I’ve seen a couple of exhortations to boycott Black Friday. I completely agree with critics of the consumer economy that consumption does not create economic growth, there is far more to life than material consumption, holiday spending has gotten excessive, etc., etc. Still, some are calling for boycotts of major retailers because they “ruin workers’ holidays.” The boycotters are off base for two reasons.
First, there’s a huge collective action problem here. If you’re not in line at Best Buy, that means more space for me. For the same reason competitive pressure makes cartels break down, a nationwide boycott isn’t likely to work. There are and have been exceptions, but I don’t expect this to be one of them.
Second, workplace disamenities will be reflected in wage rates. Suppose working all night on Thanksgiving is unattractive. If so, firms will have to pay a little more in order to attract workers to jobs where that is a possibility. I’m on board with those who want to be less consumption-focused, but even if we were to stage a successful boycott that made working at Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, and other places more comfortable, the reduced disamenity would ultimately manifest itself in lower wages. Just as people don’t live on bread alone, they are not compensated with wages alone. As David Henderson has said, you don’t help people by taking away from them the choices they actually make. You help by giving them more options. The new options for workers won’t come from the fact that you are avoiding the mall per se; they will come from the fact that your savings can be re-deployed in other productive enterprises.
I don’t plan to buy anything tomorrow, but it won’t be because I’m trying to make a social statement. There are a lot of great reasons to avoid the hustle and bustle of malls and shopping centers on Black Friday. “Helping workers” probably isn’t one of them.
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Boycott? No, I just prefer to avoid the hassles of crowded stores.
I’m with you, Michael. Although some people view the Black Friday shopping as some sort of bizarre sport or ritual, I can think of lots of things I’d rather do at 4am on Friday (say, sleep). Sure, if you can tell (guarantee) me I’m going to save $500 or more by getting up early and fighting the crowds, maybe I’ll bite. To save $20 or $50? No thanks.
The only black friday participation from me might be with online sales, but I am not a fan of going out when it’s extremely crowded at stores. I despise waiting in lines.
Here in SA, we have no thanksgiving event. So there’s no obvious starting time for kicking off the Xmas shopping frenzy. So the retailers shamelessly start cranking up the Boney M songs and erecting fake snow displays in October. I dont know why they don’ t just hang it all and just start warming up towards Xmas on Easter Monday.
The online version of Black Friday is the only way to go.
I don’t boycott Black Friday. I just don’t like crowded stores and long lines and prefer to do my shopping either online or when stores are less crowded.
Well, whatever. I don’t plan on engaging in unnecessary consumer spending for Any variation of Black Friday whatsoever. I don’t like being forced to work on holidays, because “it’s best for the business” and won’t contribute to enabling conglomerates to make others work on these days. The deals are tempting to be sure, but the competition is fierce. In addition, it is simply foolish to literally set up a tent in front of Bestbuy just to save a few dollars. Is your life so consumed by material possessions that you will sleep outside on the sidewalk in the cold? People need to wake up and get a grip. These are items they won’t even care about in a couple of years.
A personal boycott is certainly a free-market endeavor. Say, start with one person, then tell your firends, buy advertising, etc. Just don’t go to government to bring back blue laws or other weird labor or trade restrictions.
I am personally offended by the move of Christmas (and gift-giving) from a celebration of Christ’s birth (and the tradition of gifts from the “wise men”) to that of a materialist circus of a more secular humanist bent. That’s me.
So I avoid Black Friday, and overall we’re trying toy-free gift giving this year for the kids — wish us luck. But for those that choose to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving, or put up a tree in October, or stress over modern holiday traditions over focus on the Messiah — I say that’s between them and the Lord.
I appreciate your comment.
These people are idiots. As a temp worker I greatly value overtime opportunities as it means more money in my pocket and I can take holiday when things calm down. They’re not helping workers at all. They’re the sort of idiots who bring in legislation against working on weekends.
Boycotting the political class is far more precise than any boycotting of businesses. After all the motive behind any boycott seems to be justice and it is the political class that is the primary cause of injustices.
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