So when did Thanksgiving become the red headed step-child of American holidays? I thought I was getting old when I was making facetious comments about Christmas advertisements in August and people putting up Christmas lights 1.5 weeks before Thanksgiving…but today was the icing on the cake. I had more people ask me about the black Friday deals I was eyeing rather than asking what I was doing for Thanksgiving. Better yet…I had several clients report that they were skipping Thanksgiving decorations and just going straight into Christmas.
What gives? Kinda Ironic that the token Jew (who celebrates Xmas and has Buddhist mindfullness books, Ganesha by my credit card machine, and a Bible in his office) is the one making a comment about this but who else can you count on to make a comment about it….so here I go.
There are several books put out by conservative columnist in the past several declaring that liberals have declared a war on Christmas listing several arguments such as saying “happy holidays”, banishing Christmas parties from schools, and God knows what other pieces of evidence. So if we can conjure a war on Christmas with little actual evidence, there are all the people decrying a war on Thanksgiving?
There are ton’s of people all saying it, ton’s of commercials starting earlier and earlier every year, department stores going straight from Halloween decorations to Christmas, etc. So why would there be a war on Thanksgiving…the one truly American holiday that we have left? In a time and day where conservatives wave their flags and chastise anybody who resembles somebody unlike them or say anything that could be socialist….err…communist..
So is this the second wave of the Coup D’etat that took out Kennedy where we systematically eliminate everything American one holiday at a time? Okay…probably not…but there is one thing that Thanksgiving doesn’t have that every other holiday has (Xmas, Halloween, July 4)…it is the one holiday that we celebrate that does not require you to buy anything other than food.
We all know the Billion’s we spend on Christmas every year but with Halloween we spend Billion’s on Halloween costumes every year, alcohol, parties, and candy. The July 4th holiday is usually when we take our families on expensive summer vacations, spend money on fireworks, and bbq with the families. Every holiday we spend a ton of money but Thanksgiving, we really don’t spend much.
Being the cynical capitalist that I am, I realize that capitalism at its root is about making money. There is nothing wrong with that…but why would retailers who are capitalists first, focus on a holiday that actually promotes the opposite of buying? It literally promotes being thankful for what you have and realizing how well off we are and how we have everything that we need.
It makes perfect capitalist sense to try and squeeze out extra days of shopping and de-emphasize any holiday that actually helps them lose money.
Where are the politicians who shout during campaigns the values of the free-market capitalist government/economy that we have and decry anybody who attempts to change that as a communist, but what do their family values have to say about minimum wage workers being forced to be away from their families earlier and earlier on the most hallowed American holiday promoting family and thankfulness? It used to be early Black Friday but now stores will be open all day long on Thanksgiving. Nothing says I’m thankful for what I have than ditching my family early on Thanksgiving to get a great deal on a 70″ LED at Walmart.
There is nothing more un-American than to to allow retailers to wage a war on Thanksgiving. So who wants to join me in stopping this war…this unjust war on a great American holiday. Instead of getting that new TV I want…I am going to stay home, drink, eat, judge my family members, and fight with my family on Thanksgiving. This war only has two sides…the question is which side are you on?
Oh man you have me roaring with laughter at your stay home, eat drink and judge, sounds perfect to me. I can just see you sitting on the couch, rubbing your full belly, in your big loose sweat pants, listening to the conversations, psychoanalyzing each one, keeping mental notes and then later picking and choosing which one to target to get a good debate, argument, discussion going.. as you sip your drink.
Happy Thanksgiving Mike! Thanks for the laughs!!