Re: [Libertaria] Adopting Santa as Libertaria's helper

[Sam Carana]

I like it, in part, but there are some aspects of Santa that I wouldn't want to be associated with Libertaria:

 

Santa stands for religion and for profiteering. In a somewhat confusing combination of christianity and capitalism, Santa carries the two-edged sword of altruism and commercial exploitation. Santa was modeled after Saint Nicolas who was, until his death, a Bishop of Myra, in Lycia. This reinforces the christian idea that one should give one's possessions to the poor out of altruism. On the other hand, Santa is pushed by commercial interests of multinational conglomorates that have found in Santa a convenient mix of getting people in the mood for buying and profiteering from impulse buying of unnecessary items produced in the sweatshops of Asia. As a Saint and a Bishop, Saint Nicolas is sufficiently christian to be acceptable by christians and in capitalism's heartland, the US, while the more de-christianed Santa is also sufficiently transculturally acceptable as the symbol for globalised commercialism. Should either religion or profiteering be associated with Libertaria?

 

Only children believe in Santa. Santa focuses on giving presents to children, feeding on their naive belief that someone would give them free candy. Additionally, Santa hides behind a robe and a mask. Many parents don't want their children to sit on Santa's lap, associating this with pedophilia and fearing that their children may get accustomed to sitting on bearded men's laps, in exchange for candy. Santa enters houses without knocking at the door and robs parents of their authority, taking the glory for the festivities while presenting those parents with the bill by stealth.  

 

And of course, Santa is not real! Associating with Santa risks putting libertaria even further in the corner of the Utopia for the naive believers, who are fooled by the quick sales schemes and smart marketing plots of large producers and retailers into believing that it was Santa who gave all these presents for free, whereas in reality parents have to pay for all of it with their hard-earned money. Santa is the celebration of the smooth-talking actors and crooners of children's songs who collaborate in a huge scheme to rob people with honest jobs from their money by ringing bells and cheering "Ho, ho, ho!".

 

Santa only comes once a year! The annual pre-Christmas shopping spree is far from voluntary. Families are pushed into this, because during the Christmas and New Year period, shops are closed, so everyone is forced to buy sufficient supplies to last through this period. People are prohibited from working or opening their shops on public holidays. With shops and schools closed, many hang around in their houses getting bored, resulting in excessive partying, eating and drinking, vandalism, car-accidents, unwanted holiday trips, etc.

 

Finally, have a look at the link appended to your message. Indeed, free webmail isn't entirely free, it's paid for by advertisers, in this case

http://www.youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1998

 

Two extracts from this page:

 

- "Mail order brides, as young as 13, are trafficked from Eastern Europe and Asia. Young women are tricked into traveling to other countries for jobs, and instead become sexual slaves and forced prostitutes after arriving. Some are just plain kidnapped. Many are promised to be set free after "working off their debt," which will never really happen. Violence, pregnancies, abortion, diseases, and death all or in part await each victim."
 

- "...forcing people to work without wages (slavery), is used for sweatshops, farms, domestic servitude (private "servants"), and small labor operations."

 

What has this to do with Santa? At first glance, it may look like a co-incidental sponsoring link that has been added now, because people can be lulled into donating to charity at this time of year. But note that Santa was brought into the US by dutch colonists celebrating their annual Sinterklaas. In the Netherlands, Sint Nicholaas was traditionally accompanied by black slaves, who presumably produced all the gifts and candy and who helped distribute the lot. Black servants also formed the crew of the boat that brought Sint Nicholaas (and his horse) from Spain to the Netherlands once a year. These black servants had huge bags, in part to carry all the presents to the children. A more sinister meaning of these bags was to terrorise children into believing that they were meant to carry naughty and disobedient children back to Spain. To reinforce such terror, the black servants carried brooms, bundles of twigs, held together by rope,which are symbols of forced unity. Such brooms were commonly used to sweep the floors when attached to a stick, but also as held-held instruments for applying corporal punishment. In Italy, they are called fasces and they are the symbol for fascism, under the motto that each individual twig may be weak, but when united the broom becomes a mighty weapon to sweep away dirt and punish disobedience. In that light, Santa stands for slavery, forced weddings, servitute, corporal punishment, terrorism and fascism.

 

 

Cheers!

 

Sam Carana

 

On 12/29/05, Libertaria <liber...@30gigs.com> wrote:

As the year 2005 comes to an end, it's time to reconsider the idea of adopting Santa as Libertaria's helper. For years, supporters of Libertaria have made suggestions to do so, so why not discuss things in more detail here now.

