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150 sats \ 2 replies \ @optimism 29 Oct \ on: Hot Take: Halloween shows the decline of civic society AskSN

The thing I mostly dislike about Halloween is that when you're outside the US, especially the past 2 decades, big commerce has been trying to make it happen elsewhere, but without the social element, bar for plenty of late night parties, but those could have happened for any other reason.

I think that in the US, it at least has some social element to it and that you should be glad that that is retained, at least for a little. Across the pond, it is purely a means to increase sales of rubbish. It helps Europoors to feel like they are a little American too, by spending their much harder earned shitcoins on insanely expensive shit they don't need.

In your position, I'd embrace the social element to it.

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140 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker OP 29 Oct

I wonder why it doesn't happen as much in other countries? I think single family neighborhoods are a big element to it. People love seeing the decorations and going house to house. Wouldn't work as well in higher density residential areas.

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154 sats \ 0 replies \ @optimism 29 Oct

In Northern France / Western Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands (maybe elsewhere too) they have St. Martin's on 11/11 that has a trick-or-treat element to it. That is social. It's just that Halloween gets exported for commerce, not to enrich the social life.

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