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Christmas is too commercial these days

Can anyone remember a time when Christmas wasn't about hammering the plastic or digging so