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Please for the love of god change this title. I clearly haven't seen this yet and I'm sure most of it will be quite accurate but can you honestly expect your stance to get any kind of positive reception? All something like this does is alienate people mot just from this but to causes they're closer to supporting.
"Why we need to move beyond a hollow celebration of consumerism" "Why we need to stop cutting down tree just because" "How we can move toward a more substantial and meaningful practice of gift giving" Like I get that these aren't particularly clickbaity but if a catchy title supersedes a helpful approach to broaching these topics is it really worth it?
Here in Latinoamérica we celebrate also with presents and a big dinner, but I think we don’t spend so much money, for obvious reasons (not rich countries) and because our thinking is still in the past decades, with those financial struggles, youngest parents tend to spend more money
Really tho! So many people "HATE" Christmas and when you ask them why they tell you it's too expensive. I simply tell them well don't spend as much and they look at me like a Jellyfish Alien.
this year, my father asked me what I wanted for christmas and I said I wanted pear trees and he got so confused since I cant have or plant them in winter. Just told him that he can buy them later but these have to be ordered at this time of the year. might take a couple of years to have pears, but I'll get pears at some point. then I can make him pies and deserts and he can enjoy these while I enjoy the cooking part. I really loved to make apple pie this year and I decided that slowly, but surely, I'll make myself a food forest so I can make pies of all sorts for the holidays.
We changed how we celebrate christmas recently. The amazing thing is - I thought it would be hard to convince my family to change things, but it wasn't at all - they hated the grind of it as much as I did. We have basically abandoned present giving in favour of a 'secret santa' for the family. Everyone gets one gift, £20 limit on cost. We've gone from spending £500 EACH on gifts, to £20 each. We focus on the important things - enjoying the time together, enjoying good food and playing games. This is the stuff thats important - present giving is a harmful distraction that leaves everyone exhausted and broke by the time they're sitting down to christmas dinner.
Actually same here. It was an idea started by my brother-in-law, and it caught on pretty well. Well, with the exception of the kids in the family, they still get more than present. But for the adults in general, this has reduced a lot of stress in the holiday season and helped on some very handy savings as well. Plus, there is actually some thought on the gift that you receive, so it is increases the likelihood of being useful and something that you'll cherish :)
I feel like this is a good first step to move away from the nuclear-family, high-cost tradition of Christmas in the past. It holds on to the capitalist part, but minimizes it instead of rejecting it. And that minimization, over time, may mean that your family doesn't do the gift thing at all in the future! Happy holidays, hope everyone stays safe. See you in the streets! Lol
@@doriangray2001 i believe he was saying that everybody was spending around 500 in total for presents on the family. If you have 20 to 30 people in the family gathering, it is not that far fetched. We were 16 before the kids started bringing their wives... and soon enough their kids as well
As someone who's a horrendous gift giver (I'm quite bad at it unless I'm told exactly what to get), Christmas is PEAK stress. The past two years, I've stuck to giving small gifts, many homemade. My cousins and siblings have all agreed to not purchase anything for one another. It's honestly helped. This year, I've also been saving Trader Joe's holiday bags to reuse for presents and shredded paper as packing materials 😂
Hard agree. I hated the forced shopping AND the deluge of gifts ever since I was a tiny kid. (I craved experiences, music, and befriending animals. Not toys.) In my late teens I started giving home made preserves, or gifts like tickets to a museum. I quickly learned that people who insist on a bigger more materialistic gift exchange will get offended by your meager offering and scratch you off their holiday gift list. Win-win as far as I'm concerned. I haven't exchanged a big holiday gift for over 20 years now.
That’s because you’ve been doing it all wrong; Santa is the one who gives the presents silly! You don’t have to do Santa’s job, but it is very kind of you. I never have to do something like that to be put on the Nice list, though - just don’t be naughty!
A little late, I contributed a lot to consumerism this year, but I also want to suggest a Chinese tradition of giving Red Envelopes for Christmas instead of presents. They allow kids to buy what they really need/want and is done through a family gathering with lots of food.
My family's always done this unless they know someone has a specific item on their wishlist. Works great and eases stress without people ending up with unwanted waste.
My family and I have changed how we do Christmas. Instead of randomly giving each other 'surprise' gifts, we give each other of list of things we actually want for Christmas. The person who is giving the gifts then randomly selects one or two items out of the entire list to get for the receiver. That way, we don't buy things we don't need or create a lot of unnecessary waste and the element of surprise is still there. Also, this Christmas, I'm planning on taking my family out to explore the city and go watch a movie in the theaters since we value experiences over material items.
That's what I do with my sisters as well! Honestly it is way better since you're giving a gift that they actually want or need, instead of having to guess and it'll be a present they might not end up using. And I agree that the element of surprise is still there too!
There's a kind of mythos surrounding gift giving that portrays "knowing what others want" as some kind of virtue because it supposedly proves that you care a lot for the other person. But realistically, unless you have a very tight knit family or circle of friends, there's a good chance you won't know exactly what someone wants beyond superficial interests like "Mike loves Star Wars" or "Dana is a baker." I wish asking for a gift idea list was more normalized instead of the "surprise" gift thing. Personally, I find it brings me closer to the person I'm buying a present for. I would have never guessed that Mike also loves poetry books, and Dana's been wanting to take up woodworking.
I think a lot of families do this (mine do with holidays like Eid). The only problem is that many of us seem to never be able to figure out what we actually want when we make a list or someone asks us. Lol I'm definitely guilty of being that person.
@@Selestrielle I think it's more normalized than people think, of course it's not the norm, but my family and a few other families that I know would never just buy random stuff that they weren't sure were going to be used; they always ask for a large list, so they can choose 1 or 2 things from it and it still be a bit of a surprise, while being something that you actually wanted
I really appreciated this post! I’ve been paring back for years now: I don’t buy wrap; I use cut-up paper bags and a bit of real 100% biodegradable wool for tying the presents together (which actually looks quite pretty AND the brown paper can be recycled). I am making more gifts and buying less. I also buy secondhand gifts - especially books - that are in excellent condition. I love the idea of ‘experience’ gifts and have been sitting here mulling over what lovely experiences I might offer my loved ones. I am 60 years old and I loved (and bought into) the whole ‘Santa’ thing as much as anyone. But it’s never too late to do better and to be better. NOT encouraging the capitalistic retail companies would just be a great bonus...
Personally, I appreciate the aesthetic of brown paper and twine, and am alone in my family for wanting to seek deeper experiences and meaning for the Solstice, than the mindless exchange of gifts.
I've become a big supporter of the Japanese concept of furoshiki which is about wrapping things in cloth. The person not only gets a present, they also get the pretty cloth. My friends either than have reused them as wrapping, or used them as scarfs/headbands. But, I also like a nice-looking bag that is used to transfer gifts over and over.
A common issue I notice with this type of content is that it resonates with someone like myself who already share the sentiment of visceral disgust toward needless and extreme waste, but its likely to simply alienate those not there yet. They might have been quite receptive if the argument and exposition was posed in a different way. You can try to reason all you want but the crux of the matter is that this is an emotional issue. People like Christmas because they associate it with bonding with the family. So talking about presents and how you're being duped, etc. It just sounds like "yeah I used to be a dumb kid then I grew up, I'm too smart to be duped into buying junk like you fools", even though it's well researched and formulated.
Noo why do you want to take away our instant gratification and save us debts, making kids spoiled and show off their gifts, making poor kids feel jealous and recentfull, etc etc 🤡
Agreed 👍 More importantly; the festivity of Christmas and the consumerism of Christmas can be had separately, and we should be careful which part we criticize. By saying "we need a war on Christmas" or "you're doing Christmas wrong", you attack a person's idea of their childhood, which is more likely to put them on the defensive than to leave them receptive of your opinions. Haven't we seen already how "eat less red meat" has been twisted into "they want to take away our hamburgers"? Rather, I think it's good to address the issue at it's core; encourage people to be less consumerist overall, encourage them to focus on the festive origins of Christmas, and let them decide how many gifts they want to buy (hopefully a bit less than last year)
You can say that about anything people have an emotional attachment with. Doesn't mean it isn't important to say. Also, I think you're interpreting it to be condescending because you have a condescending view of most people. People are more open minded than you think.
Watching this while stressing out about buying presents for people. I hate buying gifts, and I hate receiving them, except for from a few people. I wish this time of year was different. It's not magical, it's just commodified nostalgia half the time
Kaduka21, you are certainly not alone,I think most people feel this way but never speak up. I hope people choose to have a cruelty free Christmas,instead of eating dead animals that did not want to die choose wonderful vegan alternatives,no one has to suffer and die because of your food choices. Peace and goodwill towards all beings !
@@MankindDiary I’ve literally had my parents financially pressure me into being a part of holiday activities. So not quite a gun, but the social pressure is definitely there
@@alexsiemers7898 I wouldn't call that "social pressure", it is more of a "family pressure", coming from a family cell that I wouldn't call too healthy.
I'm so glad to see I'm not alone feeling this way about US holidays. I've gotten really jaded towards all the consumerism and waste. My wife and I stopped giving gifts years ago as we don't need anything we don't get for ourselves. I'm honestly ashamed of how I celebrated all these holidays in the past. It is all just dopamine hits. And the memories I really remember and cherish are those interpersonal ones. Being with people. The love and laughs. I probably remember .01% of the gifts I've received over the years.
