It has happened. American society has collapsed. We know that the American econony demands a healthy Christmas shopping season in order for the economy to stay afloat. That's whey they call it Black Friday. Stores go into the financial black on the day after Thanksgiving, when the month-long shopping season begins in earnest. At lot of crap is sold during the month of December, and bargains galore bring out the shoppers at 5:00 a.m. when the doors open the day after Thanksgiving.

American society collapsed on Long Island a few days ago, when a Wal-Mart worker was killed after customers crashed through the front doors to get their hands on the very expensive television sets and other electronic goodies that the store sold at a great discount for Black Friday.

Let's go the source: Newsday, the daily paper on Long Island, which usually tries to stand above the fray as one of the more literate newspapers in the country:

A stampede of shoppers in a Valley Stream Wal-Mart on Friday morning left one worker dead and at least three patrons injured after an impatient crowd broke down the store doors and trampled the seasonal employee, Nassau police said.

Jdimytai Damour of Jamaica, Queens, was pushed to the ground by the 2,000-plus crowd just before 5 a.m. as management was preparing to open the store, which is located across from the main Green Acres Mall building. Hundreds stepped over, around and on the 34-year-old worker as they rushed into the store.

"This crowd was out of control," said Nassau Police Det. Lt. Michael Fleming, whose squad is investigating.

"Nobody was trying to help him," said shopper Nakea Augustine, who was in the line. "They were rushing in the store, rushing, rushing, rushing."

. . .

As part of its Black Friday promotion, Wal-Mart had advertised sales like a Polaroid 42-inch LCD HDTV for $598 and a DVD of "Rush Hour 2" for $2 - prices valid only from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Friday morning

. . .

Amid the chaos in Valley Stream, shoppers were asked to leave by other store workers, some of them crying, said Cribbs. Others ignored the pleas that they stop shopping, move to the front of the store and exit, she said. "They kept shopping. It's not right," Cribbs said.

The incident began when people who had gathered well before 5 a.m. in the rear of the line began pushing, cascading the people in the front into the sliding supermarket-type doors, which were literally knocked off their hinges, Fleming said

. . .

Frightened employees initially used the doors as makeshift shields to defend against the onslaught of shoppers, she said.

What a way to die. This story really says it all. Shoppers rammed the doors down and trampled a worker, probably a guy working for minimum wage. Shoppers protested when the store tried to restore order, and with the body still warm they ran all over the store at 5:00 a.m. looking for bargains the way that rats invade the resturant kitchen at night.

There is not much in the way research into the Christmas shopping culture. It really defines us a nation. First, you have to buy Christmas presents for everyone around you, particularly family and close friends. If you don't, you are a pariah and a degenerate. There are many people to shop for, and the looks on the faces of people at the mall reflect terror and fear that there is not enough time or money to shop for everyone.

Second, the economy absolutely requires a healthy Christmas shopping season. Every single television commerical from Thanksgiving until December 24 is a Christmas commercial. This is American capitalism. If people are not buying these items during the year, then they probably don't need them. They are buying them during Chrismas shopping season because they are told to do so. If Christmas did not exist, we would have to invent a holiday like it.