Spurred by President George W. Bush and America's corporations which tell us it's patriotic to buy during this recession, and that we must return to our daily activities, 270 million Americans are dribbling into stores to buy whatever the advertising agencies say we need to express our Christmas cheer. If we buy enough and go into even more debt we will be happier people and will have defeated terrorism.

    I am a generous gift-giver, whether giving material possessions or time and energy. But this year, like most Americans, I'm still in mourning and can't return to the way things were. With about a week before Christmas I'm still depressed, angry, and just not feeling recovered enough from the events of Sept. 11 to proclaim my love of humanity with a desire to wrap it in boxes. Nevertheless, I do have gifts I would like to see given, even if none of them are available in stores, catalogues, or the internet.

    Millions of dollars have been made by corporations that have exploited the Sept. 11 tragedy by wrapping patriotism around every product from can openers to cars. The best Christmas gift might be to stop buying anything that exploits our sudden re-patriotism. We could anonymously donate the money we saved to a charity or to a family that may not have such a good Christmas season. That seems to be far more patriotic, and more in the spirit that should be America, than becoming involved in a subconscious war of escalation to prove that by material possessions we're more patriotic than our neighbor.

    Every Christmas season, I see politicians trailed by TV cameras go into the cold and pretend they care about the impoverished, unemployed, and hungry. If they cared about America's underclass, they'd work on legislation to guarantee there will be fewer Americans in these categories next Christmas.

    The events of Sept. 11 have directly left more than 150,000 persons unemployed as numerous businesses have been forced to close or significantly reduce their operations. But, about 2.5 million Americans are now unemployed. The bailed-out airlines, with their million-dollar executive class managers, have added at least 40,000 workers to those unemployed rolls. Wouldn't it be a wonderful gift to the people of this country if every CEO who financially knelt before the gods of excessive corporate profits by trading the lives of their workers for a few sheckles of corporate shareholder profits would be laid off with no "golden parachutes." Let them be as uncertain of their own lives as they caused former employees to be of theirs.

    Attorney general John Ashcroft has constantly told us that in this time of crisis the government must restrict our liberties and civil rights in order to preserve our freedom. The American revolutionaries, during a time of extreme terror after pledging their lives, honors, and sacred fortunes to create a nation formed in the spirit of free expression and liberty, would be appalled at what Mr. Ashcroft, a lawyer, and his allies believe must be done to soil the Constitution in order to "protect" America. I would like to send him a framed copy of the original writing of Benjamin Franklin, a Pennsylvania citizen who told us in simple, easy-to-understand words that "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

    Every year, the American Red Cross responds to about 60,000 disasters, from apartment fires to multi-state floods. Less than two hours after the Sept. 11 disaster began, the Red Cross moved into the three crash sites and simultaneously into airports in 26 states where passengers were stranded for up to a week. This was before even one penny was collected in donations. More than 50,000 on-site volunteers and staff from throughout the nation have set up shelters, provided around-the-clock assistance to rescue, recovery, and demolition personnel, helped more than 30,000 families, made more than 160,000 mental health contacts, served more than 11 million meals, and distributed or committed about $192 million in direct relief to victims and their families. The Red Cross has done more for the victims and emergency workers than all other agencies combined. A decade from now, it will still be on-site assisting victims, their families, and recovery personnel.

    But, under stresses never before imagined, not everything ran smoothly, and the Red Cross's own public relations mission didn't keep the public fully informed of what was happening and why. For a special gift, I wish the politicians and media would retract their claws. Let the Red Cross continue to do its job without having to dodge the barbs shot by snipers who never worked a disaster, let alone contributed so others could do their jobs.

    Chanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, and Christmas all occur within a month of each other. For a few days a year we proclaim messages of love, peace, and joy. Perhaps our own gift to humanity could be to actually start practicing what we say.

    But first we need a cleansing. As much as I deplore terrorism and killing, as much as I believe that it's greater courage to turn the other cheek than to meet violence with violence, I would hope that God would give mankind a brief moment, a special gift, to rise up with the vengeance of the heavens against those who claim to act in His name for the destruction of life.

Copyright 2001 Walter M. Brasch