Why We Need a War on Christmas
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- Опубликовано: 9 июн 2024
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In this Our Changing Climate climate change video essay, I look at why we need a war on capitalist Christmas. Specifically, I look at the history of how capitalism stole Christmas, and how we might be able to steal it back. Christmas wasn't always a holiday of private gift-giving, it used to be based in public revelry and the reversal of power. Capitalism has since transformed the holiday into one based on the accumulation of material goods. This needs to change.
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:45 - A Modern Christmas
4:27 - How the Rich Stole Christmas
10:16 - How Capitalism Stole Christmas
13:15 - The Toll of a Capitalist Christmas
19:08 - Get access to my bonus content
I use Epidemic Sound for some of my music: epidemicsound.com/creator
Some visuals courtesy of Getty Images
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Further Reading and Resources: ourchangingclimate.notion.sit...
#christmas #climatechange #environment
💡 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
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
When my children were attending post secondary school, and were living in near poverty conditions, they would get extremely stressed about Christmas, and their "obligations" to give gifts to everyone. They would buy things on credit, and end up practically starving in the New Year. I decided that they were no longer allowed to buy me gifts for Christmas. I encouraged them to make me special treats instead of gifts. Cookies, Christmas snacks, or crafts like a photo collage of them for me to look at when they were off at school, etc. When they were older and had jobs and decent incomes, we all decided that none of us really needed more stuff. We saw that there were many people in our community that were in desperate need of stuff, and food. We decided that we would celebrate the Christian holiday, by giving to Food Banks, Mission Services, or other charities that helped people who were not as lucky as us. We still buy presents for children, who need things like clothing and when very young, toys. No more "World Best Dad or Grandpa" mugs for me.
that's the actual Christmas spirit (at least in the spirit of Charles Dickens)
i totally get this. my grocery bills near and after christmas always have to be incredibly small cause i don’t have enough to cover groceries AND presents
Yep I save up all year to give to charities at xmas time. Much rather give to people and causes that really need it rather than spending it on needless excess.
How wholesome.
I'm not religious, but that's how the christmas spirit should be
Using newspaper to wrap presents will always be top tier
I prefer sewing cloth bags that can be used for grocery shopping, or smaller drawstring bags, also reuseable.
It depends on your skills, resources, and the recipient.
I prefer not giving gifts. Saves newspaper
We have a colorful selection of fabric for wrapping that gets packed away for the year after
@@dhunter8286 what do you use to hold the fabric wrapping together? sticky tape or something else?
@@fionaanderson5796 these bags are not recyclable, not better than plastic, another garbage
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,
I generally hate clutter in my home so I told my family and friends to please just give me food or other consumable gifts like soap or whatever. Unfortunately, everybody straight up refused my request because it didn't feel like a proper gift to them.
I feel like they don't respect you and their gifting is to satisfy their ideal. Don't get me wrong, some people can love you dearly but still lack the respect or empathy to understand your need as well.
@@cloudynguyen6527 I suppose they thought that food wasn't expensive enough to count and it often can't be wrapped up and left under the tree. It's just too much of a break from tradition. I think I could convince them to agree if I find something more specific that feels like less of a departure from the norm.
Ask them to use the rest of the money for a charity of your choice or just give you cash 😅
@@gregorycarlson6445 Maybe everyone makes a list with things that they really want/need, and family members buy from there?
At least you would be getting things that you will actually use
@Gregory Carlson
But food can be expensive if they want to give you something fancy
One of my favourite ways to ask for a present is "If I can't eat it, smoke it or drink it, I don't want it." People really underestimate giving consumables as food. Doubly so if they're homemade.
ruclips.net/video/jbZo4x0NbbI/видео.html
No kidding. My default Christmas gift is homemade cookies. Come December, I have an annual baking of the Christmas cookies and give out loads to friends and family. They're pretty popular
I collected pinecones in the park and painted them white and gold. Then glued a string on them for homemade ornaments. The glue and paint were on hand except I did buy the gold paint.
Smoke it, now we're talking
I dont want food as a gift
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!
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
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
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.
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.
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?
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! 🎉
Well, nobody is forcing you to buy anything. Make the adult decision and say no, Im sorry I didn't buy gifts this year. I for sure am not gifting anything to anyone, not even my wife and I am not expecting anything either. So man or woman up and say no.
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
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'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.
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.
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.
I started telling people to donate half of whatever they were gonna spend to mental health charities. I love Christmas, the snow the lights the trees....gifts are secondary to time with family(food is also ahead of presents 😁)
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.
I just wanted to add that you can still give gifts in a non capitalistic, and even society improving way.
