THE SANTA CLAUS PSY OP
Edward Bernays, Coca-Cola, and the Patron Saint of Thieves
HEY NEVERMORONS,
I have a question for y’all.
How many of you know that Saint Nicholas was a historical figure?
I’m taking a poll!
According to Wikipedia:
Saint Nicholas of Myra[a] (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343),[3][4][b] also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (modern-day Demre, Turkey) during the time of the Roman Empire.[7][8] Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker.[c] Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried people, and students in various cities and countries around Europe. His reputation evolved among the pious, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional model of Santa Claus ("Saint Nick") through Sinterklaas.
I ask because I didn’t know this. I looked up Saint Nicholas because I heard he was the patron saint of thieves, and it turns out that he was a real person who has gone down in history. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the modern-day story of Saint Nicholas is based upon the life story of a real flesh-and-blood human being who lived and died a long time ago.
Recently, I made the case that the Christ Mythos is based upon the life of real-life Galilean revolutionary zealot-bandit who was executed by the Roman state.
I invite people to take a second to draw the analogy between Saint Nicholas and the real-life Jesus of Nazareth. I suspect that in both cases, the myth bears scant resemblance to the original people they were based on. Myth is the process by which men become legends, and for all intents and purposes, legendary heroes are mythologically indistinguishable from gods.
I have furthermore made the case that the revolutionary political movement that Jesus and John the Baptist were part was a military-messianic tradition which envisioned a bloody revolution in which God would lead the Jewish people to victory over the gentiles. The movement later absorbed other influences and became universalist.
So here’s an idea for you: consider how much the story of Santa Claus, who almost every small child today believes lives at the North Pole with a factory of toy-making elves and a stable full of magical flying reindeer, differs from the known biography of Saint Nicholas, the person that the Santa Mythos is based on.
Then consider how different the Christ Mythos might be from the actual facts of the life of the actual Jewish messiah.
I suppose my point is this: for functional purposes, the important thing about the Christ Mythos is that Christ is an archetype of the moral hero, who is determined to obey his conscience even at the cost of his own life. You have to remember that to the Christ myth replaces warrior heroes who were worshipped for being mighty, not for being moral. This is why Nietzche called Christianity “Platonism for the masses”. The archetype of the Moral Hero was presented in the place of the Conquering Hero as the values of a warrior culture transformed into civilization, that is to say, a culture dominated by domesticated urbanites.
The important thing isn’t the historical details of his life, and to be honest, focusing on such things probably isn’t a good detail because people will end up fighting over different interpretations over the available evidence, which is fragmentary and supremely puzzling in many ways. The Bible is a giant riddle, and archaeology is notoriously inexact.
THE SANTA CLAUS PSY OP
Anyway, it just so happens that I was doing some random googling trying to find out whether Edward Bernays advised Coca Cola on their famous Santa Claus campaign.
I personally suspect that the Rise of the Santa Claus Mythos was part of a psy-op. Call it the Santa Claus Psy Op.
I could explain this idea, but it would sound too crazy unless you know enough about Edward Bernays, the most diabolically ingenious propagandist of the 20th century.
If you’ve seen Century of the Self, you’ll get what I mean immediately know what I mean.
I suggest watching that movie and asking yourself why and how the image of Santa Claus was introduced into popular culture.
My theory is this: that the Santa Claus Mythos is a conspiracy to make children not believe in God.
It works like this: the idea of Santa Claus, a magical invisible being characterized by lovingkindness, comes to be very associated with the idea of God in a child’s mind. After all, Father Christmas is a paragon of paternal love, isn’t he? And the whole idea of God in the mind of a child is derived from the archetypal connection between parent and child - God is conceived of in countless cultures as a parent, because a child first imagines God as a kind of Super-Daddy or Super-Mommy.
Then, before a child develops the ability to think begin think critically, they are informed that Santa Claus isn’t real. Because the idea of God is so close to that of Santa Claus, the message that children get is that God isn’t real, and that it’s foolish and childish to believe in magic or invisible beings.
