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The Christmas Spirit
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: laborat
(some things to think about as I go to get the new artificial Christmas Tree w/pinecone puff scent bags):
Once the sated masses recover from Thanksgiving Dinner and LeftOver Day, Americans start thinking about Christmas. It's a special time to a lot of Americans, the Christians anyways, December, the month that Jesus was born.
Let's come up with a definition of Americans that makes Christmas so relevant to our way of life; let's see....
"AMERICAN" -- someone who believes that democracy and capitalism are the best systems of exchange in social and political arenas where class distinctions are eliminated in favor of whatever the market will bear.
In other words, to separate both church and statescraft from state and make state a representative democracy, in which power, money, and workable ideas would determine our destiny in the greater scheme of things.
To expand this intellectual stuff a bit further, the biggest question on the minds of Americans on Leftover Day is...whether to buy goods (Christmas presents and whatnots) now at the prevailing price or wait until the prices start to drop and pick up some bargains (50% OFF SALE, 70% OFF SALE, ROCKBOTTOM PRICES AND GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE) from desparate merchants with large inventories.
We do this because of some unknown marketing genius who was able to parlay a Theological High Holy Day into a Season Buyers and Merchants Dirty Dance. Probably some monk who sought to improve the Church's finances through the sale of Saints medals and holy water.
We have Newspaper ads touting the best gifts of this Season.(We buy something for that) We watch movies old and new where at Christmas everyone in the movie party-ed and shopp-ed for presents. We sing Christmas songs about family get togethers and love and redemption (we pay money for that), and go to Christmas school or church events, (we buy something for that), Christmas partys, (we buy something for that).
It's the one time of the year we Americans buy something or try something for everything we encounter or may encounter. We try to be nicer to others and ourselves. We spout platitudes, sprout Christmas ties and booties, and sputter on jingo jingles, and hum along to "Little Drummer Boy". We call this unlikely and disturbing mindstate, CHRISTMAS SPIRIT! or Acute Manic Swing.
I realize that any members of my online therapy group who read this will suggest that it is also a depressing time for many americans (ones without money to buy goods to give away to, or consume with, someone else). It makes them susceptable to things like seeing images of the Virgin Mary, Angels, believing in Miracles,...this of course gives them their 15 minutes of Warholian Fame and for some poor they become more than poor but less than having it easy. Lots of suicides in December.
Many Capitalists think this is a good thing, (the emotional angst of the poor) and the sooner we get non-consumers out of the gene pool the stronger Capitalism will be. This is of course the American Way. Money runs the Country. With It we can do anything we want -- become President, Influence Foreign or Domestic Policy, Bribe Officials, Buy off Jurys, steal elections and land. We have, through our own Revolution against the British, eliminated the middle man in the exchange of goods for whatever.
That of course brings us back to Christmas. The Christmas Buying season that is...In our perfect blend of democracy and capitalism we would have merchants providing jobs for americans to create goods or services that they could then sell to Americans and make a profit.
We would have a government that only concerned itself with issues of health and safety for the citizens. Our laws would say in black and white, "It's alright to manufacture and sell something as long as it is safe and will not harm the environment, the quality of air or water, the buyer or anyone else."
Merchants would hire local workers at a decent wage to make products to sell at an affordable price, consumers would buy and consume those products, and the taxes on those exchanges would pay for government interventions for the good of the citizens. Why we Americans can't do this anymore is a mystery. (At least no one is talking).
Somewhere along the line, maybe even when, Christmas the High Holy Day got corrupted into Christmas the Consumer Season, democracy took a back seat to Capitalism. It seems simple enough the Capitalists have all the money. Money is worthless unless you exchange it for influence or power. So the Capitalists started bribing the people who believed in Democracy. To see things their way. To vote for their interests over the citizens. Even worse, the Church and the Statescrafters also bought into Capitalism in a big way and use it just as convincingly to make their points and protect their interests.
This Christmas I'm not going to be thinking that deep. I am going to buy presents. party. enjoy friends and family. I suppose I should worry about the poor and will make a donation so some village can buy a new well. Thats part of the Christmas Spirit. But that is as far as it goes. I mean, really, if the poor can't succeed in profiting from the opportunites out there promised to every American in the American Dream, then they really shouldn't be Americans anyways.
I hope they have a nice Christmas and we are assured by the media that they will...at some Church function or food bank or halfway house or private shelter or orphanage or state run juvenile facility or mental institution. If not... then well, all I can do is pray that God will come down and fix things. Nobody is guaranteed a free ride from the Universe. We don't have any contract with God that things will be easy and unpainful.
I'm not going to be thinking that Deep this Christmas (It was a group decision within the family.). Everytime I do I start seeing in the rich and poweful, the same flaws I hear characterize the poor. I intend to savor the Bird (consumed) from Thanksgiving and Leftover Day. Then Do my patriotic duty as an American by watching TV, reading ADS, and buying goods I can give away as presents on Christmas. To do anything else would be UnAmerican or in poor Taste. (pun intended)
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