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Wal-Mart Death a Fitting Symbol of the Times

Desperate consumers, ailing economy make for dangerous combination

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 30, 2008 1:54 PM CST

(Newser) – When shoppers charged into a Long Island Wal-Mart at the stroke of 5am Friday and trampled to death a temp who happened to get between them and the $388 flatscreen TVs inside,“it was a tragedy, yet it did not feel like an accident,” Peter Goodman writes in the New York Times. Goodman notes that just as the Depression had its breadlines, and the '70s their gas lines, today's iconic image is the desperate mob rushing headlong for its must-have bargain.

Even as credit lines recede, “Americans have been effectively programmed to shop,” Goodman says, likening the American economy to a piñata. “It seemed fitting then, in a tragic way, that the holiday season began with violence fueled by desperation,” he observes, “with a mob making a frantic reach for things they wanted badly, knowing they might go home empty-handed.”

[Images (5)]

[Quotes (3)]

Raymond Feliciano catches up on some sleep after waiting in line from midnight to 4am at the Wal-Mart in Niles, Ill., Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Frankie Lee, first in a line of several hundred shoppers spending their night outside an Oakland, Calif., Wal-Mart, rubs his eyes shortly before the store opens at 5am, Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A woman struggles as she comes through the doors with other shoppers at a Wal-Mart store in Secaucus, NJ, shortly after 5am, Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Mike Derer)

Shoppers run through the doors at a Wal-Mart store in Secaucus, NJ, shortly after 5am, Friday, Nov. 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Mike Derer)

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American business has long excelled at creating a sense of shortage amid abundance, an anxiety that one must act now or miss out. - Peter S. Goodman

Hollywood and Madison Avenue have excelled at persuading us that the holiday season is a time to spend lavishly or risk being found insufficiently appreciative of our loved ones. - Peter S. Goodman

The American economy has become a kind of piñata—lots of treats in there, but no guarantee that you will get any, making people prone to frenzy and sending some home bruised. - Peter S. Goodman

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 7 comments

Guest

Dec 5, 2008 4:10 AM CST

"Police are reviewing video" to see if they can find who to charge. Here's a clue...WALMART! They had this kid stand in front of a crowd they lured there. If I had a band and did what they did at a rock concert, I would be brought up on charges. But no we can't charge the corporations for the stupidity they promote, only the little guys.

Guest

Dec 1, 2008 6:55 AM CST

I hope retailers will stop this madness, stop taunting those crazy people who are just looking for a reason to get aggressive. Sensible people choose to not go out on that stupid shopping day.

Guest

Dec 1, 2008 6:25 AM CST

I hope all of those bastards who where shopping there that day muted there brand new Blu-Ray long enough to realize just what there life has amounted to... idiots of the human race.

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Wal-Mart Death a Fitting Symbol of the Times