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Darwyn Sly and Jaylee Elsts
As I walk down aisles that used to have 75% off holiday stocking stuffers now coated in red, white, and pink, I remember it’s the season of love. Even though it originates as a Christian day honoring two Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, Valentine’s day has become a significant commercial “celebration” of love.
Capitalists and our wonderful sociopaths on wall street always look for a business opportunity. Any good business person knows that if there is a shortage of refunds, the more people think they need it, the more money is made. Sometimes they have to manufacture this desire, and one of the most effective ways is through changing our cultures, such as routines, religion, and ideals. Valentine’s Day and Halloween are perfect examples of this. Halloween was created as an ancient Celtic festival when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.
However, through commercialization, it turned into a holiday in which we give candy and wear cheap costumes. Valentine’s day creates this expectation that to show your affection for your loved ones you must buy dumb trinkets, chocolate, or luxury items. Weighing the amount of affection someone has on the price tag of an object. This causes holidays that started off being about love turning into any other holiday raising the spirits of the well-off and degrading the rest. When holidays like this are turned into commercialized nonsense we perpetuate the ideals of a classist society, just because those with more money can spend more on excessive gifts.
Overall, Valentine's Day is just a bunch of capitalists wanting more money and using the love of other people to get it. Although the basic greed of those capitalists will never change, you don’t have to buy into it.
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