I’ve never thought much of the joke that Halloween is a socialist’s favorite holiday because it encourages kids to go door-to-door asking for free handouts.

I have fond memories of going door-to-door dressed as a soldier or ghoul, collecting loot in my pillowcase and filling my belly with sugar. That love carried through into my young adult life, when I’d purchase bags of Halloween-themed candy and turn my yard into a cemetery using whatever decorations I had on hand, dressing up as a Knight Templar or as Snake Plissken. Now, as a parent, I get to look forward to taking my kids trick-or-treating.

Apparently, I’m not the only fan. The Halloween market, according to Uken Report, is expected to reach $13.1 billion dollars. That number encompasses candy purchases, costumes, decorations, and other Halloween-themed products.

Consumers willingly exchange their hard-earned dollars for all these goodies, whether they choose to stay at the front door and give it all away, go out on a candy hunt, enjoy “grown-up” treats at a woozy costume party, or decide not to celebrate the holiday in the first place. They get to decide to distribute king-sized chocolate bars, those delightful candy corns, or good old-fashioned apples. They can choose to pass out cute little pencils, plastic vampire teeth, or even copies of Atlas Shrugged. Even communists can get in on the fun with a Karl Marx or Che Guevara costume.

Is Halloween teaching my kids to go door-to-door expecting handouts?

The answer is no. Kids are earning those sweets, using their imaginations, expressing themselves, putting in the work to go door to door. Nor are homeowners being forced to hand out candy; they are instead offering treats in voluntary exchange for entertainment. I love passing out candy because it is entertaining to see goblins and vampires and superheroes and princesses show up at my front door. The better the costume, the larger the fistful of candy.

Regardless of peoples’ own motivations, what is going on is less akin to socialism than to kids running a lemonade stand. But rather than handing out premixed beverages for cash, children are being creative when they make homeowners smile or perhaps even give them a good ol’ fashioned Halloween scare. Rather than asking for dollars, they’re merely cutting out the middleman and going straight for the candy.

If the holiday were only about glomming free treats, as the socialism joke implies, we would not see universal outrage at one modern phenomenon: costumed (or sometimes plain-clothes) porch piracy, in which ill-bred imps are caught on camera emptying entire honor-system candy dishes into their bags. These get wide circulation, and they generate anger throughout society. People aren’t mad because of the monetary value of the candy. They’re mad because the porch pirate is violating the social contract of Halloween, the bond of mutual trust and affection among people in a neighborhood.

Beneath the strictly material aspects of the holiday is a deeply social and ethical element: an opportunity to meet our neighbors, to give a homeowner (or renter) a good laugh or scare all in exchange for a treat, to show other people our best selves (even if our faces are covered). The basis of Halloween is not a giveaway; it’s a societal transaction, in which kids and grownups voluntarily gather to appreciate each other’s company.

Finally, when the trick-or-treating is over, I get to teach the kids about taxation as I take my ten percent from their loot.

On behalf of the Mackinac Center, I wish you all a Happy, Free-Market Halloween.

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