Is Halloween Consumerism also Patriotism?
In the weeks that followed the September 11 attacks in 2001, Americans began to question whether continuing to spend heavily during the Halloween season (and other “spending” seasons) was the right thing to do, especially when there seemed to be so much to do to keep the country safe.
Halloween back in 2001 was still happy, but many people were already beginning to raise their voice against the pointless consumerism that abounded.
Halloween and Patriotism
How is patriotism viewed in the United States? In such a large country with a trillion dollar economy, spending is tantamount to patriotism. When you spend your hard-earned money, you keep the economy going. When you spend money, you keep the small and large businesses operating.
In effect, the whole system is maintained because people are letting go of their money. When a season like Halloween is not suddenly questioned, the commercial establishment recoils out of fear. If no one wants to spend, what would happen to the businesses?
The defenders of Halloween insist that spending helps keep the economy afloat. In doing so, you’ll also be doing your duty in protecting the best interests of America and its people.
No one really knows whether this idea is a fact, but it makes some sense.
“We don’t buy that!”
Many people disagree with the way Americans spend money during Halloween. Kevin Horrigan, from the newspaper Post-Dispatch, says:
“Take the dough you’d spend on Halloween candy and send it to the Red Cross. How about $1.9 billion instead?”
This view is apparently shared by many. Halloween does seem to cheapen everything it comes in contact with. But Halloween’s supporters claim that NOT celebrating Halloween is much worse, as it makes the country more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
As a direct consequence, leaving the country defenseless may make the sacrifices of 9/11′s victims meaningless.
Interest in the Economy
Of course, Halloween is a prime point for those interested in the vicissitudes of economic interest in the United States. Halloween is a retail-based industry. The industry thrives on individuals going out of their way to go to shops, stores and malls to buy their Halloween stuff.
What happens when the Halloween industry suddenly disappears? The economy may slow down as a whole.
These “main cogs” are the large companies that produce most of the money. The economy depends on these big companies. This is the reason why the US government is quick to lend out bailouts to keep these big companies from collapsing.
Because when the big businesses go down, the employees and all the small enterprises dependent on the big businesses would also go down fast. It’s not about selfishness, really. It’s more about preserving a slow machine, so that you won’t have to contend with a completely broken workhorse.
Spending during Halloween is increasing again as time goes by and the 9/11 furor becomes more of a distant memory. If it stays this way, then the economy should recover soon enough.
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