Well Thanksgiving Day is a distant memory as consumers woke early this morning, or some like I saw yesterday were already sitting outside their favorite box store at noon, to participate in the annual rat race that kicks off the consumerization of Christmas, or for the politically correct, the Holiday Season. The gluttony of deals offered to the savvy consumer is really a farce and an assault on their intelligence. The kicker is that stores, mainly online stores like Amazon, offer better deals than one has come to expect on "Black Friday" but I digress.
Black Friday is a symptom of the ills our society has fallen prey to over the amnesia to the spirit of Christmas. Christmas is about giving and the magical time of the Winter Solstice. The message of the season is lost with the rise of consumerism and the need, or the feeling to need, to provide copious amounts of items to those within ones social circle. In George Will's piece today, he mentions that the utility of Black Friday is really bad for the economy to the tune of $12 billion. So why do consumers become bedazzled by the "Door buster deals" that have become common for the hours following the feasting on Thanksgiving Day.
Some may argue the intrinsic value of watching a child's eyes light up over the plethora of gifts under the tree or the bewilderment as the wrapping paper is torn to reveal the treasure within. What message are we sending our children by this? People plot their course on Black Friday with the same fervor that a coach plans for the Super Bowl. Kare11 even featured three ladies on their evening news broadcast on their strategies to a successful Black Friday shopping tour; complete with diagrams. So, again, why do consumers feel compelled to rack up debt for an activity that produces little utility when simply another form of the lost meaning of the season can be promoted; giving cash?
Viper...no one is going to disagree with you, but the main reason why Christmas in this country exists is the consumerism that comes with it. If you look back in history in the last century and a half when retail started, it is about the same time that a lot of the holiday traditions that we know today started.
ReplyDeleteChristmas is the king, but a lot of retailers use holidays for consumerism purposes.
Like I said, I don't disagree with you, however, this is something that will never go away so you might as well adapt to it, or do something different with your family like take a vacation.
Sorry to seem so negative about it, but like death and taxes, us moral fiber people will just have to adapt to the Christmas season as one large overindulgence in consumerism.
I will respectfully disagree with your assessment that Christmas exists in the United States because of consumerism. Now, places like Macy's and JC Penny's have exploited the notion of Christmas and then white washed it into a theme we now call the "Holiday Season".
ReplyDeleteI will concede that the tide has tilted away from the fundamental premise of Christmas toward the savagary of consumerism. Now, I understand many will view this as a conflict, bordering on hypocrisy, with the free market concept; I disagree. The free market factors, in theory, do not alter our spiritual belief system; rather works to ensure that a fair price for a fair product is achieved.
And I do not contend that overindulgence of consumers is a moral imparative, like death and taxes, that we as a society need to live with. The upside to this conversation though is if the current regime is able to pass the current form of health care and complete the Cap and Trade legislation people will be forced to humble themselves in the original meaning of Christmas because the finacial burden strapped to the backs of the unborn will eliminate our choice and freedoms.
Viper - my response to your FB post was "...wait - where is your free market & personal liberty now?.. ". I can see this going in circles but *shrug* eh, i'll bite. My FB reply says pretty much this: F it - those people aren't hurting you if they shop.
ReplyDeleteIf what you are doing is people watching and commenting on that for sport, sure sounds fun, i'll join in.
Well, I don't think that you are too off the mark. But, retailing and advertising is just what Christmas has become. But, for the sake of debate, it really doesn't have to be. You are not being hypocritical with free-market factors because you have a choice in this country as to how you wish to celebrate your Christmas season. If you wish to lavish your kids with gifts this years, so be it. If not, go ahead and take a vacation. Truthfully, Christmas is a holiday where we gather with families and friends to enjoy each other's company, and this can be done under any context we wish.
ReplyDeleteI like your statement, "Christmas is about giving and the magical time of the Winter Solstice" because I debate christians all the time about the non-religiousness of this holiday.
Happy Thanksgiving weekend!
Anon..The Winter Solstice will be a topic to come shortly, figure I'd wait until that day to really discuss it. You are right though, many religious folk, especially Christains, suffer amnesia to the pagan roots of their dogma.
ReplyDeleteFirst, you don't know who is racking up debt. Many of the stories I saw were of people who were only paying cash and being far more selective on giving this year.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I can only assume you will not be giving presents to children this year?
According to the numbers sales were only up .5% at retailers where online purchases were up 15% over last year. I do not believe one can purchase online with cash yet, then again I suppose if one used their debit card that would constitute a cash transaction.
ReplyDeleteAs for my children, they will recieve gifts and my name will be on it but it is not of my doing. My preference would not to fill the space below the tree with multiple packages but in all relationships there is give-and-take. And along with the limited gifts will be conversations of the meaning of Christmas too.