Santa and Economics

Gather close children, I have a story to tell. Its about Santa Claus and the high tech revolution. You see many years ago, before you were born, Santa’s elves made all of the toys. They sat around in work shops and worked for fair pay. They had a union and enjoyed benefits and adequate breaks. But then, Santa discovered outsourcing. Now, for those of you who don’t know what that means, it means that Santa discovered that he could get cheaper labour from hiring part time labour somewhere where the living expensive are lower and minimum wage doesn’t exist. For, as you know, the living cost is very expensive in the North Pole because everything has to be imported (well, except for ice). Anyway, Santa discovered that he could have inexpensive labour in Mexico and the Philippines make the products a lot cheaper. So, he phased out the elves, for the most part anyway. He kept them around to handle his finances and the his personal affairs instead of being creative and making individualized toys. The Elves were forced to work for very low wages if they could even get a job at all, because, as you know, its very difficult for elves to get immigration status in most Western countries. Now, out sourcing was going well for dear old saint nick ..but he discovered an even more inexpensive way of getting toys. You see, as technology increased, children were demanding brand name items. Increased advertising by transnational corporations had santa’s brand not flying with the kiddies. I mean who really wants a Lame boy or a Lettuce patch kid doll? Not me, I’ll tell you that. Anyway, Santa discovered something else new…internet shopping. He found out that he could order in directly from companies like apple and sony and gap without even having to leave his home. So Santa embraced the corporate world. The elves are now in charge of internet orders, shipping and receiving and yes, Santa now sports a new Nike pair of shoes and a red Gap jacket. You see, once you sell out to the corporate world…there are perks. So next time you hear reindeer on the roof, remember that they are sponsored by walmart and that that sleigh was bought on ebay. Remember that Santa only drinks coca cola and that his thermos is filled with starbucks…so don’t leave him any milk and cookies. In short my friends, remember that at some point its easier to sell out. At some point it just becomes more affordable, and makes better economic sense. So when you unwrap your lululemon bag, your uggs and wonder why you look exactly why everyone else at school…remember …it just makes better economic sense. And besides, you wouldn’t want to be different...at least that's the message Santa is getting.