Pass the turkey — hold the commercialism
By Marc Perton
Chris Bowers at MyDD has a good post up about Thanksgiving, and the fact that its decline as a commercialized holiday actually makes it a more meaningful event:
I, for one, welcome and cherish Thanksgiving while it lasts. Thanksgiving is a holiday that has, for nearly two decades, been all but abandoned as a commercial enterprise. ... In short, our consumer culture has waged a successful and thoroughgoing war on Thanksgiving. At this point, Thanksgiving is all but dead as an element in consumer culture. Despite it’s consumer death, Thanksgiving is still celebrated around the country. In fact, nationwide, it may have more participants than any other holiday. People gather, spend time with their families and loved ones, and give thanks. It is tasteful, meaningful, private, and yet nearly universal. If only more of our holidays could be like this, I would be pretty happy. Even if I don’t eat turkey anymore, this is truly one of my favorite holidays, since we don’t have to be big consumers to spend time with one another.
Right on, Chris. Thanksgiving is a real holiday, unsullied by the greeting card industry, retailers and Hollywood (with the notable exception of the Macy’s parade, of course). Those institutions might see it as nothing more than an annoying prelude to Black Friday, but for the rest of us, it’s a chance to reconnect with our families on our own terms—not on those set by our consumer culture.