There are some obvious similarities, here are three of them:

- Free gifts! Santa gives presents away for free. This corresponds with the vision of Libertaria in which everything is free. It also corresponds with the vision that Libertaria will be established as products and services will become ever cheaper and powerful, taking away the scarcity argument for law and order backed up by police and military forces. Thus, free products and services for everyone will also make everyone free.

- Voluntary participation. There's no law that prescribes what Santa does. Santa lives in the hearts and minds of people. It's largely up to families to celebrate Santa in the way they want, while shops also have much freedom in using Santa and associated decorations to advertise their products and services. Santa doesn't take from the rich to give to the poor, as Robin Hood does in line with the socialist doctrine. Santa gives to all, without forcing the rich to pay the bills. This corresponds with the vision that in Libertaria, everyone will be free.

- International. Santa is celebrated across borders in many countries with different languages and with different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. This corresponds with the vision of Libertaria transcending territorial borders.


There are more similarities, but the above three seem enough to adopt Santa as Libertaria's helper and to add pictures of Santa and items associated with Santa to groups, websites and emails that support Libertaria.

Happy New Year!

Ho, ho, ho!!!


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[Spot Rocker]

I like it! Santa could well be a symbol associated with Libertaria, together with associated items, such as bells, decorations, etc. Also, we could adopt the colors red and green!

 

  

 

I see the point of Santa coming only once a year. We should of course insist that Santa comes around, not just once a year, but is active all year round. Anyone with ideas as to how this could be incorporated in the banner? Perhaps by adding something like: Santa 24/7 all year long?

 

On the slavery point. Rather than having presents created by elves or
servants in sweatshops, it should be made clear that things will become free
through free markes, competition and all the good work by people who chose to
make things voluntarily and were well rewarded for their efforts. Anyone with ideas as to how that could be incorporayted in the banner?

 

On the point of religious. While Santa may have had christian origin, he has sufficiently moved away from religion. Deocrations such as hats, bells, balls, reindeer, the North Pole, lights and trees do not relate to religion, in fact the custom of putting a deocrated tree inside the house pre-dates christinaity, as far as I know.  

 

So, as far as I see it, I think we should give the green light to Santa! Ho, ho, ho!

Spot

 

 

 

 

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[Sam Carana]

OK, Spot, I agree that Santa has sufficiently moved away from christianity to drop the stigma of altruism. In fact, many christians will complain that Santa is evil, the embodyment of market forces that seek to enslave us all, an anagram of Satan. That's why I said that Santa is a two-edged sword, cutting you with both references to religion and to profiteering.

 

Also, there still is this concern that Santa is not the real thing. After all, he works alone, doesn't he, as a kind of sole employer of elves who have to work hard to magically produce items that are often bad for children (obesity, tooth decay, etc). In that way, Santa is like a pusher of heroin, enticing people to eat more candy than is good for them. And is this candy-colored world really what we want?

 

Anyway, to remove the stigma of sweatshops and impulse buying, you could perhaps add two hands in a handshake, indicating that things occur because people want it, i.e. on voluntary basis, in agreement, by mutual consent and all those kind of concepts.

 

Yes, also add Santa 24/7 all year long. That will remove the false idea that Libertaria was only a once-a-year party, or a public holiday type of thing.

 

So, perhaps we could make it work, it's worth a try!

 

PS, I prefer the jolly Santa over the one in the banner. The banner one has the look of an idiot, which is exactly what we don't want. BTW, did you make the images, or are they public domain?

 

Cheers!

 

Sam

 

[Spot Rocker]

OK, Sam, here you go! Have a look at the new banner! Below are also some more thoughts on Santa. Does anyone have further concerns? 

 

 

OK, let's go over everything that we can hold against Santa! Isn't Santa loved by everyone? Most people do like Santa, he's a jolly old chap and gives presents.

I know, all the libertarians and atheists who support Libertaria may at first glance have concerns about adopting Santa, who is the ultimate christian, a true believer in the Christmas spirit of peace, family, friendship and altruism. The presents are often unwanted cheap toys that break down after one-time usage. So, basically, Santa is kitsch.
 
More sinister, Santa introduces many children into this Christmas spirit, to make children walk in line with the Commandments of Good Behavior, promising rewards for good and obedient behavior all year long. The track record for each child is recorded in minute detail in Santa's big, red book, which also keeps their personal wish-lists. Yes, Santa is omni-scient and knows all our secrets, combining the powers of a God, a catholic priest and Big Brother. In that sense, Santa is a solid preparation for the catholic institute of confession.

