Sixteen years ago, a Pew research study revealed Americans were having an issue with Christmas.
A 2007 survey indicated 52% of Americans who took the poll were bothered by the commercialization of Christmas.
Over the years that sentiment increased. In 2021 a survey conducted by a different research group, Rasmussen Reports, showed that 62% of Americans felt the religious holiday had become too much about dollars and cents.
Chances are high that anyone conducting an informal survey of people gathered around the dinner table at a family gathering would find a majority of adults over the age of 20 would say too much emphasis is placed on the material aspect of the holiday.
It’s not a new sentiment. Good grief, even Charles Schultz’s gang of young seasonal cynics new something was amiss in 1965’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
“Oh no! My own dog gone commercial,” bemoans Charlie Brown when he learns his pet is entering a Christmas decorating contest.
“Christmas is not only getting too commercial, it’s getting to dangerous,” muses voice of reason Linus van Pelt.
“Look, Charlie, let’s face it, we all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket” run by an east coast syndicate, says Lucy van Pelt, during rehearsal for a Christmas play.
The irony, of course, is that the cartoon was made for television—a medium that was seemingly created for advancement of commercialism.
And yet, consumer spending has increased.
The National Retail Federation expects 2023 holiday shopping to increase between 3% and 4% over last year.
Going back over the last 20 years, with the exception of 2008 consumer spending during the holidays has increased from year to year.
Each year more of us complain about Christmas and the holidays becoming to commercialized while we spend more money complaining.
If nothing else, we are consistent.
We complain about the lack of affordable healthcare, the increasing poverty and wage gaps and gun violence in homes and school campuses. And yet, we don’t change our behavior.
Feels like a holiday tradition, all year long.
