The Black Friday shopping orgy really only proves that the Black Friday shopping orgy is deemed extremely newsworthy. We don't get breathless wall-to-wall coverage of all the folks who stay at home to avoid the phenomenon altogether.
I think there are lots of people in this country who care about all sorts of things other than money, but the arbiters of culture have a hard time getting a handle on intangible, non-quantifiable values, the mass media are unable to generate a reporting structure not based on a race against time ("the news cycle"), and the people we elect to represent our interests in governing are bought and paid for by the very wealthy and the corporate interests they promote.
I think the national "narrative" which promotes Black Friday to such a pinnacle of significance only touches the surface of people's lives, and, like beauty, is only skin deep.
