Column:

Christmas, Canada and socialism

By Charles Austin

Published Dec. 1, 2008

Christmas is a great time to be a college student. Not only do you get to shun all personal responsibility by having no class for a month, but you get free stuff, too. If Christmas were a country, it would be America. If Canada were a holiday, it would be Easter. It's pleasant but unremarkable, which is exactly how Easter is, from a secular standpoint, anyway. I spent part of my Thanksgiving break in Toronto, and between last month's election and the upcoming Christmas, it was hard for me not to think about socialism. I find it ironic that the national dialogue for October and early November centered on how horrible it is to redistribute wealth, and then we segued into the late November and December celebration of Christmastime and generosity, the spirit of giving for the sake of giving. At first this seems like some kind of schizophrenic or hypocritical shift, but in reality it's just a sign that Christmas is a lot more about getting rather than giving, and Americans are very good at getting things. On Black Friday, a security worker at a Wal-Mart in Long Island, N.Y., was trampled underfoot and killed by a stampede of eager shoppers. At its surface, this would be a great way to attack consumer culture and say, "Look at what it does to us!" and that would be great. It would show just what these awful companies do to us. But this story isn't so much about corporate irresponsibility as it is self-control. When I first talked to students in and around the University of Toronto about the price of gas or books or alcohol, I was generally impressed. It seemed to me that the semi-socialized system we Americans spent much of the past months deriding was working pretty well for them. But at the same time, they talked about the joy of going to America to buy cheaper clothes and books, which reminded me that self-interest isn't just an American thing, it's a human thing. We talked about Wal-Mart and Black Friday for a while, and I mentioned the security guard who was trampled and killed. Later in the conversation someone mentioned they had heard Xbox 360s were selling for as low as $90, and I'm honestly not sure which of these claims sparked greater surprise. I don't think Canadians accept paying higher prices out of a utilitarian duty to society, and I don't think most people consciously remind themselves that they're paying for their health care every time they buy a pack of cigarettes or something. I think they're just used to it. And there's no doubt in my mind that Americans would get used to it the same way, if we implemented similar policies. But we don't want to do that, and that's exactly why Christmas is the most American holiday there is. Most of us don't spend money on complete strangers on Christmas, and even those of us who do typically spend much more on our family and friends. This is because there's a greater personal satisfaction in buying something for people who give you something in return, whether that's another present or just treating you kindly. And being self-interested isn't horrible. It's just part of being human. Human nature is selfishness is America is Christmastime. We're not a vapid country or anything; we're just very explicit. We have everything everybody wants, and more of it, too. We aren't afraid to flaunt it, and that's very human, very natural, but at the same time kind of depressing.