Blaspheming Mammon: A Subversive Litany for Black Friday

I once heard it said that we need to find ways to blaspheme the money god, and this especially holds true in a society where that god has such a profound and deadly hold.

And so I say to everyone reading this, no matter who you are: on this most holy day of the Cult of Mammon, remember that you are worth infinitely more than your role in the economy.

If you have to work a long and tiring shift today–

You are worth infinitely more than your role in the economy.

If you are enticed by Black Friday advertising to brave the crowds–

You are worth infinitely more than your role in the economy.

If you have a managerial position in a profitable business–

You are worth infinitely more than your role in the economy.

If you are playing the gig economy like a slot machine, hustling for work whenever you can get it–

You are worth infinitely more than your role in the economy.

If you want to work but are unable to because of a disability, or the complicated machinations of immigration laws, or a tight job market, or the need to care for someone else, or for some other reason–

You are worth infinitely more than your role in the economy.

If you are simply enjoying a long weekend with family before returning to a job you love, or hate, or tolerate–

You are worth infinitely more than your role in the economy.

Some readers may see themselves in more than one of the above descriptions. I don’t quite see myself in any of them. And this is a truth we all should remember: though Mammon would define us strictly by economic roles – a worker, a consumer, an employer, a welfare recipient – each of is us more than any one of these things, more even than any combination of these things.

Whoever you are and whatever your situation, you are more than what you produce and consume. We all were made for more than this.

Infinitely more.