@@waytoobiased That’s a great gift! I’m not against all gifts. We all need things that bring us joy. A ukulele is a delightful thing to give or receive. It’ll last ages and give you joy. I dislike throwaway gifts. Single use plastic stuff. Things to just give a gift without the person needing it. My wife and I give each other a few gifts for our birthdays. I usually draw her something special and she might give me a book. Very chill.
Holidays are often treated as rules or orders people have been trained to believe they're supposed to follow or execute annually in relation to a calendar without understanding of them or their purpose and without necessarily valuing them. That's not to say traditions are necessarily bad, though.
and to think this originates from Saturnilia the 12 day celebration of the Winter Solstice and 12 days of MIS RULE 😝😃😛🤣🤣🤣 don't let the good American SLAVES get any ideas🙈🙉🙊
I celebrate Hanukkah. A lot of people think presents are a traditional part of the holiday. The only traditional gift is actually money, usually given from older generation to the younger. Hanukkah in the US especially though increasingly became influenced by the American traditions of giving presents and the cultural influence that giving money is improper/“tacky”
I celebrate Hanukkah more so than Christmas, To me it has less baggage (family background further back is Jewish--I was brought up Christian--and am not one anymore). It's just more fun a lot more meaningful to me. I never have gotten into gift giving though. I eat the latkes, light the candle, etc.
My family has reused a plastic tree, wrapping paper, gift boxes and ribbon for several years now and it has been great. We ask each other what we NEED for the coming year and buy that so we don't waste money and resources
Since my childhood in the 80`s all kinds of celebration went crazy, including birthdays, weddings, baby showers, seems like capitalism finds a way to get you spending with social shaming. My childhood birthdays were celebrated with a homemade cake and simple, useful gifts such as socks and pencils. I am not against giving gifts to children but gift giving and decorating got out of control worldwide.
Tell me about it! I live in Ireland, and apparently Irish people spend more on Christmas decorations than any other EU country - which seems correctly since even though I live out in the countryside, one of the houses nextdoor is so decked out with decorations than it looks like a full-blown airport for Santa to land on.
I noticed the same. I was in my teens in the 80's and remember a childhood where your Christmas presents would either all fit in a sock or in a pillowcase. And yes, practicality was definitely the 'main' theme - socks, a woolly hat and scarf set, bubble bath and soap (now considered bad taste!). The 'excesses' would be chocs, coloured pencils, and coins and stamps for my collections. We never celebrated Halloween at all back then. None of us kids trolled the streets trick or treating. Now the shops are full of tacky plastic costumes only fit to last one use. The first time I heard the term 'baby shower' was in an episode of Friends, and hadn't a clue what it was about. This year, I found a Thanksgiving card...I live in the UK. What on Earth do we want to start celebrating Thanksgiving Day for? I find it totally irrelevant to keep introducing new festivals that have nothing to do with a country's 'original' culture.
Used Gifts are a tradition I started a few years ago. Whether it's something I already have or something I get (for cheap) at a thrift store, they're almost always more of a hit than anything I could have bought spending hours in Walmart shopping. Many times I've been able to get people something high quality and normally out of budget if it were brand new, like appliances, art and even furniture.
We have 5 children. We decided years ago to stick to this motto... "Something to wear, something to read, something you want, something you need." It can still get expensive but it's limiting and wear read and need are things I would be buying at some point regardless
I don't think getting rid of gift-giving entirely is a solution. There are many unnecessary gifts given for Christmas, so I think just limiting the amount of gifts and only getting gifts people will actually want and will be useful to them is a better idea. I don't think there's any harm in gift-giving if the gifts do not become trash.
That's why I lean more towards giving kids cash on their birthdays and a bottle of wine to adults when I do get a chance to celebrate whatever with them. They can always regift the wine next time they're invited into someone's home. I always let them know it's not expensive and from my area, and feel free to open it now or regift later, it's all good. I more or less try to ignore Christmas though, because for me the obligation of mass gift exchanges is non personal and hard to stomach on both ends. I don't want this peppermint lotion you either bought for anyone or are regifting, and I don't want to regift it later either.
Haven’t even watched the video yet but I’ve been waiting for this topic. I’m so tired of Christmas. The commercialism of it all, the expectations to buy everyone something. My sister is the worst person to try to get a present before because as soon as she wants something she just buys it. She has everything she needs and wants.
My family and I have stopped exchanging gifts on Christmas, instead we all just contribute by buying food and drink that we can all share + maybe a new board game. I highly recommend others to do the same. It's much less wasteful as you know you will actually use everything bought. And on top of that, all of the things you buy focus you on spending and enjoying time with your family rather than on the gifts themselves. The money saved means you can splash on more expensive food/drink which is already an important part of the holiday. And then on boxing day we go out and spend time with family friends, eat and drink with them, play games etc. We still buy each other gifts on birthdays however, as a birthday is a more personal day it makes more sense to give gifts than on Christmas which (imo) should be focused on group merriment. And because you buy fewer presents for people in general (once per year instead of two) the gifts you give can be more meaningful, and more valuable monetarily - again cutting down on waste. Since we started this tradition years ago, I have yet to receive a single gift from anybody in my household which I never used, or threw out or returned or regifted etc.
To be fair, capitalism has taken over every holiday we celebrate. The extent of takeover is largely dependent on how much revenue can be generated by the holiday in question.
This is true, and is why it's so important to decolonize and take back our holidays including finding ways to celebrate them that don't revolve around buying things.
At least you can opt out of some holidays. Few people are going to get mad if you don't celebrate Halloween, or limit it to just a box of candy for the local kids. It's really hard to opt out of Christmas, the culture literally strong-arms you into celebrating it.
“Parts of the retail industry make a third of their yearly sales in three months.” So they make 33% of their sales in 25% of the year. Yeah that’s a little high, but not outrageously so.
About 6 years ago, our families agreed to change how we show our love and appreciation of each other, via consumerism. We agreed that the presents that we share with each other would either be hand made by the person presenting it, or a repurposed item. This has brought many new and thoughtful gifts into our families, and developed new skills, such as canning and carpentry. The collection of items that end up as repurposed gifts give the opportunity to make Christmas shopping, a round the months of the year enterprise, with trips to thrift stores or garage sales.
A few years ago, I started giving to charity in honor of my friends and family in place of physical gifts. Finding a charity that matches someone’s personality is actually way more meaningful than some meaningless product.
This will be our 3rd year in a row that my family agreed altogether to not gift anything that isn't some home made thingy to each other, with the exception of the kids which will get some toys. No one feels awkward for not having bought something for someone, no one feels the worry of buying something useless to the other. Not because we can't afford it, but because we all agree that nowadays chrismas gifts have become a source of stress and a waste of time that adds nothing to each other's love and support. We provide such support and love all year when anyone needs it, and we know it. No need to be reminded through some physical object because some celebration forces us to.
I first encountered this video in December last year. I stuck it in the watch later but unfortunately it was well into the new year before I got through all the preceding videos, and by then I’d moved onto other things and didn’t wanna think about Christmas. So I’ve saved this here and now I can watch it!!
Glad that somebody in the west is talking about cutting consumption ... the most readily available action towards mitigating climate-change. An average US person consumes 16 to 20 times an average Indian !!
Excellent video. I'm torn, because you're 100% correct on all your observations, but I enjoy many of my family's small traditions. What I don't like is being strongarmed or guilted into particular things because "it's a tradition". Finding fulfillment in people rather than things, I think, is the key to the season.
I listened to this podcast called "Calm Christmas" and it made me think about my favorite holiday traditions and what I like about them I'm switching mostly to practicing, performing, and making music with my family and I love that And also walking around the neighborhood and looking at Christmas lights
At the ripe old age of 22 I've started to want less and less. I have everything I need and have some money to buy anything else through out the year. All I want on the holidays now is time off and to spend time with friends and family. The only thing I want to buy is a set of espresso cups, they don't even have to be new and I KNOW for a fact I will use them as I am a coffee addict. If you are going to buy something for the holidays, make it something you actually need of know you will use. Other than that, spend time with the people you care most about, and if you do want to gift them, make some cookies or something. People love free food!
A really interesting video! Something that wasn't mentioned in this video but kinda neatly fits into the narrative is how christian church leaders actually coopted other holiday/religious traditions around the time of the winter solstice in an attempt to spread christianity. By saying Jesus was born on the 25th they were attempting to get heathens and people who had other religious affiliations to adopt their ideas of what they thought the holiday should be about. So Christmas has morphed a lot throughout history with various cultures/leaders/corporations significantly shaping it in an attempt to benefit themselves or align it with their worldviews.
I had a friend who told me a story about him and his little brother growing up, his family didn't have a lot of money but they wanted to get him something big, so they got him the N64. Worried that giving just one big present would be too short-lived of a Christmas morning, they turned it into a whole scavenger hunt to draw out the excitement! Such a good idea, still fun and less wasteful.
Definitely relate to the shame aspect of not being able to afford gifts to others. Always fear my frugal gifts are seen as lesser than the shiny store bought ones.
My family has always saved and reused gift bags, when we get rid of old clothes or items, unless they are broken beyond repair, we donate them to local thrift shops similar to goodwill who help the community that will give them a second life. There is always a better option than the landfil for your unwanted items.