For example, giving to charities in someone's name, like local animal shelters, homeless shelters, food banks, charities protecting bio diversity or something else the recipient cares about, many, many charities will give out certificates which can be used as a gift.
That way, you can give a gift to someone, but do a good deed at the same time.
Or just give a gift to a loved one like a normal person. Or do both. Idk.
The gift of basic needs that all humans should have.
@@gmodrules123456789 What is normal?
I dont like to change christmas this way
I dont like to change christmas this way
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
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.
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.
I so agree with this! And it’s not just in the US, though the Capitalist takeover of festivals is the strongest here, it’s the case in other parts of the world as well. In India businesses have turned festivals like Diwali and Dusherra into occasions to sell as much as they can. Ads run every where encouraging people to buy, buy and buy! We need to get back to simpler ways to celebrate festivals that encourages family and friendships time over anything else!
ruclips.net/video/jbZo4x0NbbI/видео.html
True as that may be, there's never going to be a society where people don't care about money. It's human nature.
That's why even in the so-called Communist societies, which claimed to decry the evils of greed, always ended up with the leaders hoarding the wealth for themselves and completely ignoring the contradictions of their ideology. And of course, that sort of thing still happens today in China, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela.
Money is power, and power corrupts. You deposit stacks of cash into anyone's bank account, and I promise you that regardless of what they were saying before, very few people will actually give it all up because they truly only value the relationships they have with others and couldn't care less about wealth.
Course, there's no reason why you can't have both wealth and love, but still, it's often hard to keep the balance.
A war on christmas is a war on modernist American nationalist mercantilist culture.
Thanks!
Agreed
@@oscarosullivan4513 Agreed, especially after The rise of internet and E-commerce, they're doing Same here Making Everything the festival of consumerism and promoting gift-giving like it's a tradition
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.
I must admit I just LOVE giving presents to my relatives. However I don't buy whatever goods in the last minute, but cumulate presents to give throughout the year. Each time something which will (not might) be useful and provide joy to people I know, I either buy it or take a picture to remind me to buy it once I put some more thought on it. Usually those are local products or stuff I find in second hand shops.
I wrap my presents in colourful newspaper I also gathered throughout the year and has a symbolic link to the present that's inside. I realise I'm still a victim to consumerism, but I try to make do with what's already here.
I think that is actually a good compromise. I just hate people going gift shopping just so you have a gift. Me and my girlfriend have gone over to the practice of only buying presents when we find something the other one would really like, instead of going out looking for something to buy just to have a present. Making presents can be a beautiful thing, if done from heart instead of convention.
Why wait until Christmas to give gifts you spend all year buying? Why not give the gift to the person just because?
@@julietardos5044 I figure it's because it's like two gifts in one. I _wish_ I had a celebration filled with gift giving to excitedly look forward to. I know it's not for everyone, but I hope special days like that don't go away. :/
Using wishlists with specific items that people want while also preserving the surprise element is a good option to avoid unwanted things.
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.
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.
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.
Christianity co-opted their celebration from paganism and the like, so one could say it is ironic that said celebration wound up being co-opted by capitalism. As for the modern secular bit at the end, pretty much everyone I know already just hangs out with friends, has parties, shares food, makes art, and maybe sends out a few cards or something. :)
Exactly. It baffles me to this day that people see Christmas as a "Christian" holiday. There's nothing "Christ-like" about it, and was even condemned by the Church long ago.
Yeah, if you look at the bible, you can figure out he was certainly not born on Christmas. Most traditional Christmas festivities have nothing to do with Christianity.
To say Christmas (or more accurately December 25th) is a Christian Holiday just makes me want to point to all of the evidence against this theory. All the traditions taken from non-Christian religions, the fact the day of his birth very obviously does not correspond with the holiday. The Christian religion overwrote the holiday of Yule(among possibly others) as another way to enact their rule or dominance. The only thing “Christian” about Christmas, is the name and fact they decided to make this day the birthdate of their God.
THANK YOU!!! My head was nearly exploding at all the "founded in xtianity" nonsense.
My family's always done the potlucks, too. That & music. It takes the whole day, more if there's more food prep 😋
To go further, both tellings of the Nativity story contradict each other, that census didn't happen & wouldn't happen that way if it did, the slaughter of the innocents doesn't happen, when various people ruled doesn't match up, birth would've been in the spring, etc. The suggested stuff at the end is actually taking xmas back to its roots.
That sounds like loads of fun. I stopped buying presents after I warned my family if they didn’t tell me what they wanted they wouldn’t get anything. They never did and still never have. After a while I asked them to stop buying me things, telling them instead I only wanted their company and good food.
