You Must Avoid The Orgy of Materialism and Greed

<p>The viciousness of the mob is one of the darker themes in Roman history. There was the angry crowd that tore Saturninus to pieces during Marius’s time. There were the grieving, angry citizens who, riled up by Mark Antony’s funeral oration after the death of Caesar, murdered the poet Cinna just because he had the same <em>name</em> as one of the conspirators. </p><p>It’s scary what a group of people can do when the unwritten rules of civil society break down. There is perhaps no better day to think about this than Black Friday in America. Fresh off the gratitude of Thanksgiving, we decide to reward ourselves by greedily gorging on stuff. </p><p>It is hard to think of a day whose entire purpose sits in greater conflict with <a href='https://dailystoic.com/what-is-sympatheia-and-why-its-important/?utm_source=convertkit&amp;utm_medium=convertkit&amp;utm_campaign=orgy-of-materialism'>the Stoic notion of sympatheia</a>. The same people who were previously sitting peacefully with their family are now ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat over a deal on a flat screen television. Instead of enjoying the time off, people have been lined up for hours in the cold to buy more and more crap they don’t actually need, at lower and lower prices. Not to replace the crap they bought last Black Friday, mind you, <em>but to add to the pile</em>. The only cost Black Friday shoppers don’t mind paying for these savings? Yelling matches, <a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/78i7h8hv/aHR0cDovL3RpbWUuY29tL21vbmV5LzQxMjcwMzUvY2FyLWFjY2lkZW50cy10aGFua3NnaXZpbmctYmxhY2stZnJpZGF5Lw=='>countless traffic accidents</a>, and the collateral damage of retail employees being trampled to death. (There’s <a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/opfkhqh3/aHR0cDovL2JsYWNrZnJpZGF5ZGVhdGhjb3VudC5jb20v'>a website</a> that tallies ‘<a href='https://el2.convertkit-mail.com/c/preview/zvtghnh9/aHR0cDovL2JsYWNrZnJpZGF5ZGVhdGhjb3VudC5jb20v'>Black Friday Death Counts</a>’ if you’re really curious.)</p><p><a href='https://dailystoic.com/