While christmas is a christian holiday, I'd like to add the actual festivities and aesthetics of christmas were actually stolen/borrowed off of pagan celebrations (yule) christmas is technically a holiday that has roots deeper than christianity and is why its celebrated so massively outside of christian circles. The church, back in ye older times, unable to stop people from celebrating things outside of christianity, adopted a lot the traditions in order to give it a christian angle and keep people in line with the faith. Just thought* that I'd add this interesting bit of history to the conversation! :) *edit
I am a crafter and I always try to make some of the gifts every year. I like making Christmas Ornaments and gifting those as a staple, I've made homemade jelly in the past and gifted that as well, but other than that I prefer gifting things people need or can actually use. One of my family asked for some Steam Gift cards to pre-order a Harry Potter game that wasn't out yet. In addition to the gift cards, I also printed them up a Hogwarts acceptance letter like what Harry got in the books and stained it with coffee to look like parchment. It cost pennies to make and they loved it! Gift giving isn't a bad thing, it's the mindless shopping that kills us. When your gifts have meaning, they don't have to be expensive. As a kid, I also got an N64 for Christmas and it was the best Christmas memory ever! I had been pining for it for months and I was told to take good care of it as I wouldn't get another one. I took that to heart and that N64 lasted me for years! I could still play it even as my cousin burnt out his PS3!
What is frustrating about this channel is that I feel like I'm being told that everything I have learned about everything is wrong. Now what am I supposed to do?
The whole point of most holidays is to convince consumers to spend more money. This is how retailers survive. The real problem is that there are way too many retailers..
Have you ever tried to buy something in January on, it's like the shortage during the pandemic. Fining anything that is not the basics is difficult. Me: "Do you have those men's motorcycle helmets?" Stores: "Only ones we have left are the neon pink ones size small." me: "Nevermind."
I worked at an Parcel-Store/ as a Deliverer. The amount of packages going around at Christmas is absolutely insane. In late November our shelves were already beginning to overflow and the drivers had to work late into the night to get all things delivered. The people where queuing outside the store and cursing at each other. This workplace really made me hate Christmas. Its really sad to see this Holiday where we should love each other morph into just thinking what we should buy.
Same, the large amounts of packages were sent and what we have to do to sort out this mess I had alot of coworkers quit and it was too much. Then management expects us to stay a 12 hour shift there No way
It was never about Jesus. It is a tradition that goes centuries before Christianity (or any other modern religion) was invented. It was always about having a party in the middle of the winter so you had something to get you through the misery of the cold and darkness and having to eat potatoes and cabbage for months on end. But you are right, capitalism turns everything it touches into money or s***t. And we should be more thoughtful about what the things we buy impact the environment.
I'm an atheist, and I don't really celebrate this holiday. I do give some gifts, but they're always either something I've made like ceramics or paintings, or food items like coffee from an indie brand or homemade cookies. The rampant over-consumption and the whinging from christians about the 'war on christmas' just really turned me off to it. That, and all the holiday stuff being put out in the freaking summer. I'm sick of it.
The "war on Christmas" was mostly a trumpie thing, wasn't it? Yes, it was incredibly annoying. Also an atheist, I have no religious beliefs about the holiday, but at least it doesn't give me the creeps like Easter does.
This may be hard to believe but buying gifts for my loved ones, preparing a good meal for them and celebrating the birth of my messiah is legitimately how I want to continue celebrating this holiday and I am sorry that's problematic.
@@octavianschaefer7294 But isn't the main critique of the piece to create a new holiday that doesn't involve gift giving and religion? That the fact that I want to buy gifts every year and wrap them in wrapping paper is seen as problematic? If people continue keeping Christmas in their own way wouldn't the majority still carry on in these problematic directions? Also how does a Marxist critique of Christmas not have a single mention of "A Christmas Carol" ?
My wife and adult children have not exchanged gifts in years. We take the amount we would have spent on each other and donate that to a local organization that helps families living in shelters or just moved out of the shelter but still need help setting up housing. By being able to help give a gift to a child who would otherwise not receive anything gives them hope. That alone is worth more to me. My family will spend the holiday together over a simple meal and meaningful conversation.
I so relate to this. My Christian parents have expressed wanting to celebrate its original meaning rather than focus on the gifts, but they fall into that trap every year. I think a Christmas of just a few gifts and money and food and fun sounds great
Breaking away from the human conditioning of what all holidays have become have made me so happy. No expectations to family or friends, or to anyone sets your free and much more richer. No more Christmas cards or gifts. The gift of basic needs anytime of year is best without the pressure or stress of nonsense.
I think books would be nice presents, but in my country we have very well working libraries with huge selections, buying new books is also quite wasteful lol. Cooking books and such that you want to check on regular basis are still nice to have at home, but after 3-5 cooking books on the shelf it becomes excess.
This is the last year I participate in Christmas. My family didn't do gift exchange this year and my close friends and I have decided that next year we're going to do something special together instead; a fancy meal, concert, an event. The cost to both my wallet and the planet have finally worn my patience out and I'm done :)
I love giving gifts. I have a hard time understanding things I cant see. I'm a forgetful person, so a lot (not all) actions that people do for me go right over my head. I appreciate them in the moment, but those memories will fade quickly for me. Thats why I love gifts. Physical reminders. I keep every birthday card my grandmother sends me. I kept the tag from a pair of pajama pants my mom got me one year for christmas, every necklace Ive ever been given is hanging with my others. every souvenir my dad got me when he visited another country is hanging on my bulletin board. my room is so cluttered with so many memories. but I know if I get rid of them, I'll eventually end up forgetting them. I know not everyones the same way, but I still feel the need to give meaningful gifts to people I care about because I want them to remember me everytime they use it or see it. I dont know how else to express my love for that person.
I was hoping you’d mention how a lot of Christmas traditions, including the date, come from pagan traditions that predate Christianity by thousands of years. There are less wasteful ideas we can glean from those traditions as well as Christianity. I think acknowledging that allows us to see that there are less constraints on how we wish to shape the future of Christmas/Yule/etc. than by just looking at Christian European or earlier US traditions.
Working years in retail completely changed my view of Christmas from how I saw it as a kid. I’ve watched people fight over Black Friday deals; canvassing over the store on Christmas Eve, trying to find last minute gifts and getting mad because we don’t have anything in the correct size left or complain about the skin color of a doll.. the only one we had left of that type, because it didn’t look like her granddaughter… Parents telling me they have to buy gifts for their kids so they don’t feel left out even though they can’t afford it…. It’s absolute insanity. I want nothing to do with it now. People call me Scrooge and I don’t care.
16:14 pme third of the annual retail sales in 3 months. That's 33% of the sales in 25% of the time. correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not THAT extreme right? Sorry, this statistic just struck me as a little weird.
Let it be Christmas everywhere In the hearts of all people both near and afar Christmas everywhere Feel the love of the season wherever you are On the small country roads lined with green mistletoe Big city streets where a thousand lights glow Let it be Christmas everywhere Let heavenly music fill the air Let every heart sing let every bell ring The story of hope and joy and peace And let it be Christmas everywhere Let heavenly music fill the air Let anger and fear and hate disappear Let there be love that lasts through the year And let it be Christmas Christmas everywhere
My family's Christmas have long had a focus on being together, and enjoying special food, instead of buying a lot of stuff. If I get kids they wont be getting tons of gifts. They will get a few selected ones they really have a use for. We should also normalize buying used goods as presents, and of course selling or giving away the stuff we don't use anymore. Especially kids get bored of their toys quickly, clothes become small, there is no shame in reusing them. Both adults and kids need to learn that getting something pre-owned doesn't mean they are poor or second class citizens.
If you want to change your christmas, consider celebrating a Dutch christmas. A dinner with family and visiting people you love and appreciate each other.
An excellent documentary. Thank you for posting on UA-cam as not everyone can pick up other formats and UA-cam is able to present to a very diverse and large audience. As much as we can't change how we celebrate this holiday overnight, we can set an example by changing our holiday traditions and spending time with friends and family encouraging the same. We must remember though because this many times is one of the only days of the year that people can get a day off to spend this time, sadly, it will take time. I am glad that you point out the rush that we induce, both in gift giving and anticipation of the holiday in general. We end up self inducing stress, often following up with depression due to financial and the immediate rush/then let down due to the aftermath. Those without family and friends to spend the holiday with sink into depression while those with them do as well as we equivate being able to be a provider with the holiday gifts, that many of us put off buying or giving simply to give someone something to open one day out of the year. When i was a child we fed people in soup kitchens, but at Christmas and thanksgiving they didn't need help as people were trying to get right with god and help the needy, almost seeing a parallel with Santa and presents just like god and heaven. But they need more then food on Christmas. They need it year round, and so do those who help. They need to heal their soul year round as well. We are all traumatized in some way and consumerism, though not going away soon, is an excellent place to start decluttering the stress in our lives. I think this forum will have excellent ideas from everyone, and if possible a follow up video on them would be useful to everyone. Thank you again for your content. Kris ❤️🌸❤️
As a pagan, i'd have preferred if you'd mentioned the roots of Christmas rather than just describing it as a Christian festival! The entire misrule aspect comes from the Roman saturnalia. Us neopagans have eight main festivals, yule/winter solstice being the winter one. I find it really offensive when they start marketing Christmas to me even before the autumn equinox! I wish we could celebrate all eight festivals more equally, but especially with kids, it's very difficult. I focus more on food, games, movies, Christmas music.
i mean technically it is a Christian holiday. how it’s celebrated by others may look different around the world and aspects of paganism did get infused into the global zeitgeist because paganism was popular in europe, once Christianity reached europe the traditions got mixed and then european colonization had a global effect. so when many ppl think of religious Christmas, they think of the one that was celebrated by european culture. but how it’s celebrated in the middle east and parts of africa, where it originated from, holds true to the core tenets of Christianity and, for the most part, is celebrated in its most traditional form
when I start my own family, I'd like Christmas to be about cooking and baking together and maybe getting each other a couple meaningful gifts rather than the big extravaganza I had growing up.
three years ago, we started a new tradition - we are fortunate to have a local lake - so at sunset on the winter solstice, we bring bells, drums, and lanterns and walk around Glenwood lake, singing to welcome the light, as the days grow longer. It creates an attunment to nature and each other, and helps establish a new awareness for the kids outside tech- heavy childhoods. Let there be light!
