OK, that headline was just meant to get your attention. I don’t really hate Christmas. In fact, I love Christmas. Everyone’s nicer this time of year, it’s acceptable to pig out on cookies and eggnog, and you get to see the Grinch find the strength of ten Grinches, plus two.
What I do hate is the excessive commercialization of Christmas.
Christmas is supposedly to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and yet everyone else thinks they’re the birthday boy. It’s less a time of peace and goodwill than it is a time of ca-ching!
What I’m against specifically is the tradition of adults insisting that Christmas involve massive gift giving. When this time of year rolls around, family members ask “what do you want for Christmas?” Not “do you want anything for Christmas, considering that you already have way too much,” but “what do you want?” The next question is usually “OK, and what else?”
For kids, this makes perfect sense. Kids need the latest, hottest toys and gadgets to be happy. They have plenty of imagination to decide what they need, and all the time in the world to enjoy these things when they get them. Furthermore, they’re unable to get them unless an adult buys them.
But why do adults need so many toys?
If I want something, I’m perfectly capable of getting it myself. I don’t want to make someone take time out of their busy schedule, drive around a mall’s parking lot looking for a space, fight their way through the crowd, shop around trying to find something I would like, and spend their hard earned money because they feel obligated to get me something. The end result is that people spend too much money buying people things that they may not even like, and that they could have gotten for themselves much more easily.
In China, people give money for the major holidays, and it goes only from people who have it to people who need it. Simple, practical, and it makes sense.
I appreciate the thought and effort that goes into gift giving, but I don’t think that’s the best way to expend thought and effort. Why not just put more thought and effort into enjoying each other’s company? Why not help someone figure out how to improve their life next year?
I appreciate that people want to spend money on me, but it’s really not necessary. And since I also have to spend money on them, it becomes a nuclear arms race to see who can outdo whom. Why not spend money on some unpaid leave around Christmas? Or why not continue to give big gifts, but only in those years when there’s something that’s clearly needed and wanted? (And why not get it after Christmas to save time and money?)
People have the right attitude around Christmas, but I think when we get lazy and decide to express that attitude by buying lots of gifts just for the sake of doing so, we cheapen the spirit of Christmas. Buddhists believe that people would be happier without presents. I would, but I can’t say that everyone would go for that. However, I do think that many people would get a lot more out of Christmas if we could collectively cut back on the commercialism. Less truly is more.
So true…
And considering the fact that some people live perfectly well eating only raw foods, it seems like an insane amount of meat is on the tables around Christmas. “I’m gonna be sick, but I sure ate more than you did. What’s for dessert?”
Thomas, I was about to ask if you knew about Steve Pavlina’s current 30-day trial of a raw diet. Then I saw that he was in your blogroll, so I figure you already know.
Yes Hunter, it seems that both diets work and there’s no right or wrong, and you’re free to choose. Unless you listen to those who say you have to eat this and that, or buy this and that.
I can’t seem to stop buying all those presents even though it’s ridiculous. What’s the fear behind that behaviour anyway?
Thomas, I vote for “fear of what others think.” People don’t want to be seen as cheap or anti-Christmas. Right now there’s very little opposition to excessive Christmas spending, and people don’t want to go against the crowd.
If I fear what others think of me the reason could be that I don’t think my own opinion is good enough, i.e. I don’t think too highly of myself. If I don’t value my own feelings and reason it’s easy to get dragged into Christmas toy hell chasing traffic lights with a maxed out credit card. So I guess it’s just a creative reflection of the lack of love, for myself and others (I don’t want to do this, and people don’t need more crap). But then again, it takes courage to love, no matter what others say.
Hunter,
Ironic you should mention how adults buy for children. I remember a Christmas, not so long ago, which included our two year grandchild. Although his parents were trying to get him excited about the gifts inside of the pretty paper and bows, he was content to play with an empty box. Go figure.
Based on that, I do wonder why we bother buying so many gifts for young children who don’t even grasp what Christmas is (too young to believe in Santa)..is it to impress each other? Maybe money, a savings bond, an ounce of silver, or something that could be used for their future would be a better choice.
I am a real Christmas nut, with a passion for lights, but I shop all year for Christmas, hand picking just the right gifts for those on my list. Often I can find stuff on sale. This method not only eases the money crunch at Christmas time, but gives me more time to enjoy the season.
Although the holidays have a tendency to “sneak up” on us, we shouldn’t be surprised. Or did we forget, Christmas is always on December 25th.
Barbara, maybe parents of young children should just give their kids empty boxes and see how that goes. Seriously!
It’s like how they design cat food to look appealing to humans, because they’re the ones who buy it. I think that if cats prefer food that doesn’t look good to us, we should let them have it.
I used to do all my Christmas shopping 11 months early, in January. It felt good to get stuff on sale and be done with it. But as the years passed by, I became less and less interested in presents. Now I don’t even start my shopping until late November.