December 19, 2014
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Many Christmas industries do very well without Saint Nick. We buy 1.9 billion Christmas cards and cut down over 20 million Christmas trees a year. We have the ability to produce much more than we do and almost all of us want to. 70% of Americans “view manufacturing as the most important industry for a strong economy and national defense,” yet we continue to outsource to China, Mexico, and the North Pole. Even with all this money seeping out of our economy, many companies make 90% of their money in the weeks leading up to Christmas. No other holiday comes close. Let’s multiply it by 10!
Toy manufacturers are ready for these orders. Retailers are, too. Amazon has beefed up its delivery capabilities to the point where an order on December 19th is guaranteed to arrive before Christmas, for free. We can afford to buy these presents for our children, so why are we holding out our hands and asking for donations?
Free presents deprive America of jobs and rob the economy of paying customers. Handouts can be a lifesaver when someone is out of options, but in an economy where we”re happy to toss around $2,000 per person, it’s killing our economic libido. We haven”t evolved to derive joy from freebies. We evolved to derive pleasure from the rewards we deserve. We mock millennials for living in their parents” basement, but we do the exact same thing every December 25th. It’s time to take responsibility for ourselves and handle our own presents. Denying our economy our own money is like sticking our collective finger in a dyke that’s holding back a tsunami of economic benefits.
Christmas is for kids, but the economics of presents are for adults. It’s time to grow up and say “No, thank you” to Santa. We can afford it.
