Instead, people overspend on unappreciated gifts hoping to buy love or affection. Parents hope over the top gifts will replace spending time with their children. Corporations attempt to appear generous and community minded by hosting a collection for toys for. Tots. It is all about image.
During all of this hullabaloo, real people are grieving for loved ones who have died; disadvantaged people resent being made emblems for corporate “charity”; people and animals are left homeless n the streets; government organizations send money to foreign countries while ignoring a crisis at home; politicians use disadvantaged citizens as props; news organizations eschew their responsibility to commit to honest, unbiased journalism; Congress continues to engage in partisan wars that benefit only their reelection coffers; ideologues care only about an agenda without thought of constituents.
The media, the political class, the NGOs, community organizations, local governments, we the people must recalibrate. So what if people spend less on stuff. So what if people feel unengaged. So what if Americans decide that “ holidays” don’t mean shopping. It is okay if people refuse to engage in the holiday maelstrom.
My mother died at Christmas. My friends have experienced loss during th holidays. Don’t try to force us to celebrate. Accept that his is not the happiest time of year for many. Be compassionate.
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