You can see it everyday. TV, billboards, movies, streets, littering the city. Infesting winter like the common cold. A virus. A figure.
A man with a red coat and a white beard.
Santa Clause.

Every advertisement seems to honor him. Every other child screaming his name in the joy they know as christmas. Every adult looking for a christmas bonus, Every charity looking for a break. Christmas seems to have evolved from a religious holiday to a time where families argue, people spend too much money, and companies are trying to squeeze every last cent out of the season.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not a scrooge at all. I love the holidays, and new years. Christmas dinner is always delicious and I look forward to seeing my family and friends. The smell of a fir tree is always comforting.
But I am talking about a different modern christmas, where people are complaining about their presents. The christmas where your mom has a mental breakdown from wrapping presents, and where you can’t stand a minute without someone trying to sell you something.
The Huffington Post, a trusted newsletter, posted an article about spending on the holidays they mention; “Holiday spending may rise to as much as $586.1 billion this year, that's up 4.1 percent from last year, according to the National Retail Federation, the retail industry's trade group.” This means that sales are going up.

‘But what’s so bad about that? Some might say, if you are spending 4.1% more on your gifts, that means you have more money. Right?. “ Median household income in the United States in 2011 was $50,054”- US census. That declined from 2010. Maybe this means more debt.

And debt is not that jolly, let me assure you.

Now let’s look at that 586.1 billion dollars. With all the issues in the world such as dirty water, poverty, and many other things, we could better the world with things like charity, food, and help to those who need it. However, all of the ads tell us to spend more money on unnecessary things to make other people “happy”.

Some people may say that christmas is extremely necessary due to its boost on the economy. This is partially true, but I liked the way this huffington post article put it.

“It will be bad for the economy if, overall, shoppers do not end up spending more over the holidays than they do normally. But it's hard to argue with someone holding out on buying, say, a Snuggie in favor of paying an old bill or saving up for something practical, like a car.”

Most gifts, usually say “I love you x amount of dollars”. The idea that the more money you spend on an item proves how much you care about someone seems a little sick. But, it seems very beneficial to manufacturers and corporations. The whole point of advertising is to make you think that money is the same as happiness. However, I like to take a different approach to things.

I challenge you to look around your house and find things you could use as gifts. Make a mixtape on your old blank discs? Maybe you could gift that book you own that you liked, but won’t read again. Do you have the ingredients to make some cookies? Some old photographs to make christmas cards?

“Time is money.”

It’d be great that we could measure how much we care and love each other in time, not money. I’d like to make the two interchangable.

The takeaway you should get from this is to question your traditions. Don’t let people pressure you into spending money. Holidays are about families, fun, friendships, overall togetherness and happiness. Commercials, present-wrapping-getting stress, and being greedy shouldn’t be part of that. Santa and his reindeer should continue on their diet of candy canes and love, and stay away from our money.

Because in the end, it’s not the furby that makes a happy child, but a loving family.