H$PPY HOLIDAY$!!!

H$PPY HOLIDAY$!!!

            As a country, Americans spend over 228 million dollars every year shopping for holidays. That’s more than $228,000,000 spent on gifts, food, and the other accessories that go into making holidays the wonderful, joyful time of the year they are. Although the holidays bring cheer and happiness to Americans across the country, we spend far too much money every year. Almost 150 million dollars every year are spent on Christmas alone, the most costly of all the holidays in America. If we could spend less money each year on holidays, an amazing amount of money could be saved throughout the country. Furthermore, if we spent half of what we now spend as a country and spent it on charity organizations, the money would go to a much greater use than more toys and games for the already privileged children in this country.

            Christmas, of course, is by far the most expensive holiday in this country. Christmas rakes in about 130 million dollars, and that number is growing with every passing year. This accounts for nearly 60% of all the money spent on holidays. Second place goes to Thanksgiving, as the November food-infested celebration rakes in over $30 million every year. Spending so much money every year to eat turkey and stuffing, and buy the latest Xbox and PlayStation is ridiculous. The money could be used, as a real tribute to the Pilgrims and to Jesus, to support good causes and charities that give the money to those less fortunate, displaying the values bestowed upon us by those for which we celebrate the holidays in the first place. Do your sons/daughters really need one thousand dollars of presents again? Or could that money be spent in a more thoughtful, productive way instead?

           

 Levi Kahn