It seems with each passing year the madness on Black Friday gets even worse. This year, there were reports of fights and rioting from coast to coast. It was estimated that over 180 million U.S. shoppers headed for the stores on Friday, and whenever you get that many people together there are going to be problems. But just how crazed ordinary Americans are getting over saving a little bit of money is deeply disturbing when you really start thinking about it. If people will go this wild just to save 40 percent on a television set, then what in the world are they going to do when they have been without food for a couple of days? If Americans will act like psychotic animals just to save 50 bucks, then what in the world will they do when they have lost everything and are desperate to survive?
All of us had better hope and pray that an economic collapse does not happen any time soon, because it is becoming increasingly apparent that the American people are not morally equipped to be able to handle one. Greed and selfishness have become so rampant in America that large segments of the population have totally forgotten how to be any other way.
If the United States ever experiences a really, really bad economic downturn, this nation could very quickly start looking like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina from coast to coast. Most Americans would simply not know how to handle it.
The following are 9 shocking examples of Black Friday violence that should make all of us wonder what is happening to America....
#1 At a Target store in Buffalo, New York the crowds waiting impatiently outside suddenly became a chaotic mob once the doors opened at 4 AM on Friday morning.
One man that was lying on the ground remembers thinking "I don't want to die here" while he was being trampled by crazed shoppers....
#2 Crowds were becoming so violent at a Wal-Mart in Sacramento, California that the police actually evacuated the store early Friday morning.
#3 Three women from West Palm Beach, Florida said that $1,000 in presents that they had just purchased at Best Buy were stolen from their vehicle on Friday morning within minutes of being purchased.
#4 One U.S. Marine reservist that was collecting toys for children was stabbed with a knife when he attempted to stop a shoplifter in eastern Georgia on Friday.
#5 Blogger Lynne Elder-Blau has posted about overhearing police officers describe a huge brawl that erupted this year at one well-known store on Black Friday....
Well, the girls and I were in a popular convenience store in Garden City last night while a store employee and a Garden City Police Department Officer were visiting. They were conversing about a large group of customers who got into a knock-down brawl at a nationally-known variety store in Garden City yesterday morning. Several police officers were brought in to break up the ball of adults who were pulling and tugging at products and actually punching other customers in their faces and stomach areas! We're not just talking about a few people who were involved in this violent non-sense. The officer said that there was a large amount of people involved in this particular altercation. Ridiculous!!!
#6 A 21-year-old woman from Middleton, Wisconsin was arrested when she threatened to shoot other shoppers while waiting to get into a Toys R Us store for Black Friday. The other shoppers had objected when she attempted to move to the front of the line.
#7 The following is video of customers literally tearing apart a store display at a Wal-Mart in Douglasville, Georgia as they pushed and shoved each other in an attempt to grab the best deals....
#8 The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department actually "locked down" a section of a Cerritos, California shopping mall after a wild fight broke out in the food court. There were even reports that some people were flinging chairs at other customers.
#9 At one Wal-Mart in Texas, a near-riot broke out right in the middle of the store as a huge crowd of customers pushed and shoved each other to get a handful of Black Friday deals that were being wheeled out to the floor....
If you want to see even more videos of Black Friday craziness, check out this and this.
Remember, the products that these Americans are fighting over are not free. This is how crazy people are willing to go just to get a deep discount on an item.
So what is going to happen someday when people are desperate for food or shelter?
If this is how people act when the sun is shining, how are they going to behave once a really bad storm arrives?
In America today, fewer and fewer people are treating others the way that they would like to be treated themselves.
Instead of showing others kindness and respect, in 2010 most Americans would seemingly rather trample anyone who is in the way of getting what they want.
So what do you think? Are Americans becoming more greedy and more selfish or are they basically "good" and "decent" people most of the time? Feel free to leave a comment with your opinion....
This is why I have a AR15 rifle. What would these people do if the economy failed and they were a couple of days without food because they didn’t properly prepare for a disaster? They would definately try to kill me for my food. I would be forced to defend my family and my food storage. Very sad people act like this just to save a few dollars. Very sad to see this in the USA. I pray I will never have to use my battle rifle against fellow Americans.
Customers who act like this are putting the lives of other people in jeopardy. They need to take the responsibility to be more careful and considerate of each other.