I kept getting told every year I didn’t buy presents and such and would always get told I would once I had kids. My oldest is 6 and the thing they most look forward to is the edible garland we decorate the tree with along with the family time we do. Play games, watch music bake. We mark the 25th as a true family day where we try to spend as much time together as possible and include our kids in all we do, more so than usual.
More recently we’ve started trying to get them to donate toys they are no longer playing with. To make room for others they’ll be purchasing with their chore money in the next year. This was inspired by a tradition of a Christmas witch.
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.
My sister and I both work/ed in customer service and were always incredibly stressed and tired by the time Christmas came around. Instead of forcing ourselves to participate in the holiday at a time when all we wanted was a nap, we moved our festivities to Martin Luther King jr. day in January. We dubbed it MLKmas (pronounced milk-mas,) and we would find a few small, usually funny, gifts to give each other and spend the day hanging out in our jim jams on the couch watching movies. The tradition has fallen by the wayside in recent years, but I'm grateful that we felt empowered to reshape the meaning of the holiday season to serve us and the way we lived our lives. I'd like to bring it back for the coming year. Blue monday is said to be the saddest day of the year, when the hangover from holiday excess truly sets in. That could be a good time to inject some fun and frivolity into our lives.
Christmas should be just about parents buying gifts for children. The excitement of opening presents on Christmas morning as children lasts you the rest of your life.
I've been gifting experiences over material gifts for years now.
Best present I ever got was concert tickets.
An excellent documentary. Thank you for posting on RUclips as not everyone can pick up other formats and RUclips 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 ❤️🌸❤️
I think it’s important to realize that although the term “Christmas” began as a Christian holiday, it’s not originally Christian and it was taken over by Christian’s to suppress a pagan holiday.
The timing of Christmas is important, having lights and evergreen in your home during the winter solstice helps people feel better. Maybe looking back to the true historical traditions of the winter solstice is also a good place to start. That way we can all celebrate a history rich holiday during a time we all could use some extra cheer; without religious pressure nor capitalistic maximalism
my grandmother has changed Christmas gift giving in our family by inviting all her grandchildren on the same day and collecting trinkets from her home, putting them all on a large table and playing a game together who gets what. Like that, we all are coming together and have a lot of fun while not having to by a single gift. My grandmother also gets rid of all the junk she doesn't want to have anymore while we get things we want and need. Last time I got a few beautiful flowerpots, music scores, a baking form and a soap dish. She had no use for any of them and I can use them all. I find it a great compromise between the gift giving and not wasting anything. It also helps her in finding out what we want to have and what we don't want to. She is slowly cleaning out her home for when she dies, and with this she can sort out all the trinkets that collected over time
Brilliant! I love getting precious things from elders - they feel more special
Totally on point. Love your content. Did I say LOVE? :) Please keep this channel alive. You have directly impacted my family and the choices we make. Cheers
I love this video. Even the slow-motion, smooth graphic vaguely relating to what you're saying, content-driven formula for every shot feels... kind of the same way christmas makes me feel nowadays
I decided to make my managers a dessert instead of gifts this year and my friends and I are just having a Christmas dinner. My parents wanted nothing but gift vouchers which I thought was great. The only thing I didn’t take into account was my own gifts. My parents went and bought my siblings and I a ton of presents😭 I should have said I wanted vouchers as well. Now I have to reorganise so I can make room for these new items.
As a veteran of the long bloody war on Christmas this brought back a lot of rough memories
Gave up this ritual a long time ago. The loss of the holiday spirit is so pronounced that it became an unpleasant chore just maintaining the facade.
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!!
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!
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!
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
not so much a war but a revolution
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.
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.
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 !!
Mesmerisingly sad video. Keep up the good work, this kind of content is paramount!
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 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.
the funny thing is my most treasured childhood memories of Christmas time was going caroling at a retirement home with my girl scout troop
wow! Amazing video!
This is truly incredible. I would han never imagined that this whole thing was planned 🤯
Watched it on Nebula. Been waiting to be able to share this around.
One way to avoid waste while partaking is straight up asking what they want in the first place or if they have a wish list.
Another thing is to buy them an experience, for example I have this friend that has never had the chance to go to a particularly famous art museum that is also not far from us, so I took her there!
Not only it was a gift, but also a way to see each other after a long while, a breath of fresh air and a pause from the routine.
The best thing about that gift is that the experience at the museum will create a lasting memory.
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!
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..
Great video! I hope this goes around and catches on.
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
I'm just waiting for businesses to start pushing for a mid year Christmas, like in July. I'm surprised they haven't done that already. Places are already putting up decorations even a week before Halloween. The Christmas season is already firmly started the day after Halloween. Making Thanksgiving a secondary part of Christmas. I can remember when nothing went up until Decemeber.
