In The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, the White Witch forbids the celebration of Christmas in part because she thinks the celebration is a waste of resources. Likewise, in Politically Correct Holiday Stories by James Finn Garner, Scrooge is as much a New Age acetic as he is a miser.
A classic song entreats the listener to have themselves a merry little Christmas. However, if certain environmentalists have their way, Americans won’t be enjoying much of a Christmas. For according to these elites, the Christmas festivities most of us enjoy are to be listed on the indictment of environmental crimes of Western Civilization against the ecosphere.
These leftists who have made an entire cottage industry insisting that right and wrong do not really exist certainly don’t mind telling the rest of us what to do. Published in the December 2005 edition of National Wildlife is a proclamation the reader is expected to adhere to if they wish to observe an environmentally-aware solstice season or whatever else the tree huggers wallow in this time of year.
Some of the suggestions are just commonsense tips on how to save money on electric bills. Others are more blatantly agenda driven.
University of Edinburgh climate scientist Dave Reay is quoted as saying, “Consumption of everything...spikes enormously in December, from extra car trips, to overpackaged foods, to electronic kitchen gadgets that nobody needs.”
Of course, the pilgrimage to the bookstore to acquire the professor’s book is still one of the few permissible excursions allowed beyond the confines of one’s domicile. One speculates whether Professor Reay himself owns any of those swanky-dank kitchen gadgets “nobody needs” or still cooks his food over an open spit and campfire after capturing it by his own hand. But then again, if past experience is to serve as our guide, liberal bigshots making such grandiose proclamations of a seemingly progressive nature such as how environmental catastrophe looms unless we alter the fundamental way in which we celebrate Christmas seldom abide by their own decrees.
Yet these self-anointed overlords don’t stop at telling us how we will be permitted to get around or how we will be allowed to prepare our sustenance. In fact, it is their desire to tell us what we may consume as well.
Towards the close of the National Wildlife Federation article, this fruitcake professor intones that mere commoners are to avoid eating foods not indigenous to one’s respective biome since provisions shipped long distances increase greenhouse emissions. Likewise, consumers are admonished to eat less meat since it takes away land that could be used for other agricultural purposes.
If they attended the 2002 Earth Summit in South Africa, I wonder if delegates from the National Wildlife Federation partook of the 5,000 oysters, 1,000 pounds of lobster, 80,000 bottles of mineral water, 4,000 pounds of steak, 1,000 pounds of sausage, 450 pounds of salmon , and buckets of caviar made available for the attendees who usually get their jollies condemning the rest of us for how much higher on the food chain the average American eats than the rest of the world. But then again, I guess they’d tell us they deserve such special treats more than the rest of us since their consciousnesses are so much more advanced evolutionarily than what ours are.
Unfortunately, such lunacy does not confine itself to the babbling idiots that hold the vast majority of positions in education, the media, and public interest groups. Such lunacy has a way of turning into the stuff policy dreams are made of.
And while these grandiose declarations often find themselves promulgated by the highest levels of the global elite, don’t get the impression that these directives will be confined to matters far removed from your everyday existence. For even now local governments believe it is their place to dictate to us how we are to celebrate Christmas for the sake of the environment.
The recycling manager of Carroll County, Maryland told the local paper there that the county recommends residents “Cut out unnecessary details, and don’t buy extra things or impulse items that you don’t need while you are out shopping.” Frankly, it’s none of the government’s business what I do and don’t need. The role of the government is to crack open the heads of violent criminals endangering life and property, not to play Martha Stewart or provide hints from Heloise as to proper Christmas etiquette and decorum.
But while many within government at various levels prefer we adhere to a regimen of frugality over the course the Christmas season not so much for the sake of our own pocketbooks or in the name of our good credit records but rather for the sake of the COMMUNITY, certain officials will blow more in a single season than entire family lines will spend over the course of multiple generations. For by the time the Christmas season 2005 comes to an end, the President and First Lady will have hosted twenty-six Christmas parties according to Slate.com.
At the White House, 30,000 cookies will be eaten by 9500 guests. And President Bush is president not exactly known for his profligate ways; just imagine how much more was consumed during the more conservation-oriented hedonistic administration of Bill Clinton and Al Gore.
Supporters will snap, “So? Many of these functions are supported by private funds.” But so are our own Christmas celebrations and government officials certainly don’t mind telling us what they think about how we commemorate December festivities.
And in response to increasing fuel costs, President Bush has suggested Americans cut back and tighten their belts to do their part for the benefit of all citizens. As the head of state, shouldn’t he be willing to set an example and a good place to start might be by cutting out these shindigs for multimillionaires whose lives are one big party to begin with.
Those brainwashed into accepting dutifully whatever the elites tell or demand of them will dismiss these observations as mere class envy. However, average Americans would not begrudge the rich and powerful so much for what they have if these self-appointed Overmen stopped taking it upon themselves to tell us what to do with the little that we do have.
The best gifts are those that satisfy the deepest longings of the heart. The best present any level of government can give us during the holiday season is to stay out of our business as to how we celebrate Christmas.
Copyright 2005 by Frederick Meekins
