Seasonal Reflection, part I
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Christmastime is here again–if you listen to the approved providers of Goodthink. Angels, wise-men, hay troughs and stars: all with complementary gift-wrap and delivery. This time of year, we cashiers see cash so infrequently that I joke about asking for ID. Christmas, it seems, is all about how much money you spend.
Recently, the news was blanketed with stories about “Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving when retailers expect some of the highest sales of the year. Many stores open early and offer sale prices to lure more shoppers into their doors. Some retailers have been operating essentially in the red all year; this marks the point when they either start operating in the black, or they make plans not to be around next Christmas.
Bill McKibben, author of Hundred Dollar Holiday, reminds us that this time of the year lopsidedly props up the economy on one giant leg. Remove the money expended during the final month of the year, and the Great Depression would seem inviting by comparison.
I have worked in retail in some form for the past seven years. My first year was spent working at The Coffee Beanery in Fayette Mall. That was my worst Christmas ever. I was cursed at on more than one occasion. Peace? Men of good will? Only if it’s on sale.
My service in the retail industry has deeply soured me against capitalism. I am not a socialist or communist by any means, so I guess I end up thinking of capitalism as the least evil of the available economic systems. I am certainly not a pure capitalist, though I do have strong libertarian tendencies politically.
The worst part of this season is the identification of my religion’s second highest holy day with mammon and the identification of its virtues with its vices: generosity with greed, selflessness with selfishness, giving with getting. Every commercial about Christmas turns out to be about buying something from some merchant somewhere. I just saw a two-minute spot extolling the virtues of unplugging and spending time with your family: Have family game night and play Monopoly or Sorry or one of a half-dozen Hasbro/Parker Brothers games.
I’m sure this is not the first rant you’ve read about unchristian attitudes during the holiday season. So, what’s the point? To be continued…