How do all these people afford to shop Black Friday?

[marions ghost]

16. Of course many who are fragile economically are bamboozled

and probably will be using credit that puts them in the hole. And unfortunately they will continue to be battered with class/materialist messages because that is sure to get them into stores. Which is for some their only recreation outside of work.
You sum up the vicious cycle very well.

So you know what it's like to be on a tight budget, but see others around you who are not so frugal. You are more disciplined and perhaps more creative in getting by. Others are weaker and more susceptible to the pitches. I don't know how to make weak people stronger-- in the face of the materialist consumer society we live in.

When inequality is so great like it is now, there tends to be a sense of "lack" that feeds spending. And this just lines the pockets of the corporates. The greed is at the top. In a society where everyone has enough, the urge to consume recedes.