Holy Business

Holiday consumer spending is up almost six percent since the last year. During Christmas of 2005, spenders purchased $435.6 billion worth of merchandise from retailers nationwide. These dollar amounts coincide with a recent survey that showed 87% of Americans believe that the holidays should be more about family than gift giving. From these sentiments, it would appear that there is much truth to the prevalent fear of the increasingly shallow meaning of the holidays. In regards to Christmas, this time of year used to be a reflecting point for Christians to observe a day remembering the birth of Jesus Christ. Now, the holiday has devolved into a secularized splurge-fest for consumers to disregard responsible spending, replaced with a menagerie of advertisements and marketing campaigns targeted at the materialistic middle and lower classes. Every year Christmas-time seems to occur earlier and earlier. Many disregard this notion, but there may be some truth to the statement. Two years ago, the average storefront decorated the day after Thanksgiving. This year that date has shifted up to the middle of October. This one-month difference is concurrent with the advancing tide of fiscal irresponsibility that threatens to rob the holidays of any substantial meaning.

 

Christmas is not the only "holy day" to have become a spending day this year. Hanukah, a once unimportant Jewish holiday celebrating the Jewish revival of the temple after Greek desecration, has been injected with a dose of good ole' American consumerism. Americans spend an increasingly larger amount on Hanukah gifts every year, as Hanukah consumer spending rose 15% since two years ago. In Israel , the biblical and cultural homeland of the Jews, Hanukah receives little fanfare, and gift giving is reserved for a small population of American immigrants.

 

A walk through any downtown department store smells of holiday cinnamon and winter pine. Christmas freezes encroach upon weary shoppers as holiday mobiles twirl overhead. Stores push extravagant holiday spending to the extreme, as gimmicks such as buy one get one free," turn to 'buy five get ten free." A family outing to church for Christmas mass has now become a family tradition of present buying and mall crooning. The average consumer is expected to spend $791 on holiday shopping this year. If more than two-thirds of Americans believe that exorbitant spending is not required to enjoy the holidays, why does this figure continue to increase? What will it take to return to the true meanings of these holidays?

 

It is my feeling that there may be no turning back. As the American dollar continues to fall in value, the economy becomes more dependent on consumerism and personal spending. Since the philosophy of "spend before save" is being pushed on American citizens by both business and government, the future may be bleak. Perhaps more fiscal responsibility is the prescription for our holiday ails. At any rate, ask yourself one question: Who needs the holidays more, the people, or the businesses they frequent?