I love Christmas, a lot of great memories come from it. As of late. Whatever gift does not appeal to me, will go right on eBay. I may not like it, but someone else will. 😁
Gift giving isn't necessarily bad I think people don't research their gifts enough all those returns are gifts that people don't need or want it creates waste when all they needed to do was just buy a gift someone actually wants to use
Everyone forgets the canadian holiday named "happy friend day", a day to celebrate friendship, this is the day that should replace christmas. if you let it
Bold move in the branding here, albeit I’m in full agreement. I recall reactionary voices in uproar over “war on Christmas” talking points on things like red cups and ‘happy holidays’ sentiment. It’s like we can’t even have the conversation around what’s in most people’s (especially the working class’) best interests.
We are in need of absolutely no more war rethoric. Just say we need to change the way we celebrate christmas. Using battle or war rethoric really doenst make sense considering the habits we need to change to deal with climate change require us to move away from the mentality war rethoric appeals to.
For almost 15 years, my immediate family and I no longer give gifts to each other. We just enjoy time together and eat good home-made food. Nothing more than this is needed to be happy.
@@MankindDiary No. I've never been forced to buy candy. I was thinking of the customers at my job having to buy candy at Halloween. I work in retail by the way.
my wrapping paper has always consisted of a box i had laying arouns and or a weeks old newspaper, i learned from my grandpa who always use old farm machinery catalogs too wrap our presents
you dont really care about coca cola tier "christmas" being about mindless consumerism, you are using it as an excuse to be against Christmas in it's essence.
Wow, this is the first time I heard about those public revelry! (But I'm from Europe, dunno if things were the same here) I know several places where public drinking and begging is illegal now... so seems like John Pintard got his will in the end :/ Your vision of Christmas sounds like the way New Year's is celebrated (or at least the way I know it to be celebrated). Some people spend/waste a lot of money on fireworks that then litter the streets, but aside from that it's just about hanging out with friends/family and then going outside the greet the new year and the neighbours. It's the only December holiday I celebrate now, though usually just with friends inside. My family mainly celebrates Christmas as a religious holiday, though a lot of cultural traditions were also obseved. But my parents always had a rule that only a few members of the extended family were allowed to gift to children, and I'm guessing they also checked what was gifted. I'm not strictly against people giving gifts, seeing it's very important to some people emotionally. But like... please make sure your gift is *actually* needed. Imo the best gift is socks, because 1. almost everybody wears sock 2. they tend to wear through quite quickly, so you'll need some new ones eventually 3. they're usually cover a wide size range, so you don't need to find a perfect fit 4. they're usually not seen, so personal taste is kinda irrelevant 5. but if you know the person well you can find a nice pattern they might like, so you can show them it's actually a thoughtful gift. Food is also a good one, if you know what the person likes. It'll be eaten instead of other food the person would need to buy themselves, creating no additional demand, and it won't leave any clutter to fill shelves/landfills.
Lol, I am probably going to see the end of civilization in my life time because people are not very smart and the moment someone points out how none of this is sustainable everyone gets angry and defensive.. sorry if this hurts your feeling my friend but this is not personal. We are on the precipice of a nightmare
This is something I have been trying for years as I can not only see the bull being presented, but I just find it tiring. Unfortunately my parents will have none it and will force the issue.
Maybe expand Carol singing, to be more inclusive, playing music together as a family or community, with homemade instruments, and a simple dance. Doesn’t have to be perfect, just joyful and heart warming 🥰
"Spurs more than a third of yearly sales in just 3 months" Sorry, but this statistic isn't as drastic as it sounds. 1/3 of 12 months = 4 months, so they do 4 months worth of sales in 3 months. Then the other stats listed are even less...
Who are you to decide that people are doing Christmas wrong? It can be crass and commercial, but some people enjoy the spectacle. Others like the family and quiet aspect. Others the religious aspect. I would never judge anyone based on how they approach the season.
Our family prefers to buy gifts together on a shopping day, no waste even if it does take away the surprise. Getting rid of Christmas cards would save so many cut down trees... and recycled paper for wrapping, traditional wrapping is so bad for environment as you can't even recycle it due to its glossy plastic coverings. Also Black Friday is a con, you will find the same products on sale for less outside of the "Christmas Season".
I like Christmas since I don't have to work myself into the ground for one day. Although I have worked at a food related job, may those who do take points and stay home for your mental health.
The misconception is by going into debt they probably mean putting it on the credit card. In fact since a lot of people use credit cards to shop for food you could say they went into debt by shopping for food. I seen a person buy a candy bar with a credit card so he went into debt buying a candy bar.
Hey man, I'm trying to find the article that was referenced in the video from Valerie (at around 17:17) "How do we reinvent this holiday season to have a deeper meaning than what appears to be a celebration honoring the god of capitalism?" but Google isn't being helpful. I tried clicking on the sources doc you've linked but it says that the page can't be found and that I should ask for an updated link. Cheers!
I've seen a couple comments talking about how Christmas is the product of Christianity co-opting the traditions of various Pagan religions, so it's ironic that Capitalism went and did the same thing with Christmas centuries later. However to me, this fact in of itself doesn't justify integrating secularism on Christmas. I think the holiday has existed long enough for it to be a tradition in its own right, regardless of its origins. I'm an Marxist and a Christian, and I can tell that from the bottom of my heart I dream of a day where there can be a Christian Christmas untrained by the corruption of capital. Christianity can be a religion that unites the proletariat under a doctrine of peace and egalitarianism, and I pray every day for more people to recognize that. I'm not a missionary, I don't think Christian Christmas should be imposed as an international standard on non-Christians. However I also don't want to see my religion destroy itself because it couldn't find a way to separate itself from imperialistic doctrines... That was really long but all I really wanted to say is that I believe there is an ideological compatibility between Christianity and an Anti-Capitalist war on Christmas.
💡 Do you celebrate anything in December? If so, how do you celebrate?
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Please for the love of god change this title. I clearly haven't seen this yet and I'm sure most of it will be quite accurate but can you honestly expect your stance to get any kind of positive reception? All something like this does is alienate people mot just from this but to causes they're closer to supporting.
"Why we need to move beyond a hollow celebration of consumerism"
"Why we need to stop cutting down tree just because"
"How we can move toward a more substantial and meaningful practice of gift giving"
Like I get that these aren't particularly clickbaity but if a catchy title supersedes a helpful approach to broaching these topics is it really worth it?
Maybe a comparative analysis of capitalists to the grinch?
I made a "Halloween For Christmas" Movement.
Here in Latinoamérica we celebrate also with presents and a big dinner, but I think we don’t spend so much money, for obvious reasons (not rich countries) and because our thinking is still in the past decades, with those financial struggles, youngest parents tend to spend more money
As a non-american, the idea of indebting yourself just so you can buy presents for Christmas sounds crazy
it is, this video is fake and was made by the grinch
indenting yourself?
@@NotPearse consumerism has rotten your brains
Really tho! So many people "HATE" Christmas and when you ask them why they tell you it's too expensive. I simply tell them well don't spend as much and they look at me like a Jellyfish Alien.
@@8pija22 indebting,
this year, my father asked me what I wanted for christmas and I said I wanted pear trees and he got so confused since I cant have or plant them in winter. Just told him that he can buy them later but these have to be ordered at this time of the year.
might take a couple of years to have pears, but I'll get pears at some point. then I can make him pies and deserts and he can enjoy these while I enjoy the cooking part.
I really loved to make apple pie this year and I decided that slowly, but surely, I'll make myself a food forest so I can make pies of all sorts for the holidays.
In a few years you could add a partridge ;)
Omg, that's lovely
Ahhh the weedy garden would be proud
Forward thinking x10.
That's actually a good idea
We changed how we celebrate christmas recently. The amazing thing is - I thought it would be hard to convince my family to change things, but it wasn't at all - they hated the grind of it as much as I did. We have basically abandoned present giving in favour of a 'secret santa' for the family. Everyone gets one gift, £20 limit on cost. We've gone from spending £500 EACH on gifts, to £20 each. We focus on the important things - enjoying the time together, enjoying good food and playing games. This is the stuff thats important - present giving is a harmful distraction that leaves everyone exhausted and broke by the time they're sitting down to christmas dinner.
