Christmas and Consumerism
Comments
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I hate this time of the year. People are more fake and false. It shouldn't take some holiday or season for people to act like good, moral, nice people who care...this is something people should do all the time. It doesn't take a holiday to recognize the love of your family or friends or appreciate what you have in life. By doing so, as a whole, it shows how truly shallow and misguided people actually are in our society. People celebrate this holiday season, yet don't follow the codes of the religion, instead they've merely installed traditions to follow which relate to it - yes things we've made up... trees, presents, santa, spirit, etc.. it's all bogus nonsense we've made up for commercial gain or some insignificant meaning which has zero to do with the actual practice of religious code or text.
http://www.apoplecticpress.org/Card%20Doubles%20Large/011.jpgCONservative governMENt
Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis0 -
Disagree...FiveB247x wrote:I hate this time of the year. People are more fake and false. It shouldn't take some holiday or season for people to act like good, moral, nice people who care...this is something people should do all the time. It doesn't take a holiday to recognize the love of your family or friends or appreciate what you have in life. By doing so, as a whole, it shows how truly shallow and misguided people actually are in our society. People celebrate this holiday season, yet don't follow the codes of the religion, instead they've merely installed traditions to follow which relate to it - yes things we've made up... trees, presents, santa, spirit, etc.. it's all bogus nonsense we've made up for commercial gain or some insignificant meaning which has zero to do with the actual practice of religious code or text.
http://www.apoplecticpress.org/Card%20Doubles%20Large/011.jpg
Maybe it is you people, who "hate" Christmas...
That are the ones who are shallow and misguided.....Take me piece by piece.....
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....0 -
FiveB247x wrote:I hate this time of the year. People are more fake and false. It shouldn't take some holiday or season for people to act like good, moral, nice people who care...this is something people should do all the time. It doesn't take a holiday to recognize the love of your family or friends or appreciate what you have in life. By doing so, as a whole, it shows how truly shallow and misguided people actually are in our society. People celebrate this holiday season, yet don't follow the codes of the religion, instead they've merely installed traditions to follow which relate to it - yes things we've made up... trees, presents, santa, spirit, etc.. it's all bogus nonsense we've made up for commercial gain or some insignificant meaning which has zero to do with the actual practice of religious code or text.
http://www.apoplecticpress.org/Card%20Doubles%20Large/011.jpg
wow...
If Christmas and the consumerism around it bother you so much, then don't participate.
The commercialism of it is a joke, but we all know that... no tv commercial is making me feel guilty for not buying my wife a car or diamond earings, I chuckle at the commercials and move on.
And while "it doesn't take a holiday to recognize the love of your family or friends or appreciate what you have in life" is absolutely true, but with people living in different cities and everyone's work/life schedules the holiday does give us a chance to get together and enjoy spending time as a family. If in your opinion spending time with our families and giving a nice gift or two make us "truly shallow and misguided", then I don't know what to tell you.My whole life
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln0 -
Excellent post, Jeanwah. I totally agree. I found the consumer messaging to be so bad that I had to get rid of my TV.
Have you seen the film "What would Jesus buy?"0 -
Firstly, I do not participate in it. I am making an observation about the consumer driven society around us. Perhaps many of you do not fit the characterzation I have given, but that doesn't mean it is not true either. Have a look at the society and people around us, and it does hold true. It may not be you specifically, but as a whole it is what represents us. Whether it's people acting awful to one another on Black Friday or spoiled children whining over what santa did or didn't bring to them. It's all around us.
Secondly, why not be "jolly" or "merry" any time of the year? Does anyone really need a specific calender date to be good or buy a present for a family member or similar? The fact is these things are predicated on the notion of Christmas but has absolutely nothing to do with the actual holiday other than what we've as humans added to it because it suited our own needs and wants. This is something you or anyone else has yet to acknowledge. It's tradition that we've completely made up which has zero to do with the meaning of the actual holiday. And in terms of the actual holiday and that belief system, Jesus was about helping the poor, equality and similar all the time - none of which we actually practice in our society. So let's mass celebrate his birth and apply our own misguided message of his ideologies for our own purposes when we don't actually practice what his message was and foresake it all? That's Christmas in our society.blackredyellow wrote:wow...
If Christmas and the consumerism around it bother you so much, then don't participate.
The commercialism of it is a joke, but we all know that... no tv commercial is making me feel guilty for not buying my wife a car or diamond earings, I chuckle at the commercials and move on.
And while "it doesn't take a holiday to recognize the love of your family or friends or appreciate what you have in life" is absolutely true, but with people living in different cities and everyone's work/life schedules the holiday does give us a chance to get together and enjoy spending time as a family. If in your opinion spending time with our families and giving a nice gift or two make us "truly shallow and misguided", then I don't know what to tell you.CONservative governMENt
Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis0 -
can we at least mandate cussin' christmas music only be allowed to be played for the 7 days leading up to the day?0
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i don't think most of the people are saying they hate christmas but rather they hate what christmas has becomedon't compete; coexist
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'0 -
SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:
Have you ever given or received The Clapper for a Christmas gift??Jeanwah wrote:
Exactly. It's not "giving" nor "caring" if it only happens once a year.i_lov_it wrote:Well...IMO it's getting TOO 'Commercialised'...Buy this!...Buy that!...and it's a Bit "Hypocritical"...It's a DAY of 'Giving' and 'Caring'.....Hang on! Shouldn't people be LIKE that EVERY DAY of the Year?
