Santa Claus: Global Quantifications

This chart lists some impressive numbers, including food intake upon visiting homes, number of reindeers in this sled team, and weight of presents (Statista 2017). How relevant – and interesting – they are is another matter altogether.

The assumption is made that all children in the world receive a present. This is grossly inaccurate for at least two reasons. First, most children do not receive Christmas presents because they are not part of the Judeo-Christian religious/cultural sphere (never mind that globalization gradually spreads this to all corners of the planet). Second, among those that belong in the Judeo-Christian religious/cultural sphere, many children do not receive presents because their parents cannot afford it, or have different priorities.

Those who, like myself, are raised and live in the West (this chart was made in Germany) have often tend to think that the Gospel – and the cultural traits and values that follow in its track – is a global phenomenon. In doing so we are prone to grossly misunderstand and misrepresent those "others."

Lars T Soeftestad

Notes
(1) The term "knowledges" (note the plural form) is relevant here. See the Devblog article "Terrorism, trust, and inclusion" for details (Note 5).
(2) My collection of alternative Christmas Cards serves as a complement to this text (updated annually), at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/lars-1/albums/72157649895182862
(3) Image credit: Statista (2017).
(4) Relevant Devblog articles: "World Bank: Project Christmas" at: https://devblog.no/en/article/world-bank-project-christmas
(5) Other Devblog articles: "Terrorism, trust, and inclusion" at: https://devblog.no/en/article/terrorism-trust-and-inclusion
(6) Permalink. URL: https://devblog.no/en/article/santa-claus-global-quantifications
(7) This article was published 21 December 2016. It was revised 8 September 2018.

Source
Statista. 2017. "Santa Claus - a fantastic guy." URL: https://www.statista.com/chart/7263/santa-claus--a-fantastic-guy/