The Christmas season is the busiest time of year for retailers, and they know exactly how to capitalize on that. More to the point, they know how to manipulate the holiday to ensure maximum profits. They have capitalized on it so much, in fact, that our observation of the holiday is slowly being changed.
Advertisers equate spending money with joy and charitability, and they use that to leverage holiday sales. I even feel like I’m a bad friend or family member if I don’t spend enough money. We say it’s the thought that counts but it’s hard to follow through on that when someone buys you something with a price tag and you give them a drawing, poem, or otherwise thoughtful, but free, gift. People try to match the anticipated amount that others will spend on them, and it’s causing holiday spending to rise every year. We tell ourselves that the holidays are for spending time with family, but it really seems like it’s about spending money. Christmas has become entwined with capitalism in a very insidious way.
I’ve heard people say, “I love receiving things that I wouldn’t buy for myself,” and I get it: it’s nice to receive something that you want but don’t need. And that’s great if it’s something you will use, but everyone has received a gift that they won’t use. Time, money, and energy was spent making that item and now it’s sitting in your closet waiting to be thrown away. People buying things for other people is quite often a gamble, unless you know what that person wants. It really is a strange practice, if you break it down: I’m spending money to buy you something with the expectation that you will spend money on me. Why not just buy something for yourself? Something that you know you will use?
Christmas shoppers are increasingly shifting toward electronic retailers, which, unfortunately, means more waste and more emissions. Packing material and fuel costs for shipping make shopping online an environmentally questionable choice. And, sadly, this one isn’t just a Christmas phenomenon: it goes year-round. Online prices are hard to beat, but when it comes to Christmas sales, it’s maybe not impossible to find the same prices in person.
If the thought is what counts, then why do we keep spending money? I would much rather receive a heartfelt handwritten card than a book I’ve never heard of and will probably never read. But we are so locked in to this idea of spending that it’s hard to break out.
If any of this resonates with you, then try to break the cycle of spending. If you’re like me, then there are five or six people you usually buy gits for—that’s not that many people. Make a group chat and see if your friends and family would be interested in cancelling the gift-giving this year. Exchange thoughts and kindness or handmade gifts instead. Keep the money that you would have spent and use it somewhere else; give it to a charity, if that’s feasible for you.
If you do choose to buy gifts, wrap them in recyclable paper; a lot of wrapping paper isn’t. Try to buy from physical stores and support local businesses. Make sure you spend within your budget and encourage your gift-giving group to do the same.
Don’t get me wrong here: I love Christmas. I just think that our practice of the holiday has become somewhat warped. We have the power—all of us—to choose how we want to celebrate. I will be celebrating family, friends, love, and kindness. Not capitalism.