What America Needs is a Grinch

We've all seen or heard "How the Grinch stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss. The Grinch gets mad at the who's and takes away their stuff and then learns the real meaning of Christmas when the who's gather together and sing and are happy regardless of their lack of stuff.
We need a Grinch. Christmas has become about rioting and shoving people out of the way to get the newest toy for your kid or yourself. If there was no stuff to shove someone over, maybe we could remember why it is that Christmas is so cool. For some, it's a baby in a manger, for others its an epic battle and for others, it's time spent with family.

Christmas is not about the presents. Maybe someone should steal all our shit and we'll remember that. But more likely we'd all grab the nearest blunt object and some torches and go find the bastard and hang him from the nearest tree by his genitals and then fight over the re-distribution of stuff. *sigh*

I'm not sure why it is that people get so obsessed with "MY KID has to have the best toys" or "MY HUSBAND has to have the expensive digital whooziemawhatzit that he'll never learn how to use anyways." Gifts are about giving something that shows that you thought about the person and that you cared enough to try to get them something good. This year if someone handed me the expensive shoes I asked for and said, "I had to beat up three old ladies to get these, but they're yours", I would be highly disappointed and would probably try to find an old lady to give them to. (although if it's an imac, all bets are off. sorry, old ladies ;) ) If you got me a gift that involved hurting someone else, you weren't thinking of me when you got it. If you get someone a gift at all costs, it's not really a good gift (unless they're a pushy asshole who would have done the same thing themselves). A good gift involves the spirit of the giving as much as it does the actual object.

I guess this is what Christmas comes down to for me is the "spirit" (not in a religious sense). I guess that it's just not about that for everyone, but I wish one Christmas something would happen so that we could all give that a try just once. Next year people could go back to beating up children to get to popular toys if they wanted, but I am willing to bet that at least a few people would remember the year before and opt for cheerful giving and spending time with others.