On the 29th of November, Advent started. Today is the first day of December. It's Christmas season! Time to get together with family and friends, exchange gifts, and watch classic Christmas movies such as A Christmas Story and A Charlie Brown Christmas.
The season of giving has also become a season of stealing from children. Immediately after celebrating Thanksgiving, millions of consumers flock to malls in a frantic quest for "holiday deals." They indulge themselves in materialistic greed, envy and gluttony to celebrate the birth of one who would save them from sin. The capitalistic merchant Grinch smiles not because he stole Christmas, but because he bought it.
Something ought to be done to stop this. I propose strict commercial regulations around the time of Christmas. Temporarily lowered prices must be banned. Sales taxes must be temporarily increased. Mandatory price increases and wholesale bans of some types of sales and commercial activities are options.
You might say that making laws because of a religious holiday violates the First Amendment. I say that there are loopholes to every law. The restrictions can be worded to avoid mention of any religion or religious holidays. The period of restrictions could be Thanksgiving to the end of the year, in which case the laws are only referencing a secular national holiday.
What do you think of this, NSG? Can we let consumerism become the new Christmas spirit? Should something be done against this?