I'd like to know how a gift of the Clapper or a Snuggie defines how one feels about another person.
Would you ever buy one of these for your parents??
Your children??
Your nieces/nephews???
Would you go out and buy one for grandma/grandpa???
Or would you maybe take a little time, and put some thought and effort, in to buying a loved one something they actually might cherish and enjoy???
i don't think Jeanwah was saying she felt she HAD to buy these things but was commenting on how it is pushed in our culture, you can't deny were an overly consumeristic society and this is what people are bombarded with. sure, you can say 'then don't watch tv!' but this is simply ignoring the problem.don't compete; coexist
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'0 -
my grandma used to give us a donation to the charity of our choice instead of an actual gift. it was always the best present i got at christmas.0
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here are my thoughts on Xmas..DON'T CELEBRATE!
http://www.fossilizedcustoms.com/asherah.htmlI knew all the rules, but the rules did not know me...GUARANTEED!
Hail Hail HIPPIEMOM
Wishlist Foundation-
http://www.wishlistfoundation.org
info@wishlistfoundation.org0 -
Nice - my god is better than your god... good work.yahamita wrote:here are my thoughts on Xmas..DON'T CELEBRATE!
http://www.fossilizedcustoms.com/asherah.htmlCONservative governMENt
Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis0 -
Yet you never really add anything to the topic. You just like to come on here and stick it to people.SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:
Exactly...Jeanwah wrote:
Assumptions, assumptions... :roll:SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:Because you are too busy whining and complaining about everything.
Like you assume I own crap and live in a bubble....
Well, here's your chance. What's your story? What does Christmas mean to you.0 -
It's this type of attitude that is truly missing my point (in bold). Who exactly said that consumerism and Christmas go hand in hand? What happened to the home made gift? The baked gift? The gift that didn't need to be purchased in order to symbolize how we feel about one another? There's a problem with society when we stop being "humans" and are become strictly catagorized as "consumers". That's not what Christmas is about.blackredyellow wrote:FiveB247x wrote:I hate this time of the year. People are more fake and false. It shouldn't take some holiday or season for people to act like good, moral, nice people who care...this is something people should do all the time. It doesn't take a holiday to recognize the love of your family or friends or appreciate what you have in life. By doing so, as a whole, it shows how truly shallow and misguided people actually are in our society. People celebrate this holiday season, yet don't follow the codes of the religion, instead they've merely installed traditions to follow which relate to it - yes things we've made up... trees, presents, santa, spirit, etc.. it's all bogus nonsense we've made up for commercial gain or some insignificant meaning which has zero to do with the actual practice of religious code or text.
http://www.apoplecticpress.org/Card%20Doubles%20Large/011.jpg
wow...
If Christmas and the consumerism around it bother you so much, then don't participate.
The commercialism of it is a joke, but we all know that... no tv commercial is making me feel guilty for not buying my wife a car or diamond earings, I chuckle at the commercials and move on.
And while "it doesn't take a holiday to recognize the love of your family or friends or appreciate what you have in life" is absolutely true, but with people living in different cities and everyone's work/life schedules the holiday does give us a chance to get together and enjoy spending time as a family. If in your opinion spending time with our families and giving a nice gift or two make us "truly shallow and misguided", then I don't know what to tell you.0 -
Basically, that's my point. We are no longer considered "humans" in society's opinion, we're only "consumers". Born to consume. Born to shop until we drop on Black Friday and the month of December (and the rest of the year) in search of that perfectly plastic thing that we think someone may want. Shop until we drop, gotta get the latest toy to fulfill my wants, my kid's wants, my family's wants.Pepe Silvia wrote:i don't think most of the people are saying they hate christmas but rather they hate what christmas has become
In the end, no one's ever satisfied, they just want more. Look at most kids on Christmas morning and they'll say after opening their last gift..."Is that it?"0 -
Jeanwah wrote:
It's this type of attitude that is truly missing my point (in bold). Who exactly said that consumerism and Christmas go hand in hand? What happened to the home made gift? The baked gift? The gift that didn't need to be purchased in order to symbolize how we feel about one another? There's a problem with society when we stop being "humans" and are become strictly catagorized as "consumers". That's not what Christmas is about.blackredyellow wrote:FiveB247x wrote:I hate this time of the year. People are more fake and false. It shouldn't take some holiday or season for people to act like good, moral, nice people who care...this is something people should do all the time. It doesn't take a holiday to recognize the love of your family or friends or appreciate what you have in life. By doing so, as a whole, it shows how truly shallow and misguided people actually are in our society. People celebrate this holiday season, yet don't follow the codes of the religion, instead they've merely installed traditions to follow which relate to it - yes things we've made up... trees, presents, santa, spirit, etc.. it's all bogus nonsense we've made up for commercial gain or some insignificant meaning which has zero to do with the actual practice of religious code or text.
http://www.apoplecticpress.org/Card%20Doubles%20Large/011.jpg
wow...