Isn't the idea of Santa tresspassing into homes and terrifying children into obedience, basically an instrument to enforce a law-and-order society? As you mentioned, isn't Santa a pedophile, taking pleasure out of positioning a boy onto his lap, while intimidating him and questioning him about his misbehavior, and offering him sweets and lollies for chanting those carols and for being a good boy? Then, there's the secrecy, which seems in conflict with the openess of libertarianism. Santa forces millions of parents to go on a secret annual shopping mission. So, not only is Santa kitsch, he's also fake!

So yes, Santa was originally a catholic saint, and today he's seducing children with old-fashioned magic. Protestants may have destroyed all statues and sculptures of saints during the Reformation, but they must have forgot about this walking symbol of Christmas, who was hiding at the North Pole.

Yes, Santa has become the international symbol of the End-of-Year holidays and the parties that come with that. Many pets are abandoned during the holiday period. Many copy-machines break down in this period, because staff decide to sit on them during end-of-year parties at the office. Over-consumption of food and alcohol abuse peak around this time of year, while many go into debt to pay the bills for the shopping sprees.

Many families like coming together for Christmas, but there are also many people who haven't got any family, or at least not close by to pay them a visit. Do such festivities make the lonely even more lonely and the miserables even more miserable? Isn't Christmas essentially a celebration of good-old catholic family values?

This is indeed where catholicism and socialism go hand in hand. Santa is a friend of the poor, who get a few days off, all at the same time, allowing them to organize family get-togethers. Without the authority of Santa to enforce a formal public holiday period, employers would take away the best time of the year from the poor. 
Santa is a socialist, combining christianity and socialism, thus becoming a unified symbol of trade unions that seek to cement their power by enforcing public holdays. Meanwhile, for causal workers, Christmas is a period of uncertainty. They may not get any work after this period of coerced holidays, at these very times that they typically have to spend more money than usual. While Jesus gave away free bread and fish, and applied free medical treatment on the spot to those in need, Santa merely gives presents, as a preview of Heaven, where everything is freely available for the needy. But the
atheists know that people have to work hard for all those presents. We of course want Libertaria to be established on Earth, not as a Christian Paradise on Earth nor as a Utopian workers paradise, but as the result of free markets at work.

Socialists love Santa, he looks like Karl Marx and Charles Darwin, and is dressed all in red, like a good communist, or like the devil himself. Indeed, isn't Santa an anagram of Satan? That's why many christians dislike Santa! As you say, Santa is a two-edged sword, a mix between socialism and catholicism, but also disliked both by catholics and socialists for various reasons.

Many socialist also dismiss Santa as an ideology for children. They see Santa's sleigh as a Trojan Horse, bringing subversive religious ideology into the homes of unsuspecting families. Of course, Santa's presents aren't magically made by happy little elves on the North Pole, no, they're produced in the sweatshops of Asia, by ruthlessly
exploited children and women. Father Christmas is a running dog of capitalism, the avuncular front for an international marketing racket that enriches the multinational conglomerates and their evil cohorts, i.e. the greedy little retailers who all put up all these Christmas decorations to lure naive families into this annual shopping spree.

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From: Sam Carana <sam.c...@gmail.com>
Reply-To: Liber...@yahoogroups.com
To: Liber...@yahoogroups.com, liber...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [Libertaria] Adopting Santa as Libertaria's helper
Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2005 17:34:04 +1000

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[Sam Carana]

I like the new banner! As I said, Santa has sufficiently moved away from the original catholic saint to become adoptable as Libertaria's mascotte. Also, the addition of 24/7 and all year long does take the sting out of concerns about socialism. Also, Santa doesn't work alone, but in fact all people work to make Santa possible and that makes Santa a good symbol for a Libertaria where everthing is free and everyone is free. 

 

I read that the Santa has three balls. Yes, Santa is often pictured carrying three balls of gold, just google for some pictures of statues and paintings of Saint Nicolas. Anyway, legend is that these are three purses with gold that Santa secretly gave to rescue three girls from prostitution. Doesn't that fit in well with Libertaria?  

Cheers!

Sam

[Sam Carana]

Here are some more thoughts on Santa. Santa may reappear each year, but he does so under different names and dates. This supports the idea of Santa as an international figure, who is active not merely on Christmas day.
 
As an example, Nicholas is known as Nikolaus in Germany, accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, with goatlegs, who threatens to beat or eat disobedient children. In Switzerland, the helper is called Schmutzli, who threatens to put bad children in a sack and take them back to the Black Forest. In Austria, Nikolaus is accompanied by helpers called Krampusse who scare naughty children. In parts of Austria, Krampusse roam the streets during the festival, wearing masks and dragging chains behind them, occasionally hurling them towards the children.

In Russia, Christmas was traditionally celebrated on January 7, because the Russian Orthodox Church followed the old Julian calendar. Communist Russia  tried to replace the religious festivities by introducing the equivalent of Santa, i.e. Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), who appeared around New Year's Day and who travels magically in a troika (sleigh) drawn by three horses and accompanied by a Snow Maiden. 

