Editor’s note: This article is a part of a head-to-head. Read the other article here.
Nothing screams America like collectively spending $8.4 billion on candy and costumes in a few short weeks. According to a National Retail Federation survey, this is exactly what we did during the Halloween 2016 season. This was a new record for Halloween spending and there’s no indication this type of reckless holiday spending is going to stop.
According to the aforementioned survey, people say they are willing to spend an average of $86 on Halloween festivities. Depending on who you ask, this may or may not be a significant amount of money. Regardless, this number pales in comparison to the insane amount of money being spent on other holidays.
I am just shocked at what Americans spend on some of the less meaningful holidays. According to the NRF, people say they are willing to spend about $37 on St. Patrick’s Day attire. St. Patrick’s Day — really? A holiday we Americanized for the sole purpose of having an excuse to drink. It’s really cool of us, but there doesn’t seem to be a need to spend close to $40 on it.
Other money wasters are Fourth of July where people will spend around $74 and the Super Bowl where people spend around $75. The Super Bowl isn’t even a national holiday and we spend more money on it than on the day celebrating American independence. We really need to get our priorities straight.
This is not to say holidays aren’t fun or worthwhile because they absolutely are. However, it seems many people have bought into the idea that the items surrounding a holiday are what make it important. The meaning of holidays such as Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day have been so forgotten and disregarded it seems like we’re just celebrating holidays to make corporations richer.
Holidays sometimes just seem flat out pointless. If you’ve ever found yourself at a costume party wondering what choices led you to such a moment, you probably have thought it seemed pointless as well.  
Let’s keep celebrating these holidays but make an attempt to learn more about why we’re celebrating them. As we appreciate their symbolic or historic value, the less money we will need to spend on stuff to make up for the lack of meaning.
This logic can be applied to all holidays, even religious and traditionally gift-oriented ones. Putting more emphasis on the actual value of the holidays and not the superfluous junk around them seems almost un-American. But, if we don’t take small steps of appreciation, our holidays are going to get more and more watered down. 
Jacob Maranto is 21-year-old mass communication senior from Plaquemine, Louisiana.