I have a 62 year uncle who is a professor at a major university and a communist. When I explained to him that Social Security is a ponzi scheme and in order for him to get his money my children will foot the bill for his retirement. He replied have more kids. This sums up the Average American to me greedy and lazy. I can only Imagine the uproar when people like my Uncle find out there is no money for SS like screaming spoiled children.
Re GOS: YES! Not a coincidence that they put up with Jesus UNTIL he beat the crap out of the bankers with a whip. Jesus died to impress this message on us: “Resistance is futile”. Follow the rules, love your neighbor, turn the other cheek, render unto Caesar, Forgive. If you do otherwise, you will wind up on that cross. (or at least, you will wind up quite unhappy)
Just more examples of how society will not last long without Judeo-Christian ethic as the glue to tie us together.
In practical terms, I pray for a GOP Administration (Mitch Daniels / Paul Ryan come time mind) who is serious about getting our spending under control and avoiding a financial collapse that you talk about.
capitalism=oligarchy=plutocracy=sub culture
when the masses have little, what goes around…
Thank you for posting… examples like this serve as a wonderful catalyst for others to perhaps rise above certain behaviors if they so choose.
On a larger scale talk of economic collapse and war only act as yet another indicator to millons to get their “house” in order.
Why give into the “illusion” of society?
Why not simply look behind the cutain of yourself and see the real truth?
There’s a scene in 1984 where Winston Smith hears a riot breaking out. He rushes to the street to see if it is a rebellion against the Party and it turns out to be — women fighting over some cooking pans.
That’s where we are today in Airstrip Two of Oceania. Americans may fight over consumer goods, but when it comes to anything serious, like resisting the TSA idiocy at the airports, they line up like good little sheep for the shearing. As for an economic collapse, well, we are pretty much there and aside from some well mannered Tea Partiers, there seems to be little in the way of interest beyond who is on “Dancing with the Stars.”
http://home.earthlink.net/~jamiranda/terminallystupidalgorithmtsa/id3.html
If only these frenzied individuals would seek knowledge instead of things! Well, when ‘things’ are no longer available seeking knowledge may become more of a way of life.
In addition to the stupid, inconsiderate Black Friday mess, the tail gating drivers that ride right up onto my bumper instead of just passing me are a significant dangerous and hostile force.
We should have more of these episodes so the hoi polloi will kill themselves off. I saw nothing like this while shopping in my favorite wine store in Washington DC.
There is no one “good,” no, not one.
if this is really an representation of america, you can see the MSM all over the cause. It looks any modern rap video or mass marketed movie. and it’s reinforced every day on the local and national news. Who is really promoting this stuff anyway?
What can we expect when over 1/2 of all Americans 18 and older are taking psychotropic pharmaceutical agents?…..Behavioral problems will continue to escalate, just as Big Pharma has designed…..
Disgusting….go read Robert E.Howard’s take on so called “civilization” vs. barbarism
Two comments: One, this is exactly the kind of behavior I would expect of people outside the developed world. Been there, seen that.
Two: the writer’s thesis is naive. No, we’re not “basically good and decent”. We have to learn those things. The bad and indecent come naturally. And yes, there IS a “good” and there IS a “bad”. Otherwise, this whole conversation is absurd.
Just got back from a week in Rome, Italy. What a civilized LARGE city that is. The overall impression was one of a caring, polite society where they care deeply about each other, even strangers.
Rampant comsumerism is just not apparent in that country.
The more you know, the less you need.
Dumbasses, many over weight, fighting for crap…If they’d work as hard at being productive as they are struggling for whatever crap Walmart sells, maybe they’d see that they don’t need this crap in the 1st place. Americans are fat, lazy, and ignorant, while all along they think they are the smartest and best. They have become the crap they seek, and their lives are wasted by their greed. Ignorance breeds ignorance !
Twenty years ago when I left the US I had a bad feeling about the place. Those feelings have proved to be right, sadly.
I didn’t go to any stores on Black Friday, because I ran out of money on the 18th. That’s okay, when I get my paycheck on the first, there will be plenty of bargains. Oh yeah, I won’t be able to afford those either. Oh well. Still don’t miss it.
