Worldwide…

Today is International Buy Nothing Day (a day later than in the U.S., where BND coincides with the annual frenzy of Black Friday, described by the New York Times as: “A quintessentially American ritual at the altar of consumerism, Black Friday marks a day of 5 a.m. openings, 50 percent discounts and… lurid spectacle(s) of shopping as competitive sport.”)

Shopping truly is an ugly orgy of consumerism in the U.S., where (according to the National Retail Federation) more than 128 million are expected to shop this weekend. To wit—at 4:55 yesterday morning, a shrieking mob of thousands of Wal-Mart shoppers in Long Island broke through glass entrance doors and trampled 34-year-old worker Jdimytai Damour (Jimmy) to death in a blind stampede for holiday bargains. Other workers were also trampled as they tried to rescue Jimmy, and customers shouted angrily and kept shopping when store officials said they were closing because of the death, according to police and witnesses. There’s more wrong with that picture than I can begin to shake a stick at…