I kind of suspect that the Santa Claus Psy Op might be responsible for postmodernism, to be honest. Why else would we have all these intellectual incels slouching around?
But I digress. Anyway, get this: When I searched “Christmas” on the Anarchist Library, an essay came up entitled An Anarchist Guide to Christmas, where I stumbled across a mind-blowing fact: Peter Kropotkin might have been descended from the historic Saint Nicholas!
Get a load of this:
It’s no surprise to discover that anarchist theorist Pyotr Kropotkin was interested in Christmas. In Russian culture, St. Nicholas (Николай Чудотворец) was revered as a defender of the oppressed, the weak and the disadvantaged. Kropotkin shared the sentiments. But there was also a family link. As everyone knows, Kropotkin could trace his ancestry to the ancient Rurik dynasty that ruled Russia before the upstart Romanovs and which, from the first century CE, controlled the trade routes between Moscow and the Byzantine Empire. Nicholas’s branch of the family had been sent out to patrol the Black Sea. But Nicholas was a spiritual man and sought an escape from the piracy and brigandage for which his Russian Viking family was famed. So he settled under a new name in the southern lands of the Empire, now Greece, and decided to use the wealth that he had amassed from his life of crime to alleviate the sufferings of the poor.
Unpublished archival sources recently discovered in Moscow reveal that Kropotkin was fascinated by this family tie and the striking physical similarity between himself and the figure of Father Christmas, popularised by the publication of ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ (better known as ‘The Night Before Christmas’) in 1823.
Holy Smokes! How did I not see it before?
Wow! I think that’s one of those things that once you see, you can’t unsee.
I’m seriously blown away that I’ve never heard this before! I think this is one of the moments where classical anarchism’s historical anti-Christian bias shows. Has the fact that Kropotkin might be descended from a literal saint been downplayed because anarchists don’t want to include anything Christian in our Mythos? Well, everyone knows that Kropotkin was a Russian prince… how is that any better?
Weird! It’s like how feminists ignore the fact that Joan of Arc was the single most badass woman in history because she was super-Catholic.
Anyway, let’s not forget that the Situationist International rejected Jacques Ellul for the explicit reason that he was Christian. That is bigotry, pure and simple.
Let’s learn from our mistakes.
Anyway, in case you’re wondering, Edward Bernays did indeed work for Coca-Cola, and is crediting with helping boost their sales during the winter months.
According to Chat GPT:
Yes, Edward Bernays, the pioneer of public relations and propaganda, worked for Coca-Cola on multiple campaigns during his career. While he is more famously associated with his work for the tobacco industry and political campaigns, Bernays' expertise in shaping public opinion and consumer behavior was utilized by Coca-Cola to bolster its brand image and expand its market reach.
Key Involvements with Coca-Cola
Promoting Coca-Cola During the Winter Months:
One of Bernays' notable contributions was addressing Coca-Cola's seasonal sales slump in the winter. At the time, soft drinks were often seen as a summer refreshment.
Bernays leveraged his public relations strategies to reframe Coca-Cola as a year-round beverage, focusing on its association with social gatherings, relaxation, and universal appeal.
Leveraging Celebrities and Influencers:
Bernays frequently employed endorsements from influential figures, such as athletes, entertainers, and scientists, to promote Coca-Cola. By associating the brand with prestige and success, he broadened its cultural significance.
Targeting Niche Audiences:
Bernays was known for his ability to tailor messages for specific demographics. He likely helped Coca-Cola strategize campaigns that appealed to diverse groups, including women and young adults.
Building Coca-Cola's Global Image:
Coca-Cola’s growth into a symbol of American culture and global modernity coincided with Bernays’ era. Although not solely responsible, his techniques in cultural diplomacy and associating products with lifestyle ideals were influential.
Hmmm…. Young adults, eh? Seems like “children” would be the more appropriate word here.
