Staying Safe online and on Wattpad

Layer # 8 ~ Don't get a PUP for Christmas

This chapter should've been published in November but I've had a lot on my plate lately so apologies to my regular readers. The internet user will be targeted by every kind of chancer and shyster over the next two months, offering us the 'best' prices and deals. If we check these bargains in a few months' time, say, in February, they will certainly look different – in most cases they will be much cheaper. Only 8% of Black Friday products are less expensive  on that great marketing day, the same often applies to sale offers from November to January.

During the 'season of goodwill' you might notice how the website adverts double and getneedier, the trackers become more aggressive and your email inbox begins creaking under the weight of spam. This is when ad networks, trackers, collectors and hackers go into overdrive. It is thereforethe time to be most vigilant and careful.

This is Christmas: the most commercialised holy festival of all time.

Business has relied on end of year sales for thousands of years, regardless of any religious celebration. Traditionally, traders try much harder to sell, using this period to get rid of old stock or sell the product they've been holding back for just such a market. For many it can be the time they make the most money. If they can make a sale on the back of a religious figure or icon, they're gonna do it. Two important figures are ruthlessly exploited in this way.

Most theologians and even some clergy will admit Jesus wasn't even born on December 25. Many believe Christ's mass was originally celebrated on different dates like in September or even March. In Asia Minor (Turkey and Greece) the Eastern Church believes Christ was born on January 6. The main cause of this confusion was when Dionysius Exiguus, a 6th century monk, made a mathematical miscalculation and named the 25th as the day. Dionysius was trying to unite the different Christian denominations by getting them to agree on Christ's exact birth day for The Church. This was quite tricky as people used completely different calendars in different parts of the world. December was actually October in some places (meaning years were actually different too) so we can appreciate the confusion. One thing we do know for sure though is throughout the world the true significance of Christ's birth has been replaced by a ritual that flies in the face of his teachings. He would have abhorred it, IMO.

Santa Claus, (a derivation of Saint Nicholas), was a Greek guy who lived in the 3rd century. He gave gifts to the needy – slipping coins into the shoes his visitors had respectfully left outside his temple. He was reinvented 1400 years later in the UK as Father Christmas, wearing green or red robes with a white fur trim. He was celebrated in many end-of-year 'mummers' shows' as part of an ancient British ritual called Wassailing. 200 years on, this outfit morphed into a red and white suit.

It's often said the suit was designed to promote Coca-Cola's company colours and first featured in a long-running 1890s ad campaign designed to sell their sugary cocaine-laced product, but this image was exploited by other soft drink companies before that. Coca-Cola have since removed the cocaine, but Santa still wears that red and white suit, proving corporate branding has a long history and legacy. Of course, many of the sellers, corporations and criminals aren't actually Christians, or may even be diametrically opposed to that religion, but there is much profit to be gained from Christendom. Easter also attracts this wholesale online exploitation while I'm sure other worldwide religions have their own holy festivals cynically milked, in non-western territories.

The Romans adopted various religious festivals and holy places when they conquered the world, honouring them with shrines and adding the names of their own relevant gods – a clever way to rule the locals and let them keep their belief system. It also allowed them to exploit the resources of the country they were occupying for profit. Not much has changed since then except that now world-dominating powers tend to be corporations.