We're Creating a Monster

Every year, especially during Christmas season, the traffic gets worse, the malls are more packed, and we are driven by this unquenchable thirst for more purchases and items to buy.

photo courtesy of iremit.com.au

I see something sinister behind all this. Something is out of place.

I am aware that this season is traditionally the season to give gifts to our family, friends, co-workers, and just abut anyone. It is the season of giving - or at least it used to be. In our desire to give material gifts, are we spawning a monster feeding on our excessive consumerism?

For example, people were all up in arms when it was declared that prices of electricity will be going up. That meant that prices of basic goods are soon to follow up as well. You think that would deter people from going to the mall? Today, at the Mall of Asia, the crowd was so gargantuan you would think it was the feast of the Nazareno. What happened? I thought we were trying to save money because of the high prices of goods?

photo courtesy of https://www.facebook.com/Sanlakas14

Why were there so many people at the malls this season? It's like we're all zombies out there, with no other choice, no idea of what fun is outside of the mall. Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB, my mentor from way back, has this to say about this mall culture:

Malls are now the only leveler in society. There is no exclusion, but inclusion. At malls no one knows if one lives in a shack, as everyone has smartphones, same dresses, and the same disheveled hair look. In the mall, everyone can more or less have the same thing, provided you pay, of course. No membership dues. No monthly consumables ... just plain and simple fun defined according to the rituals of the cathedrals of commerce.

Are we slowly veering away from the true spirit of Christmas and turning towards a consumerist, politically-correct, no-nonsense, "happy holidays" kind of season?

I have experienced the mad rush of Christmas shopping before. Several years back, it was different. It felt different. Back then, there was a spirit of rushing, a tone of necessity with the shopping. People want to get their shopping done so they could get back to the family ASAP and spend more time with them. The past few years, however, I have this feeling I cannot quite put my finger on. It's like we are slowly turning into mindless robots. Or animals. Animals driven by instinct to shop for more and more each year.

My feelings tell me that the more we participate in this consumerist culture, the more we miss out on Christmas itself; ironically, in our quest to buy more gifts, we are slowly forgetting that Christ's incarnation is one of the greatest gifts mankind has ever received.

I will not be surprised if we become like this a few years from now:

We Pinoys are proud that we have the happiest celebration of Christmas in all the world. That is going to change if we continue to feed this monster of consumerism. Call it cliche, but Christ really is the reason for the season, and the more we mindlessly buy things that will not make us happy, the more we are led away from the one true source of happiness itself.