By the way, this highjacking of festivities was similar in strategy as what the Church did earlier, when seeking to take over the existing pagan festivity of the solstice. Indeed, the Church deliberately introduced the christian celebrations of Christmas and Easter (supposedly the birth and death of Christ) in order to stamp out rival celebrations of the changing of the seasons, which were associated by the Church as a pagan belief in witchery and the occult. Thus, the argument goes, the Church picked a date for the birth of Christ to match the pagan solstice celebrations, encouraging people to decorate their houses with nativity items, instead of the earlier practices of bringing trees, the yule-log and other pagan items into the house.

Of course, the Church never succeeded in stamping out the trees and the lights. In fact, people increasingly like to decorate their houses with lights, trees and Santas throughout the month of December, while the act of giving presents seems more popular than the practice of attending Church.

Anyway, to get back to the many faces of Santa, in the Netherlands he is known as Sinterklaas and he is accompanied by one or more 'zwarte pieten', handing out presents to children on December 5. This dutch Saint Nicholas was the model for the Hollywood Santa, who was first stylised into a more jolly fellow for Coca Cola ads, while the habit of giving presents was subsequently moved to be celebrated as part of Christmas.

The history of Santa justifies him being dissociated from the Christian Christmas celebrations and becoming a celebration of giving things to people for free. Santa is already active throughout the entire month of December, sometimes starting even earlier, so why not extend his activities throughout the year?

Many do see Santa as part of the christian celebration of Christmas. But how christian is Santa? Santa is based on a man called Nicholas, who was undoubedtly a good christian, but who was most famous for his gifts. After the death of his parent, he gave away his inherited wealth in the form of gifts. This makes Nicholas a supporter, perhaps founder of a belief that is somewhat different from christianity, i.e. the belief that things should be given for free, without demanding that people make donations or pay taxes to fund such operations. While the Church glorifies God's law on earth and the acceptance of misery in exchange for a better life after death, Nicholas focused instead on life on earth and glorified the act of giving itself. 

Nicholas is the patron of merchants, brewers, prisoners, robbers, prostitutes, pharmacists, pawnbrokers, travellers, sailors and - of course - children. Nicholas is also patron of the city of Amsterdam, known for its relaxed attitude towards trade, drugs, pornography and prostitution. This pictures Nicholas more as a libertarian than as a Catholic Bishop.

Anyway, one can argue that Santa is distinctively different from the christian celebration of Christmas. In the case of Libertaria, we adopt Santa for his philosophy of free gifts, without asking others to pay for it.

But Santa's helpers, in all their international incarnations remains a worry. What is the secret of Santa and what is the 'mystery' behind Libetaria? Of course, Santa's secret is how he manages to come up with the huge amounts of gifts and distribute them, all in one day. For many, this secret of Santa may be an interesting opportunity to teach children a lesson. At the North Pole, daylight may remain visible for many subsequent days. So, why wouldn't other magical things be possible there as well? In the Libertaria view, instead, things become free because that is what makes most sense if we project market trends into the future. There are two things at work behind the scenes.  

Firstly, it makes sense for all things to become cheaper over time. After all, millions of people work most of their lives in order to improve the processes of production, distribution and the associated management. This makes that products and services are constantly being improved in terms of their quality, performance, features, etc. It also means that products and services are constantly competing on price and that suppliers will therefore seek to offer the same product or service at ever lower prices. So, while Nicholas, in his benevolence, may not have foreseen this latter development, he did get part of it right, i.e. that it makes sense to give things for free.

Secondly, why wouldn't people work in order to produce things that are given away for free? Many people may simply like this, in line with the spirit of Santa. But also, being accredited with worthwhile ideas, products or services, that is an incentive to work for it in itself. Self-promotion is highly underrated in economic terms, while it is actually the hidden drive behind many of our actions. Doing something useful with one's life, does that require prior justification?

In conclusion, I see a great future for the Libertaria movement and Santa could well be adopted as Libertaria's helper, and as such contribute to promote the ideas behind Libertria. But we should take care not to be identified too much with the idea that Santa was merely a smart scheme by greedy retailers to lure people into impulse buying of otherside useless kitsch, sweets, food and liquor, thus causing debts, obesity and car-accidents.

In that regard, the 24/7 and Santa being active all year long is a good strategy. Also, the handshake and especially the handshake with the robot arm is a welcome touch, as it demystifies the market mechanisms at work behind Libertaria, rather than replacing them with the magic of Santa.

Ho, ho, ho!

Sam Carana