As we round the last corner of the
final lap of the “Holiday Season” I find myself caught up in
another of my usual conundrums. A thing, or situation, that pulls me,
simultaneously, in opposing directions. Something that's a good deal
more visceral than a simple ambivalence.
There is, on the one hand, the
celebration of the birth of an ideal man; where miracle, unquestioned
love, forgiveness, and sacrifice, come together as a means to help us
keep that one candle lit against the darkness. Whether he was real or
not, or who his father may have been, was never, in my mind, the most
important aspect. That aspect resides in the fact that miracles, and
love, and forgiveness and sacrifice, for that matter, are all real.
The mere fact that the last three items in that list occur at all
proves the first. For each is, in its own way, a little miracle;
especially as we grow ever more materialistic.
Most of the best popular culture
surrounding this season (few though they may be) serve to try and
remind us of those few little miracles, for which, of course, we are
provided an emotional foundation for giving. And giving, in the
sincere, and very personally direct manner, that those previously
mentioned qualities embody, does occur, in spite of the increasing
disconnect of commercial life.
With all of the advertising that
occurs, saturating every part of our so called reality, ever earlier,
the other side of the equation hardly needs much reiteration. Hyper
consumption goes balls out for one last orgy of shopping that, even
allowing for locational outsized spike up or down, shoots an ever
bigger wad of counters into the server streams. There are, after all,
at the very least, more of us doing it every year.
With this do the masters of capital go
to the new year with a good deal more than tidings of good cheer. For
not only has a significant portion of the material output been
translated back into more than was used to create it, the wage slaves
have created more debt, and with that, even more counters to count on
for the future. The treadmill that turns by the running of those
making more to consume more continues. Add in the Sheer numbers of
producers, and the competition thus inherent, and you get the
constant acceleration of each cycle, with science and ingenuity as
part of the fuel, and or, oxidizer.
We witness the consequences of this
process every day on the internet, and the various other media. More
energy is pumped into social, and natural, systems than they are able
to adequately handle. The weakest links fly apart at every turn and
there is less and less time to ponder much of anything, let alone
rebuild stability, or renewing structure. We lay waste to not only
previously existing stable systems, which were miracles of selection
in themselves, but to the dwindling hope that more will occur.
In all of this, however, let us not
forget that it is more than our need for a means of livelihood that
keeps the peddle to the metal. A good portion of this outrageous make
and break is there for that extra bit. That really extra bit that
goes beyond reasonable return for a risk taken on. The kinds of
return that make accumulations of counters to rival the numbers of
stars.
I mention this because consumption is
not going to go away no matter what we may do as an alternative to
Capitalism. The best we can hope for is to look for ways to do it
with as much moderation as we can manage. As well as to look for ways
to do it thoughtfully, with generous portions of love, forgiveness,
and sacrifice. Giving back as much as is possible to all of the
systems, natural and otherwise, that sustain us; keeping a sense of
wonder as we ponder each little miracle that a more connected life
might provide. If we can find a way to do that we will create a gift
that will truly keep on giving.
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