Blackout Friday

The holiday-themed commercials are ramping up, and the push to purchase is everywhere you turn. Apparently, we, the people, have been reduced to our credit cards. Companies think we're all helpless in the face of the grand, commercial end-of-year holidays, and we MUST show our appreciation for our loved ones via a shopping spree.  That’s what they believe. We’re not citizens, we’re dollar signs. We’re widgets.

And the squeeze is on, isn’t it? Companies have used tariffs as an excuse to jack prices up and away, along with most holiday dreams. The only avenue left is to score a deal on the only holiday that counts, Black Friday. Many will try to ease their unhappiness over dry Thanksgiving turkey or another year of arguments at the family dinner table by standing in line at the crack of dawn to buy a gizmo. Because they’ve also sold shopping as a tradition – getting up early like grandma and grandpa once did, huddling in line with people you don’t know to suffer the humiliations of the crowd pressing down on the great glass doors between them and marked-down cheer. Happy black holiday. 

I get it, I do. That’s the only way forward for many, and I would never tell you to not follow that path if it satisfies your requirements for a rewarding holiday. We all do what we must. Maybe try to support local companies instead, if you can, and limit the purchases if you’re able. A donation to a local food bank would not go amiss.

But also recognize that these deals feed into another problem – namely, the rent-seeking entrenchment of big tech companies. What do I mean? Many non-tech companies can no longer get in front of their customers unless they pay, and pay, and pay to Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Ebay in order to be found. And the cut is steep – these tech companies are the only game in town when it comes to getting products in front of shoppers. Non-tech companies pay to be found and then pay commissions to these companies for the privilege of using their platforms. Many of these go broke doing it. 

The tech companies turn around and use the rent they’ve collected to buy their way into the halls of power. They purchase a better market and preferential laws to squeeze even harder. They deliver gold bars to the oval office, have senators and representatives return their calls, and put their names on a ballroom donor plaque.

If you can’t opt out of a Black Friday deal, consider other ways to squeeze back. 

Don’t be online on Friday. Don’t share anything on social media. Don’t search. Don’t “take care of holiday to-dos with A.I. tools.” In fact, turn off the phone and unplug the computer, so tech companies can’t pad out their extensive customer profiles and bumps in online traffic, and use it to jack up the prices that keep them in power.  Rob them of the opportunity to collect the rent. 

Instead of a credit card statement, make another statement – one that reduces the influence of the tech landlords and restores the balance of power to we, the people. If we did that, maybe we’d truly have a happy holiday season.