Actually same here. It was an idea started by my brother-in-law, and it caught on pretty well. Well, with the exception of the kids in the family, they still get more than present. But for the adults in general, this has reduced a lot of stress in the holiday season and helped on some very handy savings as well. Plus, there is actually some thought on the gift that you receive, so it is increases the likelihood of being useful and something that you'll cherish :)
I'm stealing this idea for christmas
I wonder how much money one has to have to spend 500£ on a Xmas gift. No wonder it was unsustainable.
I feel like this is a good first step to move away from the nuclear-family, high-cost tradition of Christmas in the past. It holds on to the capitalist part, but minimizes it instead of rejecting it. And that minimization, over time, may mean that your family doesn't do the gift thing at all in the future!
Happy holidays, hope everyone stays safe. See you in the streets! Lol
@@doriangray2001 i believe he was saying that everybody was spending around 500 in total for presents on the family. If you have 20 to 30 people in the family gathering, it is not that far fetched. We were 16 before the kids started bringing their wives... and soon enough their kids as well
As someone who's a horrendous gift giver (I'm quite bad at it unless I'm told exactly what to get), Christmas is PEAK stress. The past two years, I've stuck to giving small gifts, many homemade. My cousins and siblings have all agreed to not purchase anything for one another. It's honestly helped. This year, I've also been saving Trader Joe's holiday bags to reuse for presents and shredded paper as packing materials 😂
Hard agree. I hated the forced shopping AND the deluge of gifts ever since I was a tiny kid. (I craved experiences, music, and befriending animals. Not toys.) In my late teens I started giving home made preserves, or gifts like tickets to a museum. I quickly learned that people who insist on a bigger more materialistic gift exchange will get offended by your meager offering and scratch you off their holiday gift list. Win-win as far as I'm concerned. I haven't exchanged a big holiday gift for over 20 years now.
I like the idea of shredded paper as packing material. Now all my loved ones are complicit in my tax fraud.
Well done 👍🎄✨
You actually don't have to make any gifts, just saying.
That’s because you’ve been doing it all wrong; Santa is the one who gives the presents silly! You don’t have to do Santa’s job, but it is very kind of you. I never have to do something like that to be put on the Nice list, though - just don’t be naughty!
A little late, I contributed a lot to consumerism this year, but I also want to suggest a Chinese tradition of giving Red Envelopes for Christmas instead of presents. They allow kids to buy what they really need/want and is done through a family gathering with lots of food.
Not chinese at all but growing up usually the $10 - $20 notes in a card were the best presents
My family's always done this unless they know someone has a specific item on their wishlist. Works great and eases stress without people ending up with unwanted waste.
@aishen just use a Christmas card instead of a red envelope :)
@aishen 😐
instead we encourage the chinese tradition of buying from amazon and chinese sweat shops
My family and I have changed how we do Christmas. Instead of randomly giving each other 'surprise' gifts, we give each other of list of things we actually want for Christmas. The person who is giving the gifts then randomly selects one or two items out of the entire list to get for the receiver. That way, we don't buy things we don't need or create a lot of unnecessary waste and the element of surprise is still there. Also, this Christmas, I'm planning on taking my family out to explore the city and go watch a movie in the theaters since we value experiences over material items.
That's what I do with my sisters as well! Honestly it is way better since you're giving a gift that they actually want or need, instead of having to guess and it'll be a present they might not end up using. And I agree that the element of surprise is still there too!
My family also does this. I brought up the idea last Christmas and they did it again this year so I’m glad it worked out for us
There's a kind of mythos surrounding gift giving that portrays "knowing what others want" as some kind of virtue because it supposedly proves that you care a lot for the other person. But realistically, unless you have a very tight knit family or circle of friends, there's a good chance you won't know exactly what someone wants beyond superficial interests like "Mike loves Star Wars" or "Dana is a baker."
I wish asking for a gift idea list was more normalized instead of the "surprise" gift thing. Personally, I find it brings me closer to the person I'm buying a present for. I would have never guessed that Mike also loves poetry books, and Dana's been wanting to take up woodworking.
I think a lot of families do this (mine do with holidays like Eid). The only problem is that many of us seem to never be able to figure out what we actually want when we make a list or someone asks us. Lol I'm definitely guilty of being that person.
@@Selestrielle I think it's more normalized than people think, of course it's not the norm, but my family and a few other families that I know would never just buy random stuff that they weren't sure were going to be used; they always ask for a large list, so they can choose 1 or 2 things from it and it still be a bit of a surprise, while being something that you actually wanted
I really appreciated this post! I’ve been paring back for years now: I don’t buy wrap; I use cut-up paper bags and a bit of real 100% biodegradable wool for tying the presents together (which actually looks quite pretty AND the brown paper can be recycled). I am making more gifts and buying less. I also buy secondhand gifts - especially books - that are in excellent condition. I love the idea of ‘experience’ gifts and have been sitting here mulling over what lovely experiences I might offer my loved ones. I am 60 years old and I loved (and bought into) the whole ‘Santa’ thing as much as anyone. But it’s never too late to do better and to be better. NOT encouraging the capitalistic retail companies would just be a great bonus...
Personally, I appreciate the aesthetic of brown paper and twine, and am alone in my family for wanting to seek deeper experiences and meaning for the Solstice, than the mindless exchange of gifts.
I've become a big supporter of the Japanese concept of furoshiki which is about wrapping things in cloth. The person not only gets a present, they also get the pretty cloth. My friends either than have reused them as wrapping, or used them as scarfs/headbands.
But, I also like a nice-looking bag that is used to transfer gifts over and over.
@@MissAppolonia There was a time when people loved reusable bags. My aunt probably still has a number of them.
A common issue I notice with this type of content is that it resonates with someone like myself who already share the sentiment of visceral disgust toward needless and extreme waste, but its likely to simply alienate those not there yet. They might have been quite receptive if the argument and exposition was posed in a different way. You can try to reason all you want but the crux of the matter is that this is an emotional issue. People like Christmas because they associate it with bonding with the family. So talking about presents and how you're being duped, etc. It just sounds like "yeah I used to be a dumb kid then I grew up, I'm too smart to be duped into buying junk like you fools", even though it's well researched and formulated.
Noo why do you want to take away our instant gratification and save us debts, making kids spoiled and show off their gifts, making poor kids feel jealous and recentfull, etc etc 🤡
Very well said.
Agreed 👍
More importantly; the festivity of Christmas and the consumerism of Christmas can be had separately, and we should be careful which part we criticize.
By saying "we need a war on Christmas" or "you're doing Christmas wrong", you attack a person's idea of their childhood, which is more likely to put them on the defensive than to leave them receptive of your opinions. Haven't we seen already how "eat less red meat" has been twisted into "they want to take away our hamburgers"?
Rather, I think it's good to address the issue at it's core; encourage people to be less consumerist overall, encourage them to focus on the festive origins of Christmas, and let them decide how many gifts they want to buy (hopefully a bit less than last year)
@@noah_the_nerd Also, buy experiences and sustainable gifts, including second-hand items - not just toys and tat!
You can say that about anything people have an emotional attachment with. Doesn't mean it isn't important to say. Also, I think you're interpreting it to be condescending because you have a condescending view of most people. People are more open minded than you think.
Watching this while stressing out about buying presents for people. I hate buying gifts, and I hate receiving them, except for from a few people. I wish this time of year was different. It's not magical, it's just commodified nostalgia half the time
Commodified nostalgia. Great phrase! 🎉
Kaduka21, you are certainly not alone,I think most people feel this way but never speak up.
I hope people choose to have a cruelty free Christmas,instead of eating dead animals that did not want to die choose wonderful vegan alternatives,no one has to suffer and die because of your food choices.
Peace and goodwill towards all beings !
"I hate buying gifts"
Have you tried like... I don't know... NOT BUYING THEM?
Like c'mon, is anyone pulling a gun on you to buy stuff?
@@MankindDiary I’ve literally had my parents financially pressure me into being a part of holiday activities. So not quite a gun, but the social pressure is definitely there
@@alexsiemers7898 I wouldn't call that "social pressure", it is more of a "family pressure", coming from a family cell that I wouldn't call too healthy.
I'm so glad to see I'm not alone feeling this way about US holidays. I've gotten really jaded towards all the consumerism and waste. My wife and I stopped giving gifts years ago as we don't need anything we don't get for ourselves. I'm honestly ashamed of how I celebrated all these holidays in the past. It is all just dopamine hits. And the memories I really remember and cherish are those interpersonal ones. Being with people. The love and laughs. I probably remember .01% of the gifts I've received over the years.
I got a ukulele last Christmas, and I remember that, because I play it loads
But that’s different than relentless capitalism
@@waytoobiased That’s a great gift! I’m not against all gifts. We all need things that bring us joy. A ukulele is a delightful thing to give or receive. It’ll last ages and give you joy. I dislike throwaway gifts. Single use plastic stuff. Things to just give a gift without the person needing it. My wife and I give each other a few gifts for our birthdays. I usually draw her something special and she might give me a book. Very chill.
Holidays are often treated as rules or orders people have been trained to believe they're supposed to follow or execute annually in relation to a calendar without understanding of them or their purpose and without necessarily valuing them. That's not to say traditions are necessarily bad, though.
In my opinion, a tradition has no value if you don’t understand why you’re doing it. Because it’s lost its meaning
and to think this originates from Saturnilia the 12 day celebration of the Winter Solstice and 12 days of MIS RULE 😝😃😛🤣🤣🤣 don't let the good American SLAVES get any ideas🙈🙉🙊
@@NotreDanish
Essentially the difference between following or conforming to a norm, versus making a tradition and heritage truly yours?
