Umbilically Attached to Our Stuff

Okay, so I enjoy giving (or receiving) the perfect gift just as much as the next American, and I would never suggest to anyone that you-know-who is the reason for the season. But I do think we've lost track of something huge (our humanity, maybe?) when a crowd is so focused on getting at the Cheap Stuff They Want that they inadvertently kill a person on their way into a store, and everyone just keeps on shopping. In fact, screw our humanity: at this point, even our animal instincts toward self-preservation are being dangerously misused.