Capitalism ruins everything.
I know it sounds a little dramatic… but really, it does…
It swoops in wearing it’s fast-fashion couture and chemical perfume to hide the ugly truth that lives just beneath the surface.
Capitalism was built on commodification, manipulation, and exploitation.
And just to be extra clear, I’m not talking about capitalism as an abstract concept about a free market…
I’m talking about the very real way capitalism is being expressed in our current culture, and the horrendous impact it’s has on people and the planet.
It’s fucked up, no matter how you slice it.
And today, I’m going to break down how Capitalism sucked the sacredness right out of the most magical time of the year, the Holy Day Season.
To get the whole picture, we have to rewind back to the end of October.
Because all this Capitalist Holy-Day soul sucking starts with Halloween.
The origins of Halloween branch out across the northern hemisphere. For thousands of years the end of October/beginning of November has been a time to celebrate the abundance of the last harvest, honor the dead, and prepare for the coldest months of the year.
In the Celtic tradition, Samhain was the celebration of the last harvest, and a time when they veil between the physical world and the spirit world would dissolve. (Maybe the spirits we’re coming over to get their share of the harvest?)
To this day, Latinx communities around the world celebrate Día de Los Muertos, which is rooted in Aztec Culture. It’s celebrated as a time when the Ancestors can cross over and commune with their families.
It’s a time when many of our ancestors were practicing a reverence for life and death.
And somehow, American Capitalism has turned it into an annual, multi-billion dollar environmental catastrophe.
Scary Fact – In 2019, almost 8.8 Billion dollars were spent on Halloween in the US alone. Mostly on single-use decorations, individually wrapped candy and (often offensive) polyester Halloween costumes that end up in the dump.
And I’ll be totally honest… I love a little spooky October vibe as much as the next witch, but the extreme level of waste associated with this one day is just horrifying.
Then of course there is Thanksgiving, a day which is founded on colonial lies and indigenous genocide, which is just made worse by the day that follows… you know… Black Friday when humans are known to trample other humans to get $200 off a television. (seriously… wtf?)
And I could go off on how Capitalism has sucked the true meaning out of Christmas (and how Christmas is just another co-opted, Christianized, Pagan holiday) but instead I’ll end my rant by saying this:
In a season when folks are supposed to be slowing down, reconnecting with their people, and celebrating everything they have to be grateful for, they’re burning the fuck out trying to pay their bills, host the family for holiday meals, and buy Christmas presents for all their cousins who they haven’t seen in years.
And we can thank Capitalism for that.
But… as promised… It’s not all doom and gloom.
I have some really good news. We don’t have to play into the Capitalist Routine. We can build business, community and culture on our own terms.
You can reclaim the sacredness of this season by making time to care for yourself and for your community.
You can shift the collective culture by being conscious with how you spend our money, and how you show up in your business.
You can make space to have difficult conversations with friends and families about how the Capitalist Routine is wreaking havoc on your community and the planet.
You can disrupt the Capitalist Routine this Holy-Day Season.
This Holy Day season, I want to invite you to get curious about the ways you use your platform, privilege and power to move away from the oppressive cycles of capitalism, and move in the direction of the sacredness of this season…
The change is ours to make…
Love + Liberation
Lauren Elizabeth