, in today's society, Black Friday has become a bad sign for the US. As we witness every line wrapped around a building at 4am and as we see more and more people …show more content…
Is this really what is happening though? It may be increasing the sales of these retail stores but the problem is what it is doing to the consumers who are spending the money. According to the New America Foundation, "back in 1980 less than 30 percent of all jobs in the US were low-income jobs, Today, over 40 percent of all jobs in the US are low- income jobs." As we see these numbers, why would we think that this shopping holiday is improving our economy, if its proven that everyday people cannot even achieve above a low-income job. Yes, all this money is being spent but none of it goes back into the people's hands to improve the problem of low-income jobs. Meanwhile, the American people continue to spend money to keep up with the "rat race", causing the poverty rates to continue to increase. Another example of this is the median household income dropping dramatically throughout the years, Based on the US Census Bureau, the median household income has fallen nearly 8% since 2000, leaving the middle class taking home a smaller overall income than ever before. Therefore, with all the sales, promotions and credit that is associated with this day, people are able to shop. Leaving, Black Friday as the only day that the average American people are able to have the means to afford any materialistic items for their …show more content…
This list could go on and on. That list shows us exactly how this "holiday" has such a social impact on the US. As people, we want to deny the fact that a day that has become a tradition could be so harmful to people socially, yet we can observe this by the little things that happen on Black Friday. The first problem you will see if you are out on Black Friday or even through the media, is the amount of aggression that comes out of people over shopping. When we think about a family tradition we think good times and being happy, yet we go out as a society and fight over who will get the last of the latest gadget. In The Frustration Aggression Theory, developed by Dollard, Miller, Doob, Mowrer, and Sears, they propose that frustration and aggression have a cause and effect relationship as frustration causes aggression and results from frustration. Frustration happens when the intended goal is blocked by obstacles. We see this surface on Black Friday as customers navigate through crowded stores and long lines, resulting in customer's tension raising turning into fighting, arguments, and etc. All of this aggression leads to an increase number of deaths and injuries every year on this exact day. As we look back on the past years we see acts of violent crime becoming more extreme, even as intense as a death taking place over "two people fighting over a parking space back in 2013." Last year, 7 deaths