Buy As Much As You Can This Christmas - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
Buy As Much As You Can This Christmas
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I read in the New York Times a guide to not buying anything new this Christmas. I expect this will make department store owners happy, after a year and a half of recession from the pandemic. Actually, I can think of no better way to revive consumption and the economy than by asking readers to stick to trading in used stuff or shopping at secondhand stores.

The author of the article calls for a Christmas without consumerism. That’s good. But Christianity had already invented it, and without the need to condemn capitalism, which after all is the only thing that allows us to live in big, rich countries, and not in Cuba, where the suffering population would be delighted to have the opportunity to choose between spending a fortune or exchanging secondhand underwear.

The newspaper points out that a Christmas without shopping will not solve climate change (something we already suspected; nothing will), nor will it put an end to the capitalist mentality of the United States (thank God), but it assures us that at least there will be less waste to dispose of. I don’t want to sound impertinent, but this could be achieved if we stopped printing articles like this one every day on newsprint, right? The author also says that by not buying gifts some raw materials will be spared from destruction when the wave reaches the source of production. Brilliant. But I have a question: for what?

The commandment is clear: Thou shalt sanctify the holidays, whatever the New York Times says.

The author suggests that a conversation, a walk, or cooking together is far more meaningful than anything that can be unwrapped. My nephew, 6, who has been wishing that it was already Christmas for months now so he could receive a pedal-powered fire truck, strongly objected to this: “What the hell are you saying?” I suggested going for a drive instead of asking Santa for his truck, and he replied with that childish eloquence that disarms the progressive press: “OK, but we’ll go for a drive in my fire truck when I get it.”

Of course, as a Christian, I have my reservations about the paganization of Christmas and the consumerist obsession without needing the New York Times to tell me that global warming is happening because of the ties, perfumes, and books given to me every year by the few people who still love me (I, unlike penniless journalists, am not an easy guy to love). But the truth is that a reading of the Gospels is enough to realize that it is not about giving up spending, but doing so because we are aware of the magnitude of what we are celebrating.

Giving a gift is one of the most beautiful gestures we can make. Gifts imply generosity, wishing someone else well, trying to make them a little happier, getting to know them better, and nourishing their excitement. Gifts often include something beautiful: giving up our own goods, money, to make a person we love happier. It is almost impossible to see anything negative in this, but the Left, inevitably, always ends up being Mr. Scrooge.

On the other hand, on the verge of the most needy Christmas campaign in history, insinuating that we should all buy secondhand things, far from being a gesture of love for the Planet (which is not a person), is a show of hatred toward men (who are a great many people); there are millions of families who depend on us, year in year out, to spend at Christmastime to celebrate the holidays with a good meal, to give things to our loved ones, and also, of course, to be charitable with those in need.

The commandment is clear: Thou shalt sanctify the holidays, whatever the New York Times says. And the Christian way to sanctify them is by bestowing on them all their religious meaning, praying especially on those days, celebrating with family, and spending, if we can, a bundle on gifts for all the people we love.

I don’t say it because of the author of the article, but every year Christmas continues to be the target to beat in the midst of the cultural battle. Because it is the great religious celebration that the Left has not been able to blur, because it combines all the beautiful things in life: the Birth of the Child God, charity, love for our loved ones, family reunions, and a sincere joy that, for a few days, takes us back to childhood innocence. Every Christmas, even under those huge consumerist lights, we feel that God is here. In my opinion, then, we should buy something very expensive and very big to celebrate the best news of the year.

Itxu Díaz
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Itxu Díaz is a Spanish journalist, political satirist, and author. He has written 10 books on topics as diverse as politics, music, and smart appliances. He is a contributor to The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, National Review, American Conservative, and Diario Las Américas in the United States, as well as a columnist at several Spanish magazines and newspapers. He was also an adviser to the Ministry for Education, Culture, and Sports in Spain.
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