This is all that's wrong about American holiday season. Just like everything else, it comes down to money and the material aspect of the whole thing. If money is the name of the game, it's rules affect your whole life. On the other hand, living ina country with a long historical experience of poverty meant celebrating holidays with a decent piece of meat and a cake because that was the only time of the year when they could afford to not be vegetarians. Hollywood sold us the illusion that holidays without excessive spending on presents is for losers.