I am susceptible to over indulgent thought about the hypocrisy and general insanity of this society we have built. Don't get me wrong, I like having the safety net of civilization keeping me from plunging into an abyss of lawless debauchery but nets have holes the you sometimes slip through. Since the oddly named “Holiday Season” is upon us (There are only 3 holidays in this season), I decided to use some mental resources to explore not the origins but the reality of our cultural traditions. I must warn you that my views are often called pessimistic and cynical. That is a fair analysis of my general world view but I prefer to acknowledge the inherent evils in everything rather than ignore them. By only discussing the benefits and avoiding the pitfalls, you allow ignorance to survive. I digress, lets talk tradition.
Valentine's Day (aka Single's Awareness Day)
I thought I would start light with one of the more controversial "holidays". On paper this is one of the most beautiful holidays of the year. Loving couples take time away from their busy lives to spend time together and appreciate their love for each other. . . Sorry I'm getting a little misty over here.
In reality this is probably one of the most dreaded and hated holidays. Why do we need to advocate a specific day for couples to express love? Shouldn't that be an everyday event and not a penciled in date on a calendar? The truth is that it can be frustrating for couples as it is another day where expectations are high and expenses are great. Love should not be displayed through pressure and cultural dictation.
The flip side is it also alienates those individuals who either have not found or choose not to be in such relationships. Window displays, commercials, and a relentless social desire to see happy couples creates a vacuum between these two life styles. Love is meant to be displayed, not broad casted. Shared, not forced. Celebrated, not expected. By spending a day celebrating your commitment along with millions of other individuals, you cheapen your unique experience and blend it with a cultural stereotype.
I would be remiss not to give a shout out to all my wait staff brethren. Valentine's day is the weakest holiday for a restaurant since only couples go out. I have felt your pain and know your suffering.
“Lust's passion will be served; it demands, it militates, it tyrannizes.” - Marquis De Sade
Thanksgiving
A time of togetherness, sharing, love and over indulgence. Only America could create a holiday where we gather around mass quantities of food and alcohol, consume more than some 3rd world countries, then lounge around a television or dinner table attempting not to over exert ourselves. The fallacy of this holiday is apparent even to a child so I feel it needs no further explanation. And before you roll your eyes, it is one of my favorite three holidays since it focuses more on appreciation and family than materialistic trappings.
“When I behold a fashionable table set out in all its magnificence, I fancy that I see gouts and dropsies, fevers and lethargies, with other innumerable distempers lying in ambuscade among the dishes. Nature delights in the most plain and simple diet. Every animal but man keeps to one dish. Herbs are the food of this species, fish of that, and flesh of a third. Man falls upon everything that comes in his way; not the smallest fruit or excrescence of the earth, scarce a berry or a mushroom can escape him.” - Joseph Addison
Christmas
Never has been born a more savage hypocrisy than that of Christmas. Under the guise of love, unity, and family we are force fed fairy tales while injecting the need for materialism into our very being. Mimicking Valentine's in its theoretical perfection, the corruption of humanity has cheapened this supposedly blissful experience. Even now, not one full day into December, I can feel society's commercial advances breathing down my neck. There are those that celebrate this holiday in a remarkably beautiful way by expressing love and acceptance without an underlying foundation of money and goods. These magnificent prodigies are few and far between however as the majority of us still fall victim to the impulse of “gift buying”. There is no replacement for the level of familial interaction and exchange that Christmas provides and for that I am thankful. In fact that is one of the only aspects of the holiday season that makes it bearable but couldn't we do better? As with Valentine's, why do we need a day set aside to appreciate those we love in life? Why can't we spread it out over the year? Buy a gift for someone when you see something that they would like rather than rush through a list. If you truly love someone then you should devote the time to appreciating them that they deserve. Clustering your appreciation into one day seems to cheapen the very message of compassion that the holiday is supposed to represent.
“Avarice, the spur of industry” - David Hume
New Years
Can you imagine a lazier day of the year than the very first one? We spend our time recovering from a years worth of partying and celebration that we compressed into one jovial evening. We swear before this day to change our ways and resolve to improve ourselves. Then the day comes and we are just as lazy as we were the year before. I'll admit there are very few resolutions I have stuck to so I am just as guilty. The reason this day singles out our laziness is because we actually decided to achieve something and then let it fall by the road side. It is one thing to never attempt to advance but quite another to make promise then willingly fail.
“We excuse our sloth under the pretext of difficulty.” - Marcus Fabius Quintilian
In order for there to be good there has to be bad, its a fundamental principle. The traditional value of these holidays is without reproach. If we only took the time to acknowledge their short comings, imagine the benefits we could reap. Season's Greetings!
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