Merry Christmas!
Crow Qu’appelle
AN ANARCHIST GUIDE TO CHRISTMAS
by Ruth Kinna
It’s no surprise to discover that anarchist theorist Pyotr Kropotkin was interested in Christmas. In Russian culture, St. Nicholas (Николай Чудотворец) was revered as a defender of the oppressed, the weak and the disadvantaged. Kropotkin shared the sentiments. But there was also a family link. As everyone knows, Kropotkin could trace his ancestry to the ancient Rurik dynasty that ruled Russia before the upstart Romanovs and which, from the first century CE, controlled the trade routes between Moscow and the Byzantine Empire. Nicholas’s branch of the family had been sent out to patrol the Black Sea. But Nicholas was a spiritual man and sought an escape from the piracy and brigandage for which his Russian Viking family was famed. So he settled under a new name in the southern lands of the Empire, now Greece, and decided to use the wealth that he had amassed from his life of crime to alleviate the sufferings of the poor.
Unpublished archival sources recently discovered in Moscow reveal that Kropotkin was fascinated by this family tie and the striking physical similarity between himself and the figure of Father Christmas, popularised by the publication of ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ (better known as ‘The Night Before Christmas’) in 1823.
Kropotkin was not quite so portly as Klaus, but with a cushion stuffed up his tunic, he felt he could pass. His friend Elisée Reclus advised him to drop the fur trim on the outfit. That was a good idea as it would also allow him to wear a bit more black with the red. He’d decided to follow Elisée’s advice on the reindeer, too, and to use a hand driven sleigh. Kropotkin wasn’t normally given to dressing up. But exploiting the resemblance to spread the anarchist message was excellent propaganda by the deed.
Kropotkin thought that we could all pose as Santa Claus. On the edge of one page Kropotkin writes: Infiltrate the stores, give away the toys!
Faint remnants on the back of a postcard read:
On the night before Christmas, we’ll all be about
While the people are sleeping, we’ll realise our clout
We’ll expropriate goods from the stores, ‘cos that’s fair
And distribute them widely, to those who need care.
His project notes also reveal some valuable insights into his ideas about the anarchistic features of Christmas and his thinking about the ways in which Victorian Christmas rituals might be adapted.
“We all know”, he wrote, “that the big stores – John Lewis, Harrods and Selfridges – are beginning to exploit the sales potential of Christmas, establishing magic caves, grottos and fantastic fairylands to lure our children and pressurise us to buy gifts that we do not want and cannot afford”.
“If you are one of us”, he continued, “you will realise that the magic of Christmas depends on Father Christmas’s system of production, not the stores’ attempts to seduce you to consume useless luxuries”.
Kropotkin described the sprawling workshops at the North Pole, where elves worked all year, happily because they knew that they were producing for other peoples’ pleasure. Noting that these workshops were strictly not-for profit, craft-based and run on communal lines, Kropotkin treated them as prototypes for the factories of the future (outlined in Fields, Factories and Workshops).
Some people, he felt, thought that Father Christmas’s dream to see that everyone received gifts on Christmas day, was quixotic. But it could be realised. Indeed, the extension of the workshops – which were quite expensive to run in the Arctic – would facilitate generalised production for need and the transformation of occasional gift-giving into regular sharing.
“We need to tell the people”, Kropotkin wrote, “that community workshops can be set up anywhere and that we can pool our resources to make sure that everybody has their needs met”!
One of the issues that most bothered Kropotkin about Christmas was the way in which the inspirational role that Nicholas’s had played in conjuring Christmas myths had confused the ethics of Christmas. Nicholas was wrongly represented as a charitable, benevolent man: saintly because he was beneficent. Absorbed in the figure of Father Christmas, Nicholas’s motivations for giving had become further skewed by the Victorian’s fixation with children.