Can you do a video about what a waste fancy weddings are? I recently was a guest at a wedding reception that cost as much as a house - the next day there is nothing to show for it but a lot of food waste. I learned that it is considered impolite to take home food from a wedding reception even though that food would otherwise end up in a landfill (some people did take food home though). All that money could have bought so much (like down payment on a house) that was gone in just one day.
I relate to this so much, especially with the guilt and shame. Subscriber earned!
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.
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.
This definitely resonates with me. The present side of things at Christmas goes close to ruining the whole thing
this one is quite good. one of the best videos from this channel. thank you for this.
I tried talking my husband into making Christmas a holiday of fun like ice-skating or sledding instead of gifts for our kids....to no avail. The pushback to give gifts to fill our house with stuff is ridiculous
I recommend take your husband to couples counseling, from the comment it sounds like your husband wants things a certain way, he should know better that you are also a human being and that you care for him.
@@toothinm9paste Couples counseling for one disagreement is crazy
To be be completely honest, I feel like completely abstaining from giving gifts for the children is going a bit to far. Not saying your idea is inherently bad, but I think a better way to go about it is only giving 1 to 2 gifts to your children AND doing a winter activity/
At least she's not suggesting divorce lol@@mxttspl
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" ?
i’m a teenager. i don’t have a job yet (besides babysitting occasionally for family friends) and i’ve just hit the age where i have to begin buying my own presents for people. for my own gifts, I made a specific list containing things I genuinely needed and got that plus the traditional (at least, in my family) orange + candy canes + pajamas combo.
As for the rest of my family i came up with the idea of cooking a bunch of food for breakfast. my family is slovak, so i smuggled the traditional cookbook from downstairs and made a bunch of different recipes. it did take like 4-5 hours, but it went really well and was far more useful than struggling to find out something my family wanted. now i've motivated all of us to try more recipes.
if you can’t think of a gift, i would definitely recommend doing something like this, it’s far more memorable than giving something no one will like. i plan to do the same thing the next year, and if i have more time, i want to buy one book each (3 total), make a drawing, and/or use procreate to make a card.
i see these ppl my age make these absurd christmas lists with 20+ expensive items and worrying over the $200-ish dollars they spend on combined gifts (or worse, using copious amounts of their parents money on overly expensive secret santa gifts) and i wonder if im just being jaded or if christmas is just an excuse to check off their wishlist as opposed to having any sort of holiday spirit. bc i know that’s what it kinda feels like to me as im getting older.
An Enlightening Episode as always thanks OCC!!!!
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.
I’m Jewish, but the capitalist Christmas has infected Hanukah
I don’t want gifts, especially since I get so many gifts on my birthday anyways!
I’m not sure how to tell my parents that, this Hanukah they keep getting me little things every night. I don’t want to make them feel bad, I just don’t really want little gifts I have absolutely no use for
I will be sending this to my loved ones for Christmas. Thank you for creating it!
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
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'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!!! 🍾👻
Great video. Commenting for the algorithm. Nothing to say, but lots to think about.
Appreciating your perspective. Cheers for XMas 🎉
Last year, my family ditched gift-giving in favor of making financial contributions to the local food bank. I am glad!
This is beautiful
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.
this is somewhat related to Diwali celebrated in India but the main d/f is there is 'probably' no capitalist industry behind selling crackers (but there used to be some ads on TV to buy crackers)
the main reason we celebrate diwali is to celebrate the return of lord Ram after his vanwaas, it is now mostly "we need to burn crackers"(along with the worship), the culture of meeting the relatives have reduced drastically
but also their is every year the debate of crackers cause pollution but it is mostly limited to diwali and is forgotten as it passes
I have been getting into foraging, I am planning on getting a dehydrator for juneberry season and hopping next year my gift will be less new stuff and more stuff like dried fruit or juneberry muffins.
Mannn I would love it if I got something like that as a present instead of clothing that doesn’t fit right
this is so much better than i thought it was going to be!!
i loved learning about labour and xmas history. wow~
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.
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'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.
How do we reinvent this holiday? Community. Potluck dinners. The gift of volunteering.
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 was born on Christmas Day and I truly love this season and the holiday. Even after two decades of working in retail, and listening to the same Christmas playlist 8 years in a row, it’s yet to make me hate this time of the year. xD I just wish there was way less production of useless merchandise. There is no need to Chrismafy everything. It’s a waste of time, money, and space.
I do love wrapping paper and wrapping gifts for other people, though. >u
This Christmas i wish that there is no more excess consumerism but more nostaligc remembrance and enjoying time with your family 💜
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
Me and my family have decided we get only necessary items for Christmas presents. For example I need new sheets and towels, so I'm getting those as presents: They are going to be used and I feel good knowing I got them from my family so there's sentimentality too.
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
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.