Article by: Taylor Anderson
Who doesn’t love Christmas? The word alone has a positive connotation. Christmas is cozy. Christmas is cheerful. Christmas is merry. The holiday enables people to spend time with their families and friends. It also promotes the aspect of giving, to both the less fortunate, and to the ones we love. Now these are all incredible qualities to celebrate, but there is also a darker side to this holiday that simply cannot be ignored.
I’m talking about capitalism. This country thrives on it, and the most popular way to get everyone engaged in it is through Christmas. People want to buy gifts for the ones they love. But with capitalism, there is a darker tone to this. To some extent it can be said that we are buying all of these gifts to prove our love to others. It’s simply not healthy to put a price tag on love.
Materialism plays a major role in this holiday as well. Everyone wants to keep up with the Joneses and buy the next popular product that will elicit momentary happiness for that very special receiver. But where’s the love in that? In the long run, materialism actually elicits the opposite effect in people. It causes unhappiness. It creates a perpetual feeling of dissatisfaction. The more we get, the more we crave.
All of this isn’t to say that we shouldn’t celebrate Christmas at all. There are very beautiful aspects of Christmas that we definitely should celebrate, but perhaps we should really take a step back and examine our motives this season.