I celebrate Hanukkah. A lot of people think presents are a traditional part of the holiday. The only traditional gift is actually money, usually given from older generation to the younger. Hanukkah in the US especially though increasingly became influenced by the American traditions of giving presents and the cultural influence that giving money is improper/“tacky”
Yeah, you can keep your gift giving. I just want latkes.
I celebrate Hanukkah more so than Christmas, To me it has less baggage (family background further back is Jewish--I was brought up Christian--and am not one anymore). It's just more fun a lot more meaningful to me. I never have gotten into gift giving though. I eat the latkes, light the candle, etc.
My family has reused a plastic tree, wrapping paper, gift boxes and ribbon for several years now and it has been great. We ask each other what we NEED for the coming year and buy that so we don't waste money and resources
Since my childhood in the 80`s all kinds of celebration went crazy, including birthdays, weddings, baby showers, seems like capitalism finds a way to get you spending with social shaming. My childhood birthdays were celebrated with a homemade cake and simple, useful gifts such as socks and pencils. I am not against giving gifts to children but gift giving and decorating got out of control worldwide.
Tell me about it!
I live in Ireland, and apparently Irish people spend more on Christmas decorations than any other EU country - which seems correctly since even though I live out in the countryside, one of the houses nextdoor is so decked out with decorations than it looks like a full-blown airport for Santa to land on.
I noticed the same. I was in my teens in the 80's and remember a childhood where your Christmas presents would either all fit in a sock or in a pillowcase.
And yes, practicality was definitely the 'main' theme - socks, a woolly hat and scarf set, bubble bath and soap (now considered bad taste!). The 'excesses' would be chocs, coloured pencils, and coins and stamps for my collections.
We never celebrated Halloween at all back then. None of us kids trolled the streets trick or treating. Now the shops are full of tacky plastic costumes only fit to last one use.
The first time I heard the term 'baby shower' was in an episode of Friends, and hadn't a clue what it was about.
This year, I found a Thanksgiving card...I live in the UK. What on Earth do we want to start celebrating Thanksgiving Day for? I find it totally irrelevant to keep introducing new festivals that have nothing to do with a country's 'original' culture.
Used Gifts are a tradition I started a few years ago. Whether it's something I already have or something I get (for cheap) at a thrift store, they're almost always more of a hit than anything I could have bought spending hours in Walmart shopping. Many times I've been able to get people something high quality and normally out of budget if it were brand new, like appliances, art and even furniture.
We have 5 children. We decided years ago to stick to this motto... "Something to wear, something to read, something you want, something you need." It can still get expensive but it's limiting and wear read and need are things I would be buying at some point regardless
I don't think getting rid of gift-giving entirely is a solution. There are many unnecessary gifts given for Christmas, so I think just limiting the amount of gifts and only getting gifts people will actually want and will be useful to them is a better idea. I don't think there's any harm in gift-giving if the gifts do not become trash.
That's why I lean more towards giving kids cash on their birthdays and a bottle of wine to adults when I do get a chance to celebrate whatever with them. They can always regift the wine next time they're invited into someone's home. I always let them know it's not expensive and from my area, and feel free to open it now or regift later, it's all good. I more or less try to ignore Christmas though, because for me the obligation of mass gift exchanges is non personal and hard to stomach on both ends. I don't want this peppermint lotion you either bought for anyone or are regifting, and I don't want to regift it later either.
Haven’t even watched the video yet but I’ve been waiting for this topic. I’m so tired of Christmas. The commercialism of it all, the expectations to buy everyone something. My sister is the worst person to try to get a present before because as soon as she wants something she just buys it. She has everything she needs and wants.
My family and I have stopped exchanging gifts on Christmas, instead we all just contribute by buying food and drink that we can all share + maybe a new board game. I highly recommend others to do the same. It's much less wasteful as you know you will actually use everything bought. And on top of that, all of the things you buy focus you on spending and enjoying time with your family rather than on the gifts themselves. The money saved means you can splash on more expensive food/drink which is already an important part of the holiday. And then on boxing day we go out and spend time with family friends, eat and drink with them, play games etc.
We still buy each other gifts on birthdays however, as a birthday is a more personal day it makes more sense to give gifts than on Christmas which (imo) should be focused on group merriment. And because you buy fewer presents for people in general (once per year instead of two) the gifts you give can be more meaningful, and more valuable monetarily - again cutting down on waste.
Since we started this tradition years ago, I have yet to receive a single gift from anybody in my household which I never used, or threw out or returned or regifted etc.
To be fair, capitalism has taken over every holiday we celebrate. The extent of takeover is largely dependent on how much revenue can be generated by the holiday in question.
And promoted or even invented others to fill the rest of the year (e.g., Friendship Day)…
This is true, and is why it's so important to decolonize and take back our holidays including finding ways to celebrate them that don't revolve around buying things.
@@purpleicewitch6349 decolonize ?
@@marvin2678 Trendy buzzword
At least you can opt out of some holidays. Few people are going to get mad if you don't celebrate Halloween, or limit it to just a box of candy for the local kids. It's really hard to opt out of Christmas, the culture literally strong-arms you into celebrating it.
“Parts of the retail industry make a third of their yearly sales in three months.” So they make 33% of their sales in 25% of the year. Yeah that’s a little high, but not outrageously so.
About 6 years ago, our families agreed to change how we show our love and appreciation of each other, via consumerism. We agreed that the presents that we share with each other would either be hand made by the person presenting it, or a repurposed item. This has brought many new and thoughtful gifts into our families, and developed new skills, such as canning and carpentry. The collection of items that end up as repurposed gifts give the opportunity to make Christmas shopping, a round the months of the year enterprise, with trips to thrift stores or garage sales.
A few years ago, I started giving to charity in honor of my friends and family in place of physical gifts. Finding a charity that matches someone’s personality is actually way more meaningful than some meaningless product.
This will be our 3rd year in a row that my family agreed altogether to not gift anything that isn't some home made thingy to each other, with the exception of the kids which will get some toys. No one feels awkward for not having bought something for someone, no one feels the worry of buying something useless to the other. Not because we can't afford it, but because we all agree that nowadays chrismas gifts have become a source of stress and a waste of time that adds nothing to each other's love and support. We provide such support and love all year when anyone needs it, and we know it. No need to be reminded through some physical object because some celebration forces us to.
I first encountered this video in December last year. I stuck it in the watch later but unfortunately it was well into the new year before I got through all the preceding videos, and by then I’d moved onto other things and didn’t wanna think about Christmas. So I’ve saved this here and now I can watch it!!
Glad that somebody in the west is talking about cutting consumption ... the most readily available action towards mitigating climate-change. An average US person consumes 16 to 20 times an average Indian !!
Excellent video.
I'm torn, because you're 100% correct on all your observations, but I enjoy many of my family's small traditions. What I don't like is being strongarmed or guilted into particular things because "it's a tradition". Finding fulfillment in people rather than things, I think, is the key to the season.
I listened to this podcast called "Calm Christmas" and it made me think about my favorite holiday traditions and what I like about them
I'm switching mostly to practicing, performing, and making music with my family and I love that
And also walking around the neighborhood and looking at Christmas lights
At the ripe old age of 22 I've started to want less and less. I have everything I need and have some money to buy anything else through out the year. All I want on the holidays now is time off and to spend time with friends and family. The only thing I want to buy is a set of espresso cups, they don't even have to be new and I KNOW for a fact I will use them as I am a coffee addict. If you are going to buy something for the holidays, make it something you actually need of know you will use. Other than that, spend time with the people you care most about, and if you do want to gift them, make some cookies or something. People love free food!
A really interesting video! Something that wasn't mentioned in this video but kinda neatly fits into the narrative is how christian church leaders actually coopted other holiday/religious traditions around the time of the winter solstice in an attempt to spread christianity. By saying Jesus was born on the 25th they were attempting to get heathens and people who had other religious affiliations to adopt their ideas of what they thought the holiday should be about. So Christmas has morphed a lot throughout history with various cultures/leaders/corporations significantly shaping it in an attempt to benefit themselves or align it with their worldviews.
I had a friend who told me a story about him and his little brother growing up, his family didn't have a lot of money but they wanted to get him something big, so they got him the N64. Worried that giving just one big present would be too short-lived of a Christmas morning, they turned it into a whole scavenger hunt to draw out the excitement! Such a good idea, still fun and less wasteful.
Definitely relate to the shame aspect of not being able to afford gifts to others. Always fear my frugal gifts are seen as lesser than the shiny store bought ones.
My family has always saved and reused gift bags, when we get rid of old clothes or items, unless they are broken beyond repair, we donate them to local thrift shops similar to goodwill who help the community that will give them a second life. There is always a better option than the landfil for your unwanted items.
As a veteran of the long bloody war on Christmas this brought back a lot of rough memories
While christmas is a christian holiday, I'd like to add the actual festivities and aesthetics of christmas were actually stolen/borrowed off of pagan celebrations (yule) christmas is technically a holiday that has roots deeper than christianity and is why its celebrated so massively outside of christian circles. The church, back in ye older times, unable to stop people from celebrating things outside of christianity, adopted a lot the traditions in order to give it a christian angle and keep people in line with the faith. Just thought* that I'd add this interesting bit of history to the conversation! :) *edit
I am a crafter and I always try to make some of the gifts every year.
