Ok, a day late but still relevant. To put it simply, I think halloween should be ended (at least the trick-or-treating part) because the civic values and societal structures which once existed and made the holiday make sense are disappearing.

I first noticed this back in '96, a poor student living in a run-down quad in Imbler, OR. I actually had my dinner, cup-a-noodle (which is all that I could afford), in hand when three kids in costumes, escorted by an adult, showed up at my door holding their bags open insistently like a baby bird would hold its mouth open when mama bird returns with the worm. I explained calmly to the party that I did not have any candy to give, to which the male adult started to chew me out. I explained to him that I lived on less than $10 a week of food and that to buy a bag of candy for his kids would require me to starve for a week or two. To which he responded "People handed out candy to you when you were a kid, so you should reciprocate". I closed the door and went back to my paltry meal.

Several thing struck me about that encounter. First, I was not a native of Imbler (having grown up in LA, SF, and eventually Portland) so the "people" who handed me candy as a kid were hundreds of miles away. Second, the man had an east coast accent, so Eugene was not his hometown, plus he was upper middle class (he was driving a '96 model mini-van) so he could expect to move several times in his career. So we were both transient to Eugene and did not feel any loyalty to the town or the community.

Now, there was a time when Halloween made sense, a time when most people lived and died within miles of where they were born. In this world you would know your neighbors, you would interact with them on a daily basis, you would care if they lost a job, or were sick, or had a death in the family. In that environment, trick-or-treating makes sense to both strengthen the bonds of a community and allow the treat-giver to dote on the community's children with hand-made treats (candy apples, fudge etc)

But we now live in a world where most people know only a few of their neighbors and not that well. Where, if a treat does not come from a factory (i.e. is hand made) parents will likely refuse it due to security concerns (razor blades, needles etc). Where people trick-or-treat in the afternoon due also to security concern.

So we live in a world where people don't know or trust their neighbors

Does it make sense then to have a ritual that is at odds with that new ethic?

And to answer your question, yes I am a misanthrope.