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Christmas, that once-intimate winter observance of faith and family, has long been unrecognizably transformed. What began as a quiet reflection on shared humanity evolved into the crown jewel of capitalism’s calendar — a glitzy, waste-laden carnival of consumption. The true miracle of modern Christmas lies not in its spirit, but in its efficiency at extracting wealth and behind its ability to mask exploitation with a patina of joy. In every shimmering mall display and pre-packaged holiday special found while frantically scrolling online deals, the holiday season reveals how deeply commerce has infiltrated culture. This gilded trend demands a reckoning not from its participants, but from its architects.

Charles Dickens didn’t invent Christmas, though his A Christmas Carol undoubtedly redefined it. Written during the throes of industrial England, the novella aimed to humanize the wealthy and highlight the plight of the poor. It worked — perhaps too well. Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation from miser to benefactor framed systemic poverty not as the result of industrial exploitation but as a moral failing of individuals. Fix the heart of the factory owner, Dickens implied, and society will right itself.

What Dickens crafted as a tale of redemption quickly became a blueprint for absolving capitalism of its systemic exploitation. Victorian England latched onto this message and expanded Christmas into a season of charity, yet one where timely individual generosity smoothed over systemic inequality. It was a genius pivot as industrialists started exploiting workers 364 days a year in exchange for handing out an extra loaf of bread at Christmas.

The capitalist takeover didn’t stop there. By the 20th century, Christmas shed its veneer of morality for pure commerce. Mass production churned out ornaments, gifts and decorations, wrapping the holiday in the glitter of profit. What Dickens started as a warning for conscience became an economic juggernaut.

Syracuse’s sprawling mall, Destiny USA, epitomizes capitalism’s grip on the holiday. In December, the mall morphs into a tempting shrine for consumption. Strings of twinkling lights and towering faux trees beckon shoppers, offering not joy but the projection of joy onto tangible commodities — for a price. Affluent students and families browse its stores, toting bags stuffed with the latest must-haves. Meanwhile, many of the retail workers behind the counters live paycheck to paycheck, their wages spent on survival rather than splendor.

The gap between the flickering displays of Destiny USA and the economic struggles of Syracuse’s most economically disadvantaged neighborhoods is stark. Syracuse ranks second among large U.S. cities in child poverty, with nearly 46% of children living below the poverty line. This juxtaposition between holiday affluence and systemic inequity underscores how the commercialized season often exacerbates social divides instead of alleviating them. Christmas in America doesn’t bring togetherness; it sharpens the divide. It’s a season where wealth flaunts itself while poverty is kept in the shadows. Only the faintest whiff of Dickens’ moral call to action remains.

Cole Ross | Digital Design Director

Even on Syracuse University’s campus, capitalism’s claws on Christmas are clear. Dorms glow with lights ordered from Amazon, their cheerful warmth dimmed by the invisible labor that produced them. Holiday programming often focuses on consumer-driven traditions like Secret Santas and gift exchanges, rarely straying from mainstream holiday norms.

Even Holidays at Hendricks, one of campus’s most beloved traditions, unintentionally reflects the narrow lens through which Christmas is celebrated. While the concert highlights musical excellence, its focus on historically Christian carols sidelines the diverse traditions of a global student body. The event celebrates with good intentions but reinforces a singular narrative of what the holiday season should be, leaving little room for broader cultural representation.

Capitalism’s Christmas is as wasteful as it is exploitative. Each year, millions of tons of wrapping paper, packaging and cheap decorations are discarded, much of it non-recyclable. Plastic ornaments — shipped from factories in the Global South under brutal labor conditions — will eventually clog landfills for centuries. The environmental price is staggering, yet it remains a footnote in the story of the holiday.

The cultural cost is no less severe. Christmas has become a steamroller, flattening local and alternative traditions into a monolithic celebration of consumption. Non-Christian winter holidays were once vibrant and distinct, now overshadowed or tokenized in the rush to uphold the hegemony of Santa and snowflakes. Even within Christmas itself, the current narrative is rigid as love is measured by gifts, happiness by spectacle and meaning by price tag.

This isn’t a call to cancel Christmas but to reclaim it. Its current incarnation as a month-long festival of buying and waste is neither inevitable nor permanent. SU and its focus on critical thinking and social responsibility could lead this charge.

The campus could deconstruct its holiday programming, replacing consumer-focused events with ones that emphasize sustainability, equity and cultural diversity. A makers’ market showcasing local artisans or student creations could replace mass-produced wares. Concerts could integrate global winter traditions, amplifying voices that are often drowned out.

Beyond campus, Syracuse could invest in programs that address systemic poverty rather than performative acts of charity. Instead of one-off toy drives, long-term initiatives to combat housing insecurity or food deserts would create tangible change, embodying the holiday’s professed values in ways Dickens himself might recognize.

Capitalism thrives on the illusion that consumption equals care. Breaking free of this narrative requires courage — a willingness to challenge traditions that no longer serve their intended purpose. An anti-capitalist Christmas doesn’t discard joy, but rather reinvents it, centering community over commerce, sustainability over spectacle and justice over indulgence.

As snow falls on Syracuse, the choice is clear. Christmas can continue as the gilded snowflake — hollow, fragile and disposable — or it can be something real and lasting. Dickens may have invented the Ghost of Christmas Past, but capitalism’s ghost haunts the present. Reclaiming the holiday is not just a moral imperative but a necessary step toward a better future.

Max Lancer is a junior majoring in chemistry, biochemistry and mathematics. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at mlancer@syr.edu.

Published on December 5, 2024 at 12:34 am