It has officially begun, the christmas cheer and hypocracy. I do believe that it's true that the holidays bring out the best in people, but why is it only one month out of the year? I will fully admit that I have been very guilty of the behaviour that I am about to rant about, but in all fairness this is directed to those people in the higher tax brackets.
January through november there are wonderful charitable causes looking for donations, but we only feel compelled to throw our change at some guy dressed like Santa and ringing a bell!! I have no data to support this theory, but just imagine what would happen if every person in the United States decided that instead of giving each other gifts, they would take the value of that present and donate it to UNICEF? Or even more locally, to a battered womens shelter or even an HIV research charity. Can you imagine the good that it could accomplish? Granted- this would cause a nationwide retail collapse, but hey- we'd save lives.
For all of the charities in existence, there is a societal issue to be addressed. Spousal abuse, poverty, hunger, child abuse, debilitating diseases, and a plethora of worthy causes are available. Hell! give that $2 a month to the christian childrens fund (though I do have some specific issues with their educational programs) and sponsor a child in Sudan! There are region and countries that seem to be broken beyond charitable repair (see Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and Sudan) but what about the other 250 or so countries left on the map?? It is a great big world out there and so many people feel that it's not their problem, but let me remind that from these impoverished places come warlords (ethiopia- they support the drug cartels), despots who use genocide for financial gain (google Zimbabwe and blood diamonds), and governments that couldn't give a damn about their people (Sudan). So explain to me how this doesn't effect us?
Welcome to the globalized world kiddies! A world where a civil war in Cambodia could deflate the dollar and increase the price of gas in Missouri. I would just, for a brief moment, like to take a slight right turn.
THANK YOU MR. A. Greenspan!! For those of you who haven't been paying attention, Mr. Greenspan has been the man to get the US out of almost every financial crisis for nearly two decades. As our financial Tsar (Chairman of the Federal Reserve) when this man sneezed, interest rates fluctualed, until recently. I think that Mr. Bush should take a few more economics classes, taught by Mr. Greenspan, before he makes his tax cuts permanent. And the budget deficit doesn't help either...
OK, back to the origional premis- What would ba a beautiful thing for this Christmas season is if masses of people decided to spend the money they would have spent on presenets in a more concious way. Put little cards into stockings or just a regula card informing people that you've bought them the life of a starving child in X country for the next 6 months instead of a rewritable DVD player. That, it seems to me, would warm a spirit and be truer to the holiday season than a heatd debate over peach schnapps at dinner. Think about it.
CSHL- 1 December, 2004. The Crown and Anchor, Chiswick, London, United Kingdom
