Yesterday in New York a store clerk was trampled to death by a surging crowd of shoppers. Today there is no end of commentary about what this tragedy means and who is to blame for the death of the clerk. Some have called the rampaging shoppers "savages."
Reactions say much about the reactor. I've seen at least one blatantly racist blogger who found a racial "lesson" -- the crowd in the store was mostly African American, which "proved" to him that African Americans cannot behave properly (I'd rather not provide a link to the site, if you don't mind). The problem with this "theory" is that the terrible phenomenon of being crushed to death by crowds seems to know no racial barrier.
For example, in 1971, 66 soccer fans were crushed to death in Scotland. Many who died were not trampled but were crushed where they stood in the crowd. In 1989 in Sheffield, England, 96 people were killed when soccer fans surged into a terrace to get a better look at the game. Most of the people who died were crushed against the riot control fences that surrounded the field.
And not to pick on Brits, possibly the largest number of soccer-crowd related deaths occurred in Moscow, in 1982, during a match between a Soviet club and a club from the Netherlands. According to Soviet newspapers 66 fans were killed, but eyewitnesses claimed there were as many as 340 deaths. As the fans were leaving down a narrow, icy staircase a late goal was scored. Many turned to re-enter the stadium, creating a "human mincer."
And not to pick on Europeans -- you might remember the 1975 tragedy at a Who concert in Cincinnati, when 11 people were killed in the crush to get into the stadium. I was living in Cincinnati at the time and remember the reactions. Many people blamed rock music. In 1980 nine Africans were crushed to death in a rush to catch a glimpse of Pope John Paul II. I don't recall that anyone blamed Catholicism for that, however.
I picked up the soccer tragedy information from a site called Crowd Dynamics. According to this site,
Virtually all crowd deaths are due to compressive asphyxia and not the "trampling" reported by the news media. Evidence of bent steel railings after several fatal crowd incidents show that forces of more than 4500 N (1,000 lbs.) occurred. Forces are due to pushing, and the domino effect of people leaning against each other. ......Horizontal forces sufficient to cause compressive asphyxia would be more dynamic as people push off against each other to obtain breathing space. In the Cincinnati rock concert incident, a line of bodies was found approximately 9 m (30 ft) from a wall near the entrance. This indicates that crowd pressures probably came from both directions as rear ranks pressed forward and front ranks pushed off the wall.
In the next few days, I expect to hear that some people involved in yesterday's tragedy in New York were swept along by the crowd and were helpless to stop. It is possible that the glass doors reported to have been broken by over-eager shoppers were actually broken by the force of the crowd, not deliberately. We may see.
I am not exonerating people in the deadly shopping crowd. If police are able to identity individuals whose behavior escalated the danger, by all means they should answer to the law. But the forces that created the crowd were not limited to the crowd, and blaming individuals in the crowd misses several larger points.
A number of commenters are blaming the disaster on greed. Greed as a force for evil is something we Buddhists can appreciate. Greed, along with anger and ignorance, is one of the Three Poisons that fuel the passions that confound and trouble us. So, yes, there is greed behind the pushing and shoving to get the best seat or the best electronic doo-dad for a Christmas present.
Our consumerist culture encourages our desires, however. Rarely are we told there is anything wrong with pushing and shoving to get what we want. There was also greed behind a business decision to encourage "door buster" shopping without hiring enough security or factoring in crowd control.
Right now the world's financial markets and investment infrastructures are crumbling under the forces of greed. There's a long article about this in the current Condé Nast Portfolio by Michael Lewis. He describes an environment in which many people, collectively and unthinkingly, built a "doomsday machine" that crushed the financial world.
No one planned the machine or intended to create it, but Lewis writes that nearly everyone on Wall Street was complicit in its creation. It was made by the forces of greed and took on a life of its own, just as a crowd can become a destructive phenomenon that the individuals in it are helpless to stop.
Blame and name-calling are self-indulgences that create their own harmful karma. We would all do well to examine ourselves to be sure we are not doing greed's bidding also.
The difference between this case of a person being trampled to death and other cases is that this person was trampled to death by shoppers. This guy was killed for a bargin. This selfishness and greed is a prime example of what Christmas has become in America. Also, if the crowd was in fact mostly African Americans, than it is exactly that; Fact; And that is all it is. I just wonder if the people who actually stepped on this person are going to have a good Christmas, or if they will feel any guilt for their disgusting behavior.
Alex — I don’t think you understood what I wrote, but in any event, plese stop trampling. Thank you.
