(Fair warning: If you're not amused by rants, you can skip this post.)
With the onset of Black Friday, we've officially arrived at the start of the end-of-year corporate-consumer tango known as The Holiday Season, and our corporate partners are looking to spin us around on the dance floor and flash all sorts of pretty lights in our eyes until we're dizzy. Then with a flick of the wrist we'll swipe our credit cards and acquire lots and lots of bedazzling junk that just drains our peace of mind and may put us further into the abyss that is debt.
(My wife is NaNoWriMoing, so I'm in a flowery writing mood by osmosis.)
So rather than being content to just control holiday spending, what about just not spending anything at all this holiday? What is really essential this time of year, anyway? Could you get past the holidays without buying any typical holiday stuff? I'm not saying you could, or should, or that you would even want to give any of these up. You might think I'm off my rocker for stomping on tradition like this, but these are a few things I've wondered what the consequences would be if we just did away with them.
- Gifts. I don't need any more junk. If I need or want something, I usually just go out and buy it. (Now that I'm the main breadwinner of our household, wanting something at this time of year is no different than wanting something any other time. Gifts to myself really aren't gifts.) Some folks in our church already have given up gifts and do a missions trip instead, and they don't miss the gifts. The desire to spend money on gifts, already strong and culturally ingrained, is actively and mercilessly encouraged by every business on the planet. This is apparently the time of year to desire equipment you didn't even know you needed, and give a lot of cheap stuff to people that you feel obligated to give something to. Why?!
- Trees. It doesn't matter whether cut trees or plastic trees are better for the environment. Having no tree at all is best for the environment and, by the way, for your wallet. Live tree scenario: (1) You pump a lot of greenhouse gases driving to the place where the tree is; (2) cut the tree, taking away one tree unit of carbon dioxide mitigation from the environment; (3) drive back, belching out more greenhouse gases; (4) use the tree; (5) burn electricity vacuuming up all those sappy needles; (6) toss the tree. Fake tree scenario: (1) You buy the tree, which was manufactured using lots of petroleum-based products; (2) use the tree until it's so bedraggled and ugly that you (3) toss it and it ends up in a landfill.
- Cards. This is also the season where we get back at all of the letter carriers for trampling our azaleas by loading them down with 27 times the normal volume of mail as we send out holiday cards to 245 of our closest friends, in the vain hope that one Forever Stamp and a form letter will somehow magically make up for the fact that we didn't pay them any attention during the first 11 months of the year. Or maybe we really feel that this is enough to keep in touch. How many of those people write back, anyway?
- Decorations. Anything that takes lots of time and swearing to assemble. Anything that dims the Eastern seaboard with the current draw as it's plugged in. Any knickknacks that take up space for 11 months out of the year. And of course, anything inflatable whatsoever. This is about the only time that I'd want homeowners association members out in droves. When it comes to decorations, less is more, so wouldn't none be most?
Christmas will still be Christmas and Hanukkah will still be Hanukkah and Kwanzaa will still be Kwanzaa without rushing out to patronize Best Buy, Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney's, Toys ‘R' Us, Tree Depot, Card Cartel, and Decorations Ltd. Holidays have been a time for celebration and remembrance, and our ancestors managed to celebrate and remember just fine without most (all?) of the stuff that we haul around. Why is it such a stretch for us to do this, especially when some of us really can't afford to spend a lot of money during the holiday season, anyway?
When so many of our traditions center around spending money, I wonder if these traditions are worth keeping.
Interesting points. I have one brother who is perfectly willing to cash in his retirement annuity on Christmas gifts (and ancillary items), and who really buys into the whole Christmas marketing thing. His family is, sadly, missing out on the beauty of the holidays. It leads me to wonder how the season can progress in another way, and I think it comes through simplification.
You haven't convinced me to give up any of those things.
I don't want to disappoint my family by not giving them any gifts and not giving them the pleasure of trying to make me happy with gifts.
I have a fake tree already, so the point is moot.
I give a few cards to people that really appreciate them, especially older relatives that can't get out as much any more. It makes them happy, and happiness is important.
Decorating the house puts me in the mood for Christmas. I will continue to do so in a non-offensive manner.
I have to admit, I share in your views to a point (especially the spending aspect). I really dislike what corporate America has done with Black Friday (I've done a couple posts on my blog regarding Black Friday).
I do get excited about the holidays and I do enjoy them. BUT, there is no need to go in debt because of them…that's what my blog is all about…finding deals.
Admittedly, though, I am one of those that go a little crazy with the decorations…not to the point of being gaudy.
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I agree 100% with you – holidays waste so much it is quite sad. Great post!
Scrooge! 🙂
And Bah Humbug to you, too.
Christmas would not be Christmas with a tree, gifts and decorations. Enjoy the holiday season. You don't have to spend more than you can afford – make gifts if you prefer. Make decorations, as well if you like. But don't let anger at the rampant commercialization of the holiday make you stop celebrating.
Plonkee: I remember my grandfather really enjoyed letters etc. when he was stuck at home in the last years of his life. So that's a good point.
Dobie: I'm guessing you meant "without a tree, gifts and decorations." We can still celebrate without all of these things; there's no reason we can't. I have every intention to celebrate. There was plenty to celebrate a couple thousand years ago on this occasion, a point that's deeply buried by all of the commercialism.
Couldn't agree more about the gifts – a complete waste.
In our family we don't exchange any gifts among the adults anymore. Everyone is travelling so we can be together and I think that is enough (and the idea of Xmas after all).
We're still buying for the kids though.
Mike
Sure you can celebrate without a tree and decorations… but it there is a certain ritual in it all that makes it so special. I am not endorsing corporate america's version (I live in downtown San Francisco– trust me I understand the ridiculous corportatization of christmas) nor I am suggesting you buy a ten foot blow up Santa, however, I think that traditions, like decorating a christmas tree, hanging lights, singing carols, making and buying trinkets evocative of a a dear friend or family member are ways of materializing what the spirit– whatever your interpretation of it is— of the holidays. In a sense, these traditions provide a way for people to interact with whatever this vague "holiday" in the winter months term means. Traditions and rituals allow people to make things sacred and provide it with an intrinsic identity.
That said, I agree that the holidays have been corrupted by capitalist/corporate America– but there I think your being a bit extreme here.
Ouch! While I agree that it's all become too much, I think you went a little overboard. Be warned – you could be getting visits from 3 particular ghosts very shortly.
Traditions around holidays are the tangible icons that keep us mindful of the spirit of the event. They should remind us of the significance of Christmas, Hannukah, [insert your holiday here]. None of these holidays endorse spending money you don't have on things you can't afford. But sending cards, decorating a tree, and offering token gifts are certainly gentle ways of celebrating a special family holiday. These things help to connect us in the larger sense, which is important, even if it's only once a year. And, for those who choose to be frugal, there are ways of doing these things that don't scream "Look at me – I spend too much!"
Thanks for writing a great blog!
I'm planning to go to a bunch of prearranged gatherings with friends over the holiday season. Better to spend money on experiences than on material goods that will just clutter up the place.