For most Americans, Christmas and capitalism go together like cookies and milk. This symbiosis can be acknowledged explicitly or ironically, subtly or with celebration—but the underlying message is always that happiness is attached to material goods. The acquisitive urge reaches its irritating apotheosis in the classic A Christmas Story , but I want to talk about the not-actually-subtle accusatory nihilism of that other holiday film many conservatives hold holy : It’s a Wonderful Life , which