Saturday, November 29, 2008

On to Christmas..


Well, the world has officially been rid of several hundred thousand turkeys thanks to the holiday we celebrate which heralded the death of the Native American way of life and Manifest Destiny, so it's on to bigger and better celebrations.

Christmas!!!!

Let me first remark on how strange it is that people had Christmas lights up, holiday commercials were already airing, and Christmas decoration sections were up in all the major shopping chains LONG before Thanksgiving came to pass. I feel bad for Thanksgiving, you know? How would you like it if you had an older sibling whose birthday was about a month after yours and weeks before your birthday, your parents start decorating for your older sibling's birthday? I think I'd be totally bummed out. Sure, holidays don't really have feelings, but I still think it's kinda strange.

Now to the real point of this post. It's Thanksgiving break, and I've had a lot of time to kill over the past few days. The Walter family has a long tradition of just leaving the TV on while we go about our day (I know, I know), and so I've caught a lot of commercials recently. What have I learned from all of this? Our society is completely owned by corporations. We are completely materialistic, or at least that's what the commercials tell us we should be.

I see clip after clip of people opening gifts that will FINALLY fulfill them, things made of plastic or metal or gold that will end their sadness once and for all. I remember watching that stuff as a little kid and thinking that I'll feel complete once I finally get those Power Ranger toys (which I eventually got because I have amazing parents who love me, but I always felt like I was still lacking something after about three days of playing with my new toys). Let me just say that at the end of the day, I'm worried about the health of our society.

I know it comes as a surprise to everyone, but there is probably something wrong with this country. I worry that we are so bombarded with corporate propaganda that we actually buy into it, especially because I know from experience that children are especially suceptable to it all. I know that the corporations are never going to stop slamming us from all angles with advertisements, so it looks like it's up to us. Either people are going to realize that things won't make them happy, or they'll just keep buying and buying and buying.

I'm just not sure. I know there are a lot of people out there who see through it all on one level. I'd like to think that I do, but then I get this overwhelming desire for a new CD or video game or (fill in the blank). Will the recession help? Maybe because people don't have as much spare cash, they'll start to think of ways to just enjoy being together for the holidays, not rely on stuff for their contentment. Maybe, just maybe, we'll learn to actually celebrate the holidays as they were meant to be celebrated. I suppose we'll see. I have a little faith in humanity yet.

3 comments:

Chris Panza said...

Wordpress is totally superior to blogspot.

Anonymous said...

It's all about balance. Getting nre things once in a while isn't the problem. Plunging into an endless quest for the next new thing is the problem.

Mark said...

Citizen -
I agree totally. It's all about motivation, right? When gifts flow from one's desire to show their love for the recipient and make that person happy, I think that's about as beautiful as it can get.

Panza -
Probably. Blogspot sucks sometimes.