It’s the end of the year. Cue the now stale dust-up about Happy Holidays v. Merry Christmas.
If there’s anything I have an allergy to, it’s tired, trite crap, people who complain for the sake of complaining, and rehash arguments that have been settled.
I believe in MOVING ON.
For some number of years, wishing people a “Merry Christmas” was said to be exclusionary and right-wing and we were treated to shit like this (see footnote) every year.1 (The graphic below is from 2018, and is reproduced on X every year by vindictive grudge-carriers.)
For that reason, I would wish people “Merry Christmas” just to go against the grain.
Yet in the real world where people are normal, no one seemed to care. And most of the “Happy Holiday” wishers were probably Christmas people. None seemed at all unhappy about saying it.
At some point it occurred to me that I was fighting a bogus battle, the sort of thing extremists fight about on the Internet.
Guys: whatever the case may be, the war has been won.
Also, compulsory Christmas is something I do find grating. As long as no one compels me to celebrate anything, I’m fine with it. We have complete freedom of and from religion in the US. That’s awesome — it’s why we’re so religious for modern people — no one forces us.
But I don’t like being forced into anything. I don’t like purity tests.
Since there are many people who don’t celebrate Christmas (including me) I now wish people “Happy Holidays.”
I won’t put up with being lectured by sore winners.
Here’s what I say to anyone who tries to lecture me:
“Kiddo, I’ve been ‘off the Democrat reservation’ or whatever phrase you stole from some right-wing conservatard influencer since your parents were wiping your ass when it was shitty. I’ve been warning about the border and railing about ‘PC’ - what we used to call ‘wokeness’ even before that. But I choose to use the phrase ‘Happy Holidays’ because not everyone celebrates Christmas.
You’re welcome.”
Here’s the thing:
We won. I don’t mean that all wokeness is gone — far from it — but
We won.
You can say whatever you want without fear of cancelation. If you don’t speak your mind it’s because you’re a coward. Don’t blame leftists for your cowardice.
The spell has been broken.
The witch is dead.
Stop complaining. Start winning.
And what is left to do?
Governance and creativity.
In other words: a lot of hard work.
The rot is deep.
But —
We’ve got some power. Use it without apology.
Get more. There are thousands of judgeships, state legislatures, congressional seats and Senatorial seats to be won.
Take power and use it.
Write books, make films, write symphonies and operas, choreograph ballets.
Endow cultural institutions. Peel back the woke from all of these.
It can be done.
No excuses.
Happy Festivus.
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas from The Cloisters2
EDIT: I’m putting the graphic below because Substack has a peculiarity in which it prioritizes the first graphic. I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about this post so I’m bumping it down to a footnote.
I’m not practicing favoritism except towards the pictures. I have dozens of them. I love The Cloisters!