Many are upset and voicing their opinions that many corporations are "canceling" Thanksgiving. In what appears to be a struggling attempt to get a "jump" on Black Friday sales , stores have introduced a new shopping day ( now known as "Brown Thursday"), things may have backfired unintentionally. The problem is that this designated Thursday is Thanksgiving and the new "shop-until you drop" day falls on one of the most hallowed days during the Holiday season. Critics of this concept state that Americans typically rest on this day and enjoy time with their families and give thanks for the blessings they've been fortunate to receive. Many large companies are challenging this basic view by "suggesting" to employers, managers and employees that they work and create a profit . Some see this as dismantling and demeaning to what are the very fundamental values of the heart of American traditionalism which is being "threatened" by corporate forces. Many have come to see this pinnacle of the free market system as falling into a hedonistic orgy of materialism. This is far from the original view of the bond of the Pilgrim immigrants and Native American peace treaty. The English Pilgrims were outcast socially from England and were struck with the very possibility of starvation in a brutal New England winter. The Native American Population took in this group and harbored them so that they could survive. Today, this story has been over-shadowed by pitching a tent overnight at a mega-mall and getting into a long line to prepare for a battle royal known as Black Friday, now extended to Thursday. But, now it will be extended one day earlier. The pressure on workers to labor, who are themselves shoppers and consumers the moment they leave there place of employment becomes greater. The pressure to manage regular home life with new expectations at the holidays become both a sociological, psychological and economic concern for the average family. What message does retail corporations send when they make Thanksgiving a "working holiday"; that there is nothing really to be thankful for ? Corporate America substituting traditional values for something other than those earlier traditions will become a battle between secular views versus traditional values. The holidays become more politicized and perhaps even a class issue born out of something that once gave the appearance of national identity, but the thin veneer of this is eroding. The "working holiday" sets a new precedence for American values and is seen by some as the potential exploitation of the American worker. For five weeks consumers will feel greater pressure by the illusion of choice and discounts that has been pre-calculated into the corporate bottom line the day after last year's Christmas accounts in attempts to estimate 3rd quarter objectives. Perhaps GDP and the red line is the real factor behind this move. What makes the situation particularly humorous is that the public will slowly become sober again from the five weeks of "merry spending" . The loss of temporary holiday jobs will prove that this slow economy is really no more close of being in the black. No new years resolution will be enough for what affects the feeble attempts of "stimulating" our economic situation will have by this method.
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