The all-important “Christmas shopping season” is here. It’s the most pathetic thing I’ve ever heard.

Financial monsters are eroding the core of America. Every day, we make them stronger, and every day we grow weaker. We must stop feeding these monsters, for it is us who really pay in the end.

Since Macy’s polluted us with timeless classics such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” people have mindlessly marched to the stores every year to feed them, while we rob Peter to pay Paul, and then work harder to get ready for next year.

They get fatter and laugh harder at our gratuitous idiocy.

People can no longer afford to take their hard-earned money and throw it away on meaningless gifts that serve no purpose other than to stroke our own egos. Christmas is not day-after sales and one-day-biggest sale-of-the-year! It’s about family, friends and love in general.

If people really want to save this country, they should celebrate Christmas with love and compassion. It’s something not sold in stores; you can hardly find it in a stranger who is trying to get that great deal to make themselves feel better about themselves.

The oil crunch and winter hardships wouldn’t be so hard if people just gave their love for Christmas, instead of their wallets.

Wake up, people! The sad shell of what Christmas was is here, and it’s like my gas tank – empty and without feeling.

Chris Flaherty, Lewiston