Santa Claus
Photo by Mike Arney on Unsplash
Elevate the Discourse | Dec. 17, 2024
With algorithms calculating the probabilities of our desires before we know them ourselves, it is tempting to consign Santa Claus to quaint anachronism. I believe dismissing Santa Claus would be an error of judgment and imagination. Saint Nick matters precisely because he is more than he appears to be.
Why?
Santa Claus is an emblem of generosity freed from transactional logic. He offers the radical notion of unearned joy in a world governed by the quid pro quo of adult life, where an implicit expectation accompanies every gift. His generosity is unconditional, and his reward system is calculated not by material reciprocity but by an abstract moral compass that even children understand—the binary distinction between naughty and nice. Santa redefines ethics.
RLB Ident 2024
It doesn’t stop there. Santa Claus’s importance transcends the act of gift-giving. Santa represents the preservation of wonder in a disenchanted world. Believing in Santa Claus is to engage in a collective suspension of disbelief, which requires the participation of both young and old. For children, he embodies the possibility of magical, fleeting, and formative experiences that inoculate them against the deadening cynicism of adulthood. For adults, playing the role of Santa allows them to partake in a tradition of imaginative altruism. It is a performance that bridges generations, reaffirming our culture's shared rituals. Joy becomes an intangible cultural currency passed between anyone who has ever met, seen, or encountered Santa Claus.
Advertisers have co-opted the jolly old elf to sell everything from soft drinks to luxury cars. Yet reducing Santa Claus to a mascot of material excess is a missed point. His tangible gifts are secondary to what they represent: the idea that, at least for one night, the world can be transformed by acts of kindness. The commercialization of Christmas does not erase its essence; it merely provides a mirror in which we must confront our priorities.
Most importantly, Santa Claus serves as a reminder of the power of myth in a secular age. In a world dominated by empirical data, he is a relic of an earlier mode of understanding. This perspective values stories not for their factual accuracy but for their ability to convey profound truths. Santa Claus is not a scientific proposition; he is a narrative construct that teaches us about hope, generosity, and the enduring appeal of mystery. To dismiss him as a lie foisted upon children is to misunderstand the nature of belief. Belief in Santa is not about affirming the literal existence of a man in a sleigh; it is about embracing the possibility of a world imbued with meaning and magic. Humans are not merely rational creatures; we are also storytellers, possessing an innate hunger for symbols and narratives that transcend the mundane. For all his absurdities, Santa Claus satisfies that hunger in a way few modern myths can.
Santa Claus matters not because he is real but because he is true. He is true in the way that all enduring myths are true: by embodying the values and aspirations of the societies that sustain them. He reminds us that wonder is worth preserving and that there is a place for magic even in the darkest winters. To reject Santa Claus is to reject not only a figure of myth but, ultimately, part of ourselves—the part that yearns for enchantment, connection, and enduring hope that goodness, like Santa himself, will always find a way to endure.