The Naked Truth
columnist: EJ Moosa

Topic: Social and Cultural Issues
Is Money A Good Substitute for Love?

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This Christmas Day, more money will exchange hands voluntarily between friends and family than any other day of the year. Is it Love?

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by EJ Moosa
(Libertarian)
Tuesday, December 25, 2007

As the morning coffee brews, and most of us anticipate a long day ahead of us, I thought of writing about loving your enemies and if that foreign policy would work. I thought of Ronald Reagan and how he embraced the enemy, broke bread with the enemy and whether that was just as important to ending the miltary race with the USSR as it was to outspend them. Maybe another day.

An item becomes popular because it either every one else has it or it solves a problem. We do not get gift cards for our own wallet, so it must be the latter reason. (OK I did buy a Chik Fil a gift card to get the free calendar yesterday-I confess!)

Justifications for gift cards are many. "They can get what they want." "I do not know the right size." "What color do they like?" "I couldn't find what they wanted." "I ran out of time." Feel free to add as many of your own as you like. (Email me your excuses and I will add them in-ejmoosa@yahoodotcom)

But the gift card allows us to grow ever and ever further apart from those that we care about and those that we love. Gift cards for stores such as Target and Home Depot get pulled out and spent like cash, and then the reminder of the gift, the reminder that someone loves and cares for us has been blended in with the fertilizer and grass seed, or the school supplies and back to school clothing. Some of the gift cards get lost and are never seen again, and most are unaware they are missing. All gift cards, like real cash, lose their purchasing power a little each month, some even faster with hidden fees.

Has the gift card (merely cash in a different form) become a poor substitute for love? The gift card allowed us to grow further and further apart. We are becoming more and more detached from our friends and family.

Remember that old sweater in your closet from Aunt Sophie? You may not wear it. It was perhaps hideous. But each time you lay eyes on it you remember her and you recall that she cared.

A very close friend received a sweater made by her mom the other day. I know that we are not much of a knitting generation these days. I will admit my first response was not wnat it should have been in light of this column. But when I think of the time taken to knit it, and that while knitting it, her mom was thinking of her, I think of love. I hope she calls her mom today and thanks her again for the gift, even if she never wears it.

Wouldn't it be nicer to meet your friend for a cup of coffee at Starbucks rather than giving them the Starbucks gift card? If not, why the gift card? Because it is easier than coordinating schedules to meet. Easier is not better all the time.

Love does not always come to us from those around us in the way we like or maybe even need at times. Reminders of that love, however, are very important. Knowing we are loved helps us in tough times. Remembering who loves us, even if it is not perfect love, can keep us from being completely detached from the world.

Think about tattoos for a second. People tattoo the names of their loved ones on their bodies as reminders. People tattoo the things they like to do on their bodies. There is a reason.

If the gift card is supposed to carry the message of love to the recipient, then the message ultimately is lost. And it means we have lost touch with those that are supposed to matter the most. If at the end of the day, your wallet is fat with plastic, and your heart a bit empty, perhaps tomorrow you will work a bit harder to show those you love real love.

I hope you have fewer gift cards and more sweaters under your tree this year and foreever more.

Merry Christmas!

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2007 EJ Moosa, all rights reserved.
Published: Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Last modified: Tuesday, December 25, 2007

The views expressed in this article are those of EJ Moosa only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. EJ Moosa is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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