I have always joked that you won’t see me at Wal-Mart or any of the big stores or malls till after christmas (actually, if I can get away with it, I’d rather not go to malls at all.) It isn’t because I am so superior, I can power shop with the best of them (just keep me away from Amazon.)
But lately, I have seen that if I keep buying at the rate I have in the past, We will have to buy another house just to store the stuff. Maybe we should call Christmas ’stuff-mas’.
Now that the kids are grown, we live in a three floor house with only two people and rooms full of stuff. I see the Rubbermaid commercial of the people who organize their stuff and then say “We need more stuff!” Actually, they need less rubbermaid and less stuff. I regularly record 3 shows that help people get rid of stuff, then redecorate it with new stuff, as if the solution has appeared and they’d be able to keep it up.
Instead of writing or making art, which is what I have always wanted to do, I “arrange” projects by moving supplies from room to room, and never getting started, but cruising the internet for more “stuff” to inspire me. I have sets and sets of colored pencils and watercolor crayons and burshes and easels, but never start. I just like looking at all their perfectly symetrical points, like groups of flower arrangements around my desk.
But now I want to stop. My kids won’t want my stuff. They are already filling up their own houses. Tey don’t need all the things they remember from their past.
Suddenly in middle age, I just want to “stop” Stop trying to acqquire to feel like I’ve made it, stop trying to achieve so much so I get noticed and get “Accolades” so I feel like I’m okay.
I trample and trample on people to get and do those things.
You may not see me shopping till after “Stff-mas”, But maybe I need to discover what is there that doesn’t mean buying something. Go sommewhere or be somewhere that may not involve exchanges of credit cards or checks or heaven help me the real thing “cash”.
Go slower. Increase the river of things coming into the house to a river of things going out.
I don’t wish you a merry stuff-mas, but I wish you clarity, and presence, and . . .
May we discover what else there is.
Yoby — great comment! It reminded me of the late George Carlin’s bit on “stuff.”
How sad our world has become. We MUST shop for the best bargains and we have to be FIRST in line. And for what, to save a few dollars on something that someone else really doesn’t need, doesn’t want, doesn’t care about, who will smile and say thank you and perhaps then re-gift it someone else. And for this, someone lost their life. And will this incident make a difference to anyone or have we become so oblivious to these types of stories that we will continue to march forward as we have always done without a thought.
When will it stop…this need to acquire, to replace, to have the best or to have what someone else has. It surely is time right now to say ENOUGH. We don’t need more.
What we do need is friendship and fellowship to share a meal together with good conversation. To listen to others with our hearts and as well as our ears.
And then the money we would have spent on buying at this time of year, whether for ourselves or others, should go to a charity of our choice. At least that would be a start.
Our family has decide to do just that and I’m very proud of them for making that decision.
My mother and I were discussing this today. We have gotten away from making the anonymous donations to huge charities, though we know they do a lot of good. We donate to specific places where for example, relatives died of cancer, their cancer treatment centers or hospices. And I knit afghans, but how many afghans does a person need? I know I obught a few at the thrift store for less than one skein costs me, but it soothes me and reduces mind clutter. So now I do the shawl project that donates shawls to cancer treatment centers and shelters.
There is even a comfort doll project where you make small dolls for children to hold while they go through chemo. the ideas are endless.
And my family has a lot of members that aren’t like the Wal-Mart shoppers. they struggle to pay medical bills because of no insurance, and to buy groceries vrs gas – so often a gift card from a grocery story or a gas card from a filling station helps a lot. Charity does begin at home, and sometimes stuff isn’t what is needed. Reminds me of the song “Good King Wenscelas looked out, on the feast of Steven, When the snow lay round about, cold and crisp and even.” It is a song about scharity on a bitter cold night.
I was reading somewhere on this site that any religion )spiritual practice) which includes the four noble truths is considered “Bhuddism”. Even as a Christian, I think I’ve learned more about what it truly means to be a christian from Thich nhat han or ema Chadron.
So Merry Four Noble Truths – and think food shelter clothing. Our country is finally hitting the point we ar getting down to the basics again.
Love, Yoby
Yoby – nice post and thanks for the ideas. I’ve never heard of the shawl and comfort doll projects and will definitely look into them.
Merry Four Noble Truths to you too!
My daughter’s organization supports a family at Xmas and we will contribute to that this year.
I knit scarves for a local drop in centre and will continue to support them. The centre is run by a Sister who makes sure these people have a place to go to meet others, have a meal, do laundry. Last year Sister made sure each person got a new pair of socks for Xmas.
I’ve also heard of the goat project where you buy a goat for a farmer and a woman’s project in Africa that loans woman money to start a business in their own village.