It’s the holiday season once again. What better way to celebrate than my reading a newspaper editorial? Seriously though, there may be something to that notion. It’s easy to get lost in the holiday hoopla, and exercises in cogent, rational thought may be just what the Ph.D. ordered.
Crazy things seem to happen to people this time of year. Many get overtly spiritual and for a week or two each year, observe their particular deity by attending worship services or singing quasi-religious songs, thinking godly thoughts or throwing change into a bucket when a bell rings. Others get economically inclined, generally with a greater sense of allegiance to consumer capitalistic model.
Oddly enough, the spiritual and the materialistic ethos somehow manage to converge into, for lack of a better term, godly capitalism. Sure, this super-ethos exists throughout the year, but during the holidays, it becomes magnified, concentrated and widespread. To an outsider, the two individual philosophies seem at first blush, to be diametrically opposed. But at their core, maybe they’re not so far apart – after all, how else would capitalists demonstrate love – that spiritual requisite – other than monetarily?
For the penitent in need of atonement, spending lavishly on gifts offers a means of salvation, albeit a temporary one. Didn’t spend enough time with your kid? It’s OK – buy the little fellow an iPad. Marriage on the rocks? No problem – think jewelry, vacation package or, if you’ve been really naughty, a luxury vehicle with a big red bow on it.
What’s interesting this season is giving an expensive present is no longer enough. To really purge one’s sins, the giver must create an elaborate means of surprising the recipient with the purchased item. Wrapping the thing in shiny paper and tossing it under the tree (or parking it in the garage in some cases) is considered poor form according to Madison Avenue. Under the current dogma, the giver needs to work in the element of publicity stunt – something YouTube-worthy.
The holidays do not necessarily have to be the suicide high-water mark of each year. If the madness is getting to you, just reach for a little rationality – if you’ll pardon the bias, a newspaper is a good place to start.