You are quite right in your assessment of the potential for violence when a critical percentage (25%) of people of our country get to the point of hunger and/or homelessness. With the current economy sinking fast, this could come sooner rather than later. It will indeed be a very dangerous time. This time could be in the near future, 5 to 10 years, and will be very much of a threat to our entire country. Revolution, perhaps violent, seems to be the direction we are headed as a cuntry. This is due in large part to the inequitable distribution of wealth in the country. the top 1% of workers earn more than the bottom 50%. The statistical trend is for this to skew even more in favor of the rich and GREEDY 1%! However, “shuffle shopping”, although dangerous physically is not the proper example of what may be on the economic and political horizon of the USA. I think (not know) that people want to save for a “gadget”, especially at Christmas, just because of the “tradition” of Black Friday shopping. Also, because this shopping date gets much more media attention and therefore attracts many more people than any other shopping day of the year, violence can and does occur more on this date. But, it also occcurs on days when there are no special pricing available. People are more rude and violent today in totality! The kind of violence I am speaking of will truly be the result of the disproportionate allowcaton of basic assets, such as food, water, housing,opportunity, and etc. due to lack of jobs, let alone meaningful jobs and wages. Most people I talk with actually believe this reallocation of assets in this country is coming sooner rather than later, and I speak of people in all income classes and all educational backgrounds. It will truly be a DISASTER when, not if, it happens!
I know a couple of Americans who “fled” 2 years ago to where I am (not saying where !) and they’re just shaking their heads in disbelief when they see what has happened and what is happening in the USA. It’s just totally out of control in all respects & it resembles a wild animal in its death throes.
It’s going down and nothing will save it.
Black Friday is going to be pleasant to what it will be like when the sheeple are REALLY starving and desperate, but there won’t be any help forthcoming.
Time has run out for these crazy people – their priorities are totally wrong and they have no idea about anything. They’ll be the first to go when SHTF. It’s “survival of the fittest and best prepared” time, so just shake your head in disbelief at these crazies and know you’re better than them.
I was in Havasupai Arizona in 2008 when a dam upstream broke, flooded the town and campground, cut off the escape route, and stranded a couple hundred people.
Fortunately there were no serious injuries like broken bones or gaping wounds. Some people did lose everything they had with them and were left barefoot with nothing but a bathing suit. There were also several minor injuries like bruises, sprained knees and ankles, etc.
Even though there was plenty of water, good weather, and enough supplies to be comfortable, some people completely lost it. Although they were fully clothed, fully equipped, and completely without injury, they ran, pushed, and whined to be the first people rescued. Their violence and hysteria in the face of no real danger was an ominous view of what they might do in a real crisis.
Even though there was no moral obligation to give deference to the slightly injured and destitute, the fact that there was no need to push to be first in line, other than slight inconvenience, shows me their character and their willingness to use violence against innocent people to get what they want. Not the kind of people I would want as a neighbor in turmoil.
Why do those of you who fled to other countries refuse to say where you live now? Seems selfish and odd..
Black Friday looks like this to me …
Why I don’t shop black Friday,I put up the Christmas tree instead. Went out on Saturday and the only thing I came home with was food and some ammunition. After seeing this crazyness, maybe I should go back for some more (food and ammo).
When I turned on my 6 yr. old laptop this morning to check the road conditions (we had a winter storm warning) my laptop cooling fan made a horrible bearings-going- out sound. We were going to check out Cabela’s Black Friday sale and there is a Walmart nearby. Pretty much on a whim I stopped by the Walmart at 0445 hrs. to see if by chance I could snag a doorbuster deal on a new laptop. There were no rude, pushy people, just very orderly lines -and to make this story come to an end I was back in my vehicle with a $298 HP laptop by 0520; And we went to Cabelas afterward and found all the items we were looking for without any hassle (including Herters 7.62×39 154 gr. soft point for $3.99/box). Not saying all Black Fridays are like this, just my experience this morning.
Ya these kinds of problems are more in our society. This is the time to wake up.
It’s all Mexicans doing the rioting- just like the 1990s rioting in LA after the Rodney King affair.
What a bunch of SAVAGES!! I would rather pay full price than take part in that mess. Shame on all of those POS!
I don’t care about tearing up a display or emptying a skid of items being wheeled out. Those people are just playing at drama. I remember trying to track down the last few Xbox’s for sale in town. There’s a thrill of the hunt involved. It’s silly when we’re not hunting to survive, but we’re wired for it.
I do care about trampling people. If it had been a smaller person that fell, this would be a story about a death. I hope department stores’ legal departments have a come to Jesus meeting about not purposely creating bottleneck rushes.
Great post. Watching these clips is like a vaccination against unnecessary consumerism.
