Its almost that holiday time! Where we are all supposed to spread cheer, joy, and love to everyone we know! It is a time for families to come together and appreciate the things they have. So why do the sentiments of peace and love often get swept away in the commercial madness? I believe that America has lost Christmas. Christmas, formally known as one of the most religious holidays of the year, has been taken over by commercial mayhem. The focus is fixed solely on THINGS. We want things from our loved ones, we demand things that we don't need! We have become consumption monsters that do not care what gets devoured in our wake! What happened to the old saying, "Tis better to give than receive"?! Whatever happened, it is long gone and has been replaced by the ugly face of Greed. We give our family and friends long lists of things we want and gripe about giving gifts ourselves. We only want to take.
Hell, this craze even starts around Halloween! Does anyone remember a small (admittedly insignificant) holiday by the name of Thanksgiving??? If not I will refresh your memory. Thanksgiving, while based in America's dark and ugly past, is a holiday where you sit down with your family and give thanks for all of the blessings in your life, and often people would share blessings with people less fortunate. It was a holiday for giving, not taking. It brought people together in a simple way, over a meal, to realize and reminisce about what is important in their lives. These days no one speaks of Thanksgiving, except in terms of not having school. The once sacred holiday is now being steamrolled by capitalism. Thanksgiving used to be a day designated to family, now it is the day companies use to springboard their holiday shopping. This year, for the first time, Sears will remain open on Thanksgiving. And, don't even get me started on Black Friday. People die! They get trampled to death people! All for what? Having the latest and greatest iPod?
I propose that as a society we take back Thanksgiving, and the real meaning of Christmas. Think about giving to the people you love, as well as to those who are in need. Lets all take this as an opportunity to show that we are not in fact Commercial Robots. Lets take this as a moment where we can reach out to our fellow humans to better their and our own lives. Instead of going and buying things, use your purchasing power to NOT go to Sears, and other stores open on Thanksgiving.
Take a stand, and try to think back to the days where the holidays where full of family, friends and sharing moments rather than things. Give it a try and see if it doesn't feel good. If it doesn't... I will personally take the blame for your shitty Christmas and give you a jar of Peanut Butter.
You know what? I feel like that every year. When we were little I felt things were a lot less commercial. I never knew what "black friday" was until I was fourteen. My brother always loved the spirit of Christmas, so we'd put the tree up the day after Thanksgiving, but we'd always love to go to my grandparents for Thanksgiving dinner. Why? Because we'd get to see family and eat yummy food. I want things to go back to the way they were for these holidays. I'll probably have to move to Europe somewhere to get that, though.
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