A few years ago, I was your typical office-worker: stressed out, uneven energy, overweight, and inconsistent complexion. Now I'm just your typical 28-year old urban hunter-gatherer on a quest to be healthy, and having a few adventures along the way. See my full bio.
Right now, most people give gifts on Christmas. But the commercialization of Christmas has always felt...out of sync...with the true spirit of the holiday. So here is a little proposal -- why don't we switch the major gift-giving holiday to the Fourth of July?
The ideas surrounding the Fourth of July are actually more closely related to why we have the material prosperity to give gifts at all: rule of law, property rights, freedom, and the free enterprise system. This is what has made us, as a society, wealthy. So when we give gifts, we would acknowledge that our ability to give gifts is related to the prosperity provided by those institutions. The best time to celebrate that is the Fourth of July.
And when Christmas comes along, we give a gift or two perhaps -- but don't really focus on anything expensive. Just focus on the original purpose of the holiday, not on some excuse to spend a month decorating the house.
That would be a better system for all concerned.
Comments
Damn. Now I'm buying gifts
Damn. Now I'm buying gifts on two Holy Days.
Being that I don't celebrate
Being that I don't celebrate the "reason behind the season" and just really celebrate the family/giving aspect of it, I have a very different take on this holiday. First of all, Christ's birth actually occured in the spring, so if we were going to truly celebrate the reason, we need to move the date. But, I agree with why/how it is in December.In the winter time, we, like many animals, gather the harvest and prepare for the cold, ruthless winter. Humans tend to want to protect and provide for their families too. I think the idea of gift giving is a modern day extension of that. While, I agree, gift giving does not need to be a highly materialistic endeavor, I do think it is fighting a little against human nature to try to eliminate one of the key elements of this holiday.If giving an expensive gift feels wrong, give your time instead. There are less extreme options that still honors the spirit of coming into winter and the holiday season. And, having a daughter who's birthday is right after the 4th of July, I can tell you at this time of year we feel more inclined to shed things, not gain more. So, that's a little unfortunate for her.
Ha, makes sense to me!
Ha, makes sense to me!
The real reason for the
The real reason for the season is, of course, the Solstice. People have been giving gifts and feasting together at Yule for 1000s of years. It makes the dark cold winter more cheerful to celebrate the return of the sun! It has nothing to do with that upstart Christian holiday that shoved itself onto Yule like an ill-fitting shoe. The Church couldn't stop people's pagan celebrations, so they warped them into a birthday celebration for their favorite fellow, Jesus (who, to the best of anyone's guess, was born in summer).Giving gifts and feasting together during the long cold winter feels natural, and isn't that what we're after? Nobody needs presents to cheer them up during the long hot days of summer!
Let me guess: you don't have
Let me guess: you don't have kids. Sure you say when you have kids you are going to make new traditons around christmas that don't envolve the over doing of gift giving. It doesn't last because the kids go off to school and learn what the other kids do. I live and work around a ton of Turkish and Ethiopian families and they all do the gift giving christmas traditions once they have kids. They even do Thanksgiving. The pressure will be overwhelming John. And anyway - the spirit of christmas in my opinion is not what you get, but what you give and seeing the joy on others faces for a thoughtful gift. It's already commercial enough - with people trapling each other on Black Friday - putting it on Forth of July would be...well would it be even worse?
Yes, you go into parenthood
Yes, you go into parenthood with lots of intentions and some of those change, but being less materialistic can be done. My daughter may hate it sometime, but from my own experience it was the best lesson of my life - to have less than my friends. Doesn't mean she doesn't get anything, no, toys are a necessary tool in growth, but she gets what I'm willing to give her. I guess I don't feel the need to compete with the neighbors. Some of us do, some of us don't.
three wise men giving gifts
three wise men giving gifts ... gold, franenses ,mure I think what is really sad is that we need special days to give gifts or else you look like a wierdo that cares too much. christmas in its modern incarnation does exactly what it should drive consumer spending to keep the economy going.Before we became induvidualist consummerists christmas was about strenghting family ties and tradition and baby jesus. maybe a gift or two for each person but now its about proping up a retail economy .
I made a donation to a
I made a donation to a homeless/at-risk youth shelter and told my family, truthfully, that I don't want any gifts. I don't plan to buy any, either. If others enjoy exchanging gifts, that's fine, but I just don't need anything, and most Christmas gifts I get end up going to Goodwill.
I'm a fan of decorating the
I'm a fan of decorating the house, actually - and nearly all the decorations (except maybe a nativity scene if you do those) are pagan in origin and more related to the solstice than Christmas. So, being the secular pagan that I am, I gleefully put up a tree, and have lots of lights. Feasting at the Solstice is pretty cross-cultural anyhow.But I agree about the presents. A lot of people seem to be getting away from the gobs of gifts, which I thoroughly approve of.