I like making Christmas Ornaments and gifting those as a staple, I've made homemade jelly in the past and gifted that as well, but other than that I prefer gifting things people need or can actually use. One of my family asked for some Steam Gift cards to pre-order a Harry Potter game that wasn't out yet. In addition to the gift cards, I also printed them up a Hogwarts acceptance letter like what Harry got in the books and stained it with coffee to look like parchment. It cost pennies to make and they loved it!
Gift giving isn't a bad thing, it's the mindless shopping that kills us. When your gifts have meaning, they don't have to be expensive.
As a kid, I also got an N64 for Christmas and it was the best Christmas memory ever! I had been pining for it for months and I was told to take good care of it as I wouldn't get another one. I took that to heart and that N64 lasted me for years! I could still play it even as my cousin burnt out his PS3!
What is frustrating about this channel is that I feel like I'm being told that everything I have learned about everything is wrong. Now what am I supposed to do?
Stop listening to this channel? They are overstating things.
the funny thing is my most treasured childhood memories of Christmas time was going caroling at a retirement home with my girl scout troop
The whole point of most holidays is to convince consumers to spend more money. This is how retailers survive. The real problem is that there are way too many retailers..
Have you ever tried to buy something in January on, it's like the shortage during the pandemic. Fining anything that is not the basics is difficult. Me: "Do you have those men's motorcycle helmets?" Stores: "Only ones we have left are the neon pink ones size small." me: "Nevermind."
I worked at an Parcel-Store/ as a Deliverer. The amount of packages going around at Christmas is absolutely insane. In late November our shelves were already beginning to overflow and the drivers had to work late into the night to get all things delivered. The people where queuing outside the store and cursing at each other. This workplace really made me hate Christmas. Its really sad to see this Holiday where we should love each other morph into just thinking what we should buy.
Same, the large amounts of packages were sent and what we have to do to sort out this mess
I had alot of coworkers quit and it was too much. Then management expects us to stay a 12 hour shift there
No way
It was never about Jesus. It is a tradition that goes centuries before Christianity (or any other modern religion) was invented. It was always about having a party in the middle of the winter so you had something to get you through the misery of the cold and darkness and having to eat potatoes and cabbage for months on end. But you are right, capitalism turns everything it touches into money or s***t. And we should be more thoughtful about what the things we buy impact the environment.
I'm an atheist, and I don't really celebrate this holiday. I do give some gifts, but they're always either something I've made like ceramics or paintings, or food items like coffee from an indie brand or homemade cookies.
The rampant over-consumption and the whinging from christians about the 'war on christmas' just really turned me off to it. That, and all the holiday stuff being put out in the freaking summer. I'm sick of it.
The "war on Christmas" was mostly a trumpie thing, wasn't it? Yes, it was incredibly annoying. Also an atheist, I have no religious beliefs about the holiday, but at least it doesn't give me the creeps like Easter does.
This may be hard to believe but buying gifts for my loved ones, preparing a good meal for them and celebrating the birth of my messiah is legitimately how I want to continue celebrating this holiday and I am sorry that's problematic.
No one is telling you you can’t. This is more about capitalisms hijacking of this holiday, not the individual.
@@octavianschaefer7294 But isn't the main critique of the piece to create a new holiday that doesn't involve gift giving and religion? That the fact that I want to buy gifts every year and wrap them in wrapping paper is seen as problematic? If people continue keeping Christmas in their own way wouldn't the majority still carry on in these problematic directions? Also how does a Marxist critique of Christmas not have a single mention of "A Christmas Carol" ?
Baby Showers are just as bad and could be viewed worse as it's all new gifts and decorations for 1 baby, not a whole family of people.
Worse yet, you send the message that if a woman has a baby she will get showered with gifts, which just encourages her to have kids.
My wife and adult children have not exchanged gifts in years. We take the amount we would have spent on each other and donate that to a local organization that helps families living in shelters or just moved out of the shelter but still need help setting up housing. By being able to help give a gift to a child who would otherwise not receive anything gives them hope. That alone is worth more to me. My family will spend the holiday together over a simple meal and meaningful conversation.
Last year, my family ditched gift-giving in favor of making financial contributions to the local food bank. I am glad!
This is beautiful
I've been saying it for a couple years and I'll keep saying it: Christmas needs more ghosts and ghost stories.
My bf and I have a tradition of getting the Ouija board out for Christmas and having a séance.
@@sbel6626 good tradition, I like it
Heck yeah!!! 🍾👻
I so relate to this. My Christian parents have expressed wanting to celebrate its original meaning rather than focus on the gifts, but they fall into that trap every year. I think a Christmas of just a few gifts and money and food and fun sounds great
Breaking away from the human conditioning of what all holidays have become have made me so happy. No expectations to family or friends, or to anyone sets your free and much more richer. No more Christmas cards or gifts. The gift of basic needs anytime of year is best without the pressure or stress of nonsense.
@@m.c.8877 Most people enjoy Christmas.
I relate to this so much, especially with the guilt and shame. Subscriber earned!
I HATE Christmas! I try to get through the holiday as quickly as possible with zero shopping and no goddamned tree and no decorations.
american holidays feel so dry and dead to me
This guy didn't get the present he wanted as a kid.
Try not to immediately antagonize and alienate the majority of your audience for 5 seconds challenge (impossible)
How do we reinvent this holiday? Community. Potluck dinners. The gift of volunteering.
Watched it on Nebula. Been waiting to be able to share this around.
We don't need a war on Christmas, just let people celebrate their winter holidays (including Christmas) peacefully.
This Christmas i wish that there is no more excess consumerism but more nostaligc remembrance and enjoying time with your family 💜
I think books would be nice presents, but in my country we have very well working libraries with huge selections, buying new books is also quite wasteful lol. Cooking books and such that you want to check on regular basis are still nice to have at home, but after 3-5 cooking books on the shelf it becomes excess.
This is the last year I participate in Christmas. My family didn't do gift exchange this year and my close friends and I have decided that next year we're going to do something special together instead; a fancy meal, concert, an event. The cost to both my wallet and the planet have finally worn my patience out and I'm done :)
I love giving gifts. I have a hard time understanding things I cant see. I'm a forgetful person, so a lot (not all) actions that people do for me go right over my head. I appreciate them in the moment, but those memories will fade quickly for me. Thats why I love gifts. Physical reminders. I keep every birthday card my grandmother sends me. I kept the tag from a pair of pajama pants my mom got me one year for christmas, every necklace Ive ever been given is hanging with my others. every souvenir my dad got me when he visited another country is hanging on my bulletin board. my room is so cluttered with so many memories. but I know if I get rid of them, I'll eventually end up forgetting them. I know not everyones the same way, but I still feel the need to give meaningful gifts to people I care about because I want them to remember me everytime they use it or see it. I dont know how else to express my love for that person.
I was hoping you’d mention how a lot of Christmas traditions, including the date, come from pagan traditions that predate Christianity by thousands of years. There are less wasteful ideas we can glean from those traditions as well as Christianity. I think acknowledging that allows us to see that there are less constraints on how we wish to shape the future of Christmas/Yule/etc. than by just looking at Christian European or earlier US traditions.
Working years in retail completely changed my view of Christmas from how I saw it as a kid. I’ve watched people fight over Black Friday deals; canvassing over the store on Christmas Eve, trying to find last minute gifts and getting mad because we don’t have anything in the correct size left or complain about the skin color of a doll.. the only one we had left of that type, because it didn’t look like her granddaughter… Parents telling me they have to buy gifts for their kids so they don’t feel left out even though they can’t afford it…. It’s absolute insanity. I want nothing to do with it now. People call me Scrooge and I don’t care.
16:14 pme third of the annual retail sales in 3 months. That's 33% of the sales in 25% of the time. correct me if I'm wrong, but that's not THAT extreme right?
Sorry, this statistic just struck me as a little weird.
Yeah, I just got to that part and I was like. 4 months of sales in 3 months? That seems reasonable.
Let it be Christmas everywhere
In the hearts of all people both near and afar
Christmas everywhere
Feel the love of the season wherever you are
On the small country roads lined with green mistletoe
Big city streets where a thousand lights glow
Let it be Christmas everywhere
Let heavenly music fill the air
Let every heart sing let every bell ring
The story of hope and joy and peace
And let it be Christmas everywhere
Let heavenly music fill the air
Let anger and fear and hate disappear
Let there be love that lasts through the year
And let it be Christmas
Christmas everywhere
My family's Christmas have long had a focus on being together, and enjoying special food, instead of buying a lot of stuff. If I get kids they wont be getting tons of gifts. They will get a few selected ones they really have a use for. We should also normalize buying used goods as presents, and of course selling or giving away the stuff we don't use anymore. Especially kids get bored of their toys quickly, clothes become small, there is no shame in reusing them. Both adults and kids need to learn that getting something pre-owned doesn't mean they are poor or second class citizens.
If you want to change your christmas, consider celebrating a Dutch christmas. A dinner with family and visiting people you love and appreciate each other.
Provokative title but let's see what is hidden behind it.
