ThirstyFish

Photographed at a street fair promoting the opening of a new store in Izmir.

It's Black Friday here in the United States. The day after Thanksgiving where shoppers go crazy trying to get the "best" deals. Someone even has a webpage with a running Black Friday Death Count. Black Friday is similar to Boxing Day shopping in Commonwealth nations. Now, one might ask, how much "meaning" can people really get from shopping? The answer, enough to make shopping a matter of life or death. For some, maybe for most, it is I shop, therefore I am.

Can shopping really be a source of meaning? It turns out, anything can be a source of meaning. In fact, when we look back out our past accomplishments, many of us pride ourselves on what we have purchased or are able to purchase. But the ideology "that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-greater amounts" is most like going to bring our end.