Kropotkin didn’t really understand the links, but felt that it reflected an attempt to moralise childhood through a concept of purity that was symbolised in the birth of Jesus. Naturally he couldn’t imagine the creation of the Big Brother Santa Claus who knows when children are asleep and awake and comes to town apparently knowing which have dared to cry or pout.
But sooner or later, he warned, this idea of purity would be used to distinguish naughty from nice children and only those in the latter group would be rewarded with presents.
Whatever the case, it was important both to recover the principle of Nicholas’ compassion from this confusing mumbo-jumbo and the folkloric origins of Santa Claus. Nicholas gave because he was pained by his awareness of other peoples’ hardship. Though he wasn’t an assassin (as far as Kropotkin knew), he shared the same ethics as Sofia Petrovskaya. And while it was obviously important to worry about the well-being of children, the anarchist principle was to take account of everyone’s suffering.
Similarly, the practice of giving was mistakenly thought to require the implementation of a centrally-directed plan, overseen by an omniscient administrator. This was quite wrong: Father Christmas came from the imagination of the people (just consider the range of local names that Nicholas had accrued – Sinterklaas, Tomte, de Kerstman). And the spreading of good cheer – through festivity – was organised from the bottom up.
Buried in Christmas, Kropotkin argued, was the solidaristic principle of mutual aid.
Kropotkin appreciated the significance of the ritual and the real value that individuals and communities attached to carnivals, acts of remembrance and commemoration. He no more wanted to abolish Christmas than he wished to see it republicanised through some wrong-headed bureaucratic re-ordering of the calendar.
It was important, nonetheless, to detach the ethic that Christmas supported from the singularity of its celebration. Having a party was just that: extending the principle of mutual aid and compassion into everyday life was something else. In capitalist society, Christmas provided a space for special good behaviours. While it might be possible to be a Christian once a year, anarchism was for life.
Kropotkin realised his propaganda would have the best chance of success if he could show how the anarchist message was also embedded in mainstream culture. His notes reveal that he looked particularly to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to find a vehicle for his ideas. The book was widely credited with cementing ideas of love, merriment and goodwill in Christmas. Kropotkin found the genius of the book in its structure. What else was the story of Scrooge’s encounter with the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future than a prefigurative account of change?
By seeing his present through his past, Scrooge was given the chance to alter his miserly ways and re-shape both his future and the future of the Cratchit family. Even if it was only remembered once a year, Kropotkin thought, Dickens’s book lent anarchists a perfect vehicle to teach this lesson: by altering what we do today, by modelling our behaviours on Nicholas, we can help construct a future which is Christmas!
I fear you may be right.
Second, I wanted to give some background on the Scrooge story, that I think you'll find interesting. While waiting to see the play with my daughters, I read the show notes. It told how, in Dicken's England, rents were due for the whole year at the end of December. If the renters couldn't pay, they were evicted into the cold of midwinter.
So Christmas was only a feast of celebration and presents for wealthy landlords. For everyone else, it was the harshest time of the year. They had to beg, borrow and steal to make the largest lump sum payment in their lives. They were paupers, even the middle class, by the time they handed over their savings to the rich. And for what? To have a roof over their heads.
The word for the reformed Scrooge, coined by Margaret Anna Alice, is philanthropath. It's someone who amasses riches by stealing the wealth from the masses, and then scatters a few coins to keep the rabble from revolting. St. Nicolas is a philanthropath, not changing the system but scattering gifts while continuing to own the wealth. It's interesting that Rurik Skywalker chooses a name of Russian royalty for his moniker.
And Kropotkin's anarchy is institutionalized philanthropathy. It takes away the products of people's labor, which he mythologizes as happy factory-line elves, and gives them away as the beneficence of the ruler.
Under my system of anarchy, people own the products of their own labor because they have access to the means of production at a local level. As owners of the wealth, trade is a system of reciprocity between producers, not need-based entitlement. If producers choose to give it away, it's theirs to choose to whom. Kropotkin's system is socialism, not anarchy.