If Christmas and the consumerism around it bother you so much, then don't participate.
The commercialism of it is a joke, but we all know that... no tv commercial is making me feel guilty for not buying my wife a car or diamond earings, I chuckle at the commercials and move on.
And while "it doesn't take a holiday to recognize the love of your family or friends or appreciate what you have in life" is absolutely true, but with people living in different cities and everyone's work/life schedules the holiday does give us a chance to get together and enjoy spending time as a family. If in your opinion spending time with our families and giving a nice gift or two make us "truly shallow and misguided", then I don't know what to tell you.
It doesn't go hand in hand for a lot of people, that's my point... only those who let it. That is where I get annoyed by people complaining about the commercialism and consumerism. If you want to keep that away from Christmas, celebrate the holiday without all that crap, then you are free to do that.
Nothing happened to the baked gift of home made gift... plenty of people (my wife and I included) do that... others go all out and buy expensive things for their families because they can and want to... others are idiots and buy a bunch of crap because they feel like they have to.
Christmas is different for everyone and every family, make it what you like and ignore the other bullshit.My whole life
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln0 -
"Shopacalypse!!"scb wrote:Excellent post, Jeanwah. I totally agree. I found the consumer messaging to be so bad that I had to get rid of my TV.
Have you seen the film "What would Jesus buy?"
I do love that film, scb.
http://www.wwjbmovie.com
Love this!polaris_x wrote:i'm part of a birthday group of friends where when it's someone's bday - we'll all pool our money to get one thing they really want ... for me - they make a donation to a charity on my behalf ... it's the best gift i can ever get ...
Many people have good ways of not falling for the "buy, buy, buy your Christmas happiness". Awesome!
Not only do I love this, I've tried this with my siblings. Guess where the gift certificates ended up? The trash. We have all acknowledged that we're adults and no longer need to give each other gifts. Being together for good food and booze is enough. As long as the kids get a little something.Commy wrote:my grandma used to give us a donation to the charity of our choice instead of an actual gift. it was always the best present i got at christmas.Post edited by Jeanwah on0 -
Jeanwah wrote:
Basically, that's my point. We are no longer considered "humans" in society's opinion, we're only "consumers". Born to consume. Born to shop until we drop on Black Friday and the month of December (and the rest of the year) in search of that perfectly plastic thing that we think someone may want. Shop until we drop, gotta get the latest toy to fulfill my wants, my kid's wants, my family's wants.Pepe Silvia wrote:i don't think most of the people are saying they hate christmas but rather they hate what christmas has become
In the end, no one's ever satisfied, they just want more. Look at most kids on Christmas morning and they'll say after opening their last gift..."Is that it?"
If that's what you see, then you are hanging around with some screwed up kids.My whole life
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln0 -
Nothing ever gets solved by blatent pretending it's not happening.blackredyellow wrote:It doesn't go hand in hand for a lot of people, that's my point... only those who let it. That is where I get annoyed by people complaining about the commercialism and consumerism. If you want to keep that away from Christmas, celebrate the holiday without all that crap, then you are free to do that.
Nothing happened to the baked gift of home made gift... plenty of people (my wife and I included) do that... others go all out and buy expensive things for their families because they can and want to... others are idiots and buy a bunch of crap because they feel like they have to.
Christmas is different for everyone and every family, make it what you like and ignore the other bullshit.0 -
blackredyellow wrote:Jeanwah wrote:
In the end, no one's ever satisfied, they just want more. Look at most kids on Christmas morning and they'll say after opening their last gift..."Is that it?"
If that's what you see, then you are hanging around with some screwed up kids.
LOTS of kids, and I mean the majority, are spoiled rotten.0 -
I completely agree with you and albeit the homemade and nice aspect of the holiday is around, unfortunately it is not the mainstream or generic and certainly far from it.
Also, call me whatever name you please, but I don't care about Christmas or other religious holidays. If people want to celebrate them, so be it, but it doesn't mean everyone has to hear about it or have it shoved down their throats ad nasuem via music, decorations, tv ads or the other million ways it is. From an outsiders perspective, it'd be no different from an ordinary person be forced to listen to polka music and see groundhoggs everywhere for 1 month of the year straight. But because some our "outsiders" and not in the "norm", we're considered the odd-balls... pretty funny how life works eh?Jeanwah wrote:It's this type of attitude that is truly missing my point (in bold). Who exactly said that consumerism and Christmas go hand in hand? What happened to the home made gift? The baked gift? The gift that didn't need to be purchased in order to symbolize how we feel about one another? There's a problem with society when we stop being "humans" and are become strictly catagorized as "consumers". That's not what Christmas is about.CONservative governMENt
Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis0
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