Monday, November 7, 2011

Holidays and Capitalism

From my limited study of the history of feast days and fetes, I can surmise that such occasions used to consist mainly of: going to church, dressing nicely, and eating a large meal. Perhaps some drinking and merrymaking, and maybe even some specific rituals. Holidays can serve a variety of purposes, and in the early history of the U.S. they primarily functioned as a vehicle for nationalist propoganda (and thus covertly supported the agenda of the federalists, who represented one of the two main political parties at the time). Accordingly, speeches and prayers pervaded with nationalist sentiments were one of the most salient characteristics of these events.

Now, in the U.S. major holidays have transformed into seasons and they serve capitalist, rather than political, ends (as if the two can really be distinguished). People talk about "Hallmark holidays" (holidays that were supposedly created by greeting card companies just so they could sell more cards), but this understates the reach of capitalism into our ritual life.

Each holiday comes with its own set of products that people are expected to buy: special decorations, food, and candy, for example. Halloween also necessitates costumes, pumpkins, and fun-size candybars; Easter: baskets, egg-decorating kits, stuffed bunnies; 4th of July: American flags, fireworks, sparklers, patriotic gear; Valentine's day: boxes of valentines, candy hearts, teddy bears. The list goes on. Companies create special holiday-season-themed products to increase sales, like pumpkin spice lattes and shamrock shakes.

Christmas, of course, is the biggest cash cow. It is a capitalist's best friend. First, a number of expensive decorations are required: at the very least, christmas trees, ornaments, lights, wreaths, garlands, stockings, candles, and, for the religiously inclined, advent calendars and nativity scenes. Then, there are all the traditional Christmas treats: candy canes, gingerbread, sugar cookies, egg nog, christmas-themed candybars, etc. And of course there are the movies, tv specials, and music (you can make some good money off a Christmas album!). Most importantly, though, is the tradition of buying gifts for friends and family. From what I can tell (especially talking to people of my parents' generation) both the variety of the decorations and holiday-themed goodies, as well as the expectations for gift-giving (from perhaps one or two toys per child to hundreds of dollars per child), has increased at an exponential pace. Add to this the fact that the Christmas season keeps extending itself further back into the fall (when I was young Christmas season did not start until after Thanksgiving - end of November; now it begins on November 1, the day after Halloween), and it is apparent the stark rate at which Christmas-related consumption has been increasing throughout the decades.

In fact, a lot of U.S.-based capitalist interests have come to absolutely depend on Christmas. It is a sort of crutch, to guarantee sales even in a sluggish economy.

This is yet another manifestation of the crisis of overproduction in which we now find ourselves. Capitalists struggle to get more from what they invest in labor, as well as (somewhat contradictorily) find ways to generate demand: from enormous investments in adevertising, coupons, and specials, to the cultivation of fads and obsolescence. The promotion of holiday-themed consumption is another way in which demand is manufactured against the general momentum of economic contraction.

I am a bit curious to what extent American holiday trends have been reproduced internationally. I realize that Americans tend to be more fanatical about holidays than, say, Europeans, but I have a feeling that the general forces of capitalism may be creating similar sorts of circumstances in other parts of the world.

I must end, however, with a confession. Capitalist ploy or not, I wholeheartedly buy into (literally) the holiday phenomenon. In some sense I find it grotesque, but I also love me some holiday-themed candy and decorations.

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