We probably all understand the "culture creation" program where Christmas was "invented" in consciously directed ways, piece by piece, over time, and I recently ran across one of those pieces. What was compelling was the identity (and associations) of who invented it.

It came here, in "A Mayflower Christmas":

The Pilgrims celebrated a Mayflower Christmas in 1620 with holly, ivy, plum pudding and a gift exchange with Indian children – at least according to a romanticized version written by suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton of all people.

The preposterous Christmas on the Mayflower story was published by Woman’s Journal in 1900. Stanton had done plenty of writing by then — speeches, books, documents and letters, all serious stuff.

I included that last sentence as an indication that this wasn't something some old granny just happened to come up with. "They" put it out through this prominent woman to make sure it would get attention. It's a prime example of how They create culture.

Did you recognize the name? In addition to suffragism and abolitionism, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was perhaps the main progenitor of what came to be called Second Wave Feminism, beginning in 1848. Again, do you see how our culture is created? Yes, they were doing it a century before the CIA and Netflix ever came along.

I will close with mention of a woman only infrequently noted publicly even though she was Stanton's partner in that Seneca Falls Conference: Lucretia Mott. Well, Mott was almost certainly the one behind this creation of culture that is still the source of much social engineering.

You see, Lucretia Mott was born Lucretia Coffin, on Nantucket Island. Always note mention of that place. From there, we can connect far more directly than you might imagine to Benjamin Franklin, the (fake) Salem Witch Trials, the (fake) Manson murders, Starbucks coffee, Folgers coffee, the theft of Hawaii, the Underground Railroad, the (fake) Lincoln Assassination, the (fake) Vegas massacre, and many other topics.

Intriguing? I find the connections of the very tiny group that shapes the world in which we find ourselves to be fascinating, illuminating, and damning, but I fear it's not quite spicy and TikTok-y enough for most.

Stories for another day, perhaps.