I would much prefer a mass revelry Christmas, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
💯
An excellent documentary. Thank you for posting on UA-cam as not everyone can pick up other formats and UA-cam is able to present to a very diverse and large audience. As much as we can't change how we celebrate this holiday overnight, we can set an example by changing our holiday traditions and spending time with friends and family encouraging the same. We must remember though because this many times is one of the only days of the year that people can get a day off to spend this time, sadly, it will take time. I am glad that you point out the rush that we induce, both in gift giving and anticipation of the holiday in general. We end up self inducing stress, often following up with depression due to financial and the immediate rush/then let down due to the aftermath. Those without family and friends to spend the holiday with sink into depression while those with them do as well as we equivate being able to be a provider with the holiday gifts, that many of us put off buying or giving simply to give someone something to open one day out of the year. When i was a child we fed people in soup kitchens, but at Christmas and thanksgiving they didn't need help as people were trying to get right with god and help the needy, almost seeing a parallel with Santa and presents just like god and heaven. But they need more then food on Christmas. They need it year round, and so do those who help. They need to heal their soul year round as well. We are all traumatized in some way and consumerism, though not going away soon, is an excellent place to start decluttering the stress in our lives. I think this forum will have excellent ideas from everyone, and if possible a follow up video on them would be useful to everyone. Thank you again for your content. Kris ❤️🌸❤️
As a pagan, i'd have preferred if you'd mentioned the roots of Christmas rather than just describing it as a Christian festival! The entire misrule aspect comes from the Roman saturnalia. Us neopagans have eight main festivals, yule/winter solstice being the winter one. I find it really offensive when they start marketing Christmas to me even before the autumn equinox! I wish we could celebrate all eight festivals more equally, but especially with kids, it's very difficult. I focus more on food, games, movies, Christmas music.
i mean technically it is a Christian holiday. how it’s celebrated by others may look different around the world and aspects of paganism did get infused into the global zeitgeist because paganism was popular in europe, once Christianity reached europe the traditions got mixed and then european colonization had a global effect. so when many ppl think of religious Christmas, they think of the one that was celebrated by european culture. but how it’s celebrated in the middle east and parts of africa, where it originated from, holds true to the core tenets of Christianity and, for the most part, is celebrated in its most traditional form
when I start my own family, I'd like Christmas to be about cooking and baking together and maybe getting each other a couple meaningful gifts rather than the big extravaganza I had growing up.
Great video! Gift giving is one of my love languages, so I love that about the holiday season, but gifts can be given all year long!
three years ago, we started a new tradition - we are fortunate to have a local lake - so at sunset on the winter solstice, we bring bells, drums, and lanterns and walk around Glenwood lake, singing to welcome the light, as the days grow longer. It creates an attunment to nature and each other, and helps establish a new awareness for the kids outside tech- heavy childhoods. Let there be light!
I love Christmas, a lot of great memories come from it. As of late. Whatever gift does not appeal to me, will go right on eBay. I may not like it, but someone else will. 😁
Gift giving isn't necessarily bad I think people don't research their gifts enough all those returns are gifts that people don't need or want it creates waste when all they needed to do was just buy a gift someone actually wants to use
Everyone forgets the canadian holiday named "happy friend day", a day to celebrate friendship, this is the day that should replace christmas. if you let it
Bold move in the branding here, albeit I’m in full agreement. I recall reactionary voices in uproar over “war on Christmas” talking points on things like red cups and ‘happy holidays’ sentiment. It’s like we can’t even have the conversation around what’s in most people’s (especially the working class’) best interests.
We are in need of absolutely no more war rethoric. Just say we need to change the way we celebrate christmas. Using battle or war rethoric really doenst make sense considering the habits we need to change to deal with climate change require us to move away from the mentality war rethoric appeals to.
For almost 15 years, my immediate family and I no longer give gifts to each other. We just enjoy time together and eat good home-made food. Nothing more than this is needed to be happy.
What I’m hearing is we need to replace Christmas with thanksgiving 2, which I am completely in support of
I would rather have a second Halloween only without the stress of buying a bunch of candy.
@@melissacooper8724 Is anyone forcing you to buy candies though?
@@MankindDiary No. I've never been forced to buy candy. I was thinking of the customers at my job having to buy candy at Halloween. I work in retail by the way.
my wrapping paper has always consisted of a box i had laying arouns and or a weeks old newspaper, i learned from my grandpa who always use old farm machinery catalogs too wrap our presents
wow! Amazing video!
This is truly incredible. I would han never imagined that this whole thing was planned 🤯
the average american spent 1,447 in a month for holiday shopping?? that's my whole paycheck in a month
you dont really care about coca cola tier "christmas" being about mindless consumerism, you are using it as an excuse to be against Christmas in it's essence.
Wow, this is the first time I heard about those public revelry! (But I'm from Europe, dunno if things were the same here)
I know several places where public drinking and begging is illegal now... so seems like John Pintard got his will in the end :/
Your vision of Christmas sounds like the way New Year's is celebrated (or at least the way I know it to be celebrated). Some people spend/waste a lot of money on fireworks that then litter the streets, but aside from that it's just about hanging out with friends/family and then going outside the greet the new year and the neighbours. It's the only December holiday I celebrate now, though usually just with friends inside.
My family mainly celebrates Christmas as a religious holiday, though a lot of cultural traditions were also obseved. But my parents always had a rule that only a few members of the extended family were allowed to gift to children, and I'm guessing they also checked what was gifted.
I'm not strictly against people giving gifts, seeing it's very important to some people emotionally. But like... please make sure your gift is *actually* needed.
Imo the best gift is socks, because 1. almost everybody wears sock 2. they tend to wear through quite quickly, so you'll need some new ones eventually 3. they're usually cover a wide size range, so you don't need to find a perfect fit 4. they're usually not seen, so personal taste is kinda irrelevant 5. but if you know the person well you can find a nice pattern they might like, so you can show them it's actually a thoughtful gift.
Food is also a good one, if you know what the person likes. It'll be eaten instead of other food the person would need to buy themselves, creating no additional demand, and it won't leave any clutter to fill shelves/landfills.
Environmentalism is the gigantic wet blanket that seeks those who may throw it over everything fun and that makes life worth living.
Lol, I am probably going to see the end of civilization in my life time because people are not very smart and the moment someone points out how none of this is sustainable everyone gets angry and defensive.. sorry if this hurts your feeling my friend but this is not personal. We are on the precipice of a nightmare
This is something I have been trying for years as I can not only see the bull being presented, but I just find it tiring. Unfortunately my parents will have none it and will force the issue.
Christmas time just stresses me the f*** out.
I always have to up my Xanax doses
Maybe expand Carol singing, to be more inclusive, playing music together as a family or community, with homemade instruments, and a simple dance. Doesn’t have to be perfect, just joyful and heart warming 🥰
"Spurs more than a third of yearly sales in just 3 months"
Sorry, but this statistic isn't as drastic as it sounds. 1/3 of 12 months = 4 months, so they do 4 months worth of sales in 3 months. Then the other stats listed are even less...
Who are you to decide that people are doing Christmas wrong? It can be crass and commercial, but some people enjoy the spectacle. Others like the family and quiet aspect. Others the religious aspect. I would never judge anyone based on how they approach the season.
Our family prefers to buy gifts together on a shopping day, no waste even if it does take away the surprise. Getting rid of Christmas cards would save so many cut down trees... and recycled paper for wrapping, traditional wrapping is so bad for environment as you can't even recycle it due to its glossy plastic coverings. Also Black Friday is a con, you will find the same products on sale for less outside of the "Christmas Season".
I like Christmas since I don't have to work myself into the ground for one day. Although I have worked at a food related job, may those who do take points and stay home for your mental health.
If you can please donate stuff you don't want, people WILL be so greatful
The misconception is by going into debt they probably mean putting it on the credit card. In fact since a lot of people use credit cards to shop for food you could say they went into debt by shopping for food. I seen a person buy a candy bar with a credit card so he went into debt buying a candy bar.
I stopped wrapping presents years ago. It's a waste of time, money and resources and It all ends up in a landfill.
Replace presents with presence...
Hey man, I'm trying to find the article that was referenced in the video from Valerie (at around 17:17) "How do we reinvent this holiday season to have a deeper meaning than what appears to be a celebration honoring the god of capitalism?" but Google isn't being helpful. I tried clicking on the sources doc you've linked but it says that the page can't be found and that I should ask for an updated link.
Cheers!
Yes! Let's fight climate change by making ordinary people feel bad about the thing they enjoy! I love this framing so much.
man really liked his own comment
@@beangobernador Yep. This one too!
It's not a crime to look critically at what we can do better.
I've seen a couple comments talking about how Christmas is the product of Christianity co-opting the traditions of various Pagan religions, so it's ironic that Capitalism went and did the same thing with Christmas centuries later. However to me, this fact in of itself doesn't justify integrating secularism on Christmas. I think the holiday has existed long enough for it to be a tradition in its own right, regardless of its origins. I'm an Marxist and a Christian, and I can tell that from the bottom of my heart I dream of a day where there can be a Christian Christmas untrained by the corruption of capital. Christianity can be a religion that unites the proletariat under a doctrine of peace and egalitarianism, and I pray every day for more people to recognize that. I'm not a missionary, I don't think Christian Christmas should be imposed as an international standard on non-Christians. However I also don't want to see my religion destroy itself because it couldn't find a way to separate itself from imperialistic doctrines...
That was really long but all I really wanted to say is that I believe there is an ideological compatibility between Christianity and an Anti-Capitalist war on Christmas.