The feeling I get watching these clips is similar to after watching the documentary “The Century of Self”. It really lays bare the psychology behind consumerism and gives you the perspective to avoid falling into it. Highly recommended.
The sad thing about all of these stories is that it’s not like the deals were really all that great. The deals keep getting worse by the year and it seems as though people trying to get those mediocre deals keep getting crazier by the year.
As an aside, I used to work for Best Buy and they by far have the best system out there for Black Friday.
OMGosh! this is absolutely absurd ! What has happened to this country? I am all for saving money but not to the point of being hurt by others! I actually got the same deals on line that others were waiting in line to take advantage of. I know that one day we will have to face an economic collapse and I WILL be prepared for that as well. May God, help all of us!
I’ve always opposed eugenics but… it might be time to cull the herd.
Obviously, you all are too young to remember Cabbage Patch dolls and the “savage” rush for the door when new shipments arrived.
Look, out of over 300 million people, this indicates stability more than it does disaster.
Can it get worse? Yes. Will it? Stability lasts until you or your children are hungry. This destabilization seems to be the plan of the current administration.
silly me, i thought Black Friday was all about that baby
JJJaaayyysssuuusss…….
Jeremiah 10:1-4:
“Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the HEATHEN . . . for the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not . . . be not afraid of them for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. “
I think most Americans now excell only in stupid, greedy and lazy. I think most Americans now think they are “entitled” to something for nothing even when it’s clearly robbing the pockets of others for the things they think they are entitled to. They are in fact, as parasitical and disgusting as the State itself, voting themselves a free ride somewhere, off someone else’s back, with every election that rolls around. Let some parasitical politican promise them more “free money and benefits” (like anything other than breathing is free) and they are all for it just like the politician who likewise hopes to line his own pockets with someone else’s money while never having to work for it. There is no cradle to grave utopian free ride. You work or you die. There is no endless living host for you to feed off of.
The bigger the parasite becomes the sooner the living host dies. That living host is called the PRIVATE sector who is paying for your theft of what you think you are entitled to (not the government, not it’s “employees”, not Welfare receipeints – all of which are euphemistically referred to as the PUBLIC sector – and which the PRIVATE sector all pays for the subsistance of).
While watching these videos, I wondered how many of these barbarians fell into one of those PUBLIC sector categories? I wonder where they got the money to spend on their WANTS, not necessities? The PRIVATE sector, of course, who is always robbed by the State to pay for their PUBLIC sector, with the State and it’s employees at the top of the entitlement list.
If you’re a government employee, a welfare recepient, a bureaucrat, a politician or one of the mindless utopian nutcases known as a statist, you ALL disgust me. I challenge any of you to try competing in the private sector with whatever skills YOU’VE freely chosen yourself to develop or not, on a mutual exchange basis of VALUE FOR VALUE that only a healthy, truly free market economy would support (meaning that without State intervention).
Let me guess, you really have little of value to exchange for your entitlement-minded demands in a market, which if truly free, would find that what you personally could offer in exchange would be either obsolete (no longer a demand for), overpaid in terms of your skills, or an over supply of, such as PUBLIC employment (government jobs). A healthy economy requires a balance of supply and demand that is not found within the PUBLIC sector. Now why else would you support, and continue to support, a cradle to grave maintenance for your own life at someone else’s expense?
I concur with the feedbacker who indicated that perhaps it’s time to revisit Eugenics and cull the population, starting with the State. They do after all, breed the Keynesian/Marxian lies.
Without apology.
Well, we are living in a 24/7 media world, so the pre-Black Friday excitement started already early on Thursday night, because all the news stations like CBS, NBC, ABC, etc. were obsessing about it!
Nonetheless, times are tougher that’s right, Sears opened on Thursday night for the first time in 100 (hundred, it’s not a typo!) years!
Nouriel Roubini explained it quite well in his latest book:
Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance
What is interesting is that these things are leading to the prophesied end of our once great nation. Hard to watch and sad to see nevertheless what has to happen to a nation that turns it’s back on the One who has blessed it with everything it has been given.
Don’t think so? See The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy
I see these scenes of people trampling and pepper spraying others just to get at something they want. Just goes to show you the precursor of how they will act when they are desparate for something they need, like food.
Search for food riots and you will find a great deal of info. That’s why I started buying and selling survival food so when, not if, it happens I and my fortunate friends will already be prepared.