Turning People Into Profits

[mindwalker_i]

I was thinking about Christmas the other day, specifically about Santa Claus, and realized that the purpose of Santa is to turn people into profit. He represents the true American Dream - to have stuff. The idea that it's all "gifts" is to mask that stuff really does cost money, but with Santa we just get it all for free. Make a wish, put it on a list, and it will literally magically arrive. It's a way of conditioning people to feel like they have to buy stuff, stuff, and more stuff for an ever-widening list of people, or or you're not a real person.

But this all masks the real purpose of Christmas, which is to make profits for corporations and bonuses for the CEOs. All that stuff people buy, all that crap that goes on the credit card and makes more profit for the large banks, feeds the great vacuum cleaner in the sky, which in turn leads to the back pockets of the wealthy. You've got to do it or the whole economy will crash. Don't be a scrooge.

After thinking about this for the better part of ten seconds, it occurred to me that somebody should make a video game where you play Santa in a tank decorated as a sleigh. You drive around town shooting people and turning them into spinning gold coins. Extra points if the Monopoly guy is close by and doesn't have to walk far to pick it up. Having a tinsel-gasm of holiday spirit would have a multiplying effect on your score.

[Glassunion]

1. Yes. That's exactly what they were thinking back in the 4th century.

Ballpark date of back in the late 300's, there was a Roman - Testiclees Minor, the CEO of Hallmarkus. Now sales of his greeting cards were awsome in the summer months, with all the Get Well Soon, Sorry Your Slave Husband was eaten by a lion at the Colosseum, Sorry the Visigoths Slaughtered Your Family, events happening in warmer months. He needed to sell more greeting cards in the winter. So he went to Theodosius and said "Yo! Your a Christian right? You need a state holiday for that shit." and boom! The true meaning of Christmas was born.

The real purpose of Christmas is what we, the individual make it. Be a time for family, celebrating our faith, not celebrating anything, or being massive consumers feeding corporate profits, or anything in between.

[mindwalker_i]

2. Had Santa Claus even been invented in the 4th century?

Regardless of the original intent, Santa is not a device for sucking out money. Kind of like how TV (sort of) originally provided entertainment, but now exists to deliver people to advertisers. In Soviet Amerika, TV watches you! And with TVs that have built-in webcams, this joke has lost some of its humor.

[BainsBane]

3. It comes from Europe, in the form of St. Nicholas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus#Origins

[Glassunion]

4. Santa, much like many other things was hijacked by corporations to sell shit.

Santa selling crap was not the initial intent.

You want to sell a car... You need a shit-ton of American Flags.
You want to sell a turkey... Norman Rockwell the crap out of your ads.
You want to sell beer... Football Football Football.
You want to sell raisins... Plaster that crap with little smiling girls.
You want to sell a fast cheap burger... get a clown.

[KT2000]

5. not always

back when "things" were not so plentiful it was a special time to share gifts - a kind sentiment.
My Irish great-aunt, along with her siblings received pieces of licorice - a luxury for a poor family in Ireland.
An American relative got oranges and new socks.
Some kids received much needed shoes or clothes.
I remember the family of boys up the street got army surplus gear and turned the neighborhood into a "war zone." Fun for all!

The young people in my family are drowning in toys and stuff. It is pointless for me to get them some small item that will get lost in the wrapping paper on Christmas morning. I have checked out of most of it.

I think it is up to each of us to do the holidays as we wish.

[Javaman]

6. When Santa moved to Madison Avenue,

that's when all things changed.

[Capt. Obvious]

7. Pumped and jacked for this idea