Black Friday is a ridiculous creation of American retailers. It is hard to blame them for wanting to create hype and jumpstart sales ahead of Christmas by establishing a shopping holiday on a day many Americans get off from work. But the end result is something grotesque — a caricature of America’s prosperity.

The day contains a lot of human drama, not all of which is flattering to the nation’s image. On the one hand, there are the workers who man the tills and the shelves, presumably sacrificing the ability to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. On the other, there are consumers who behave like animals, at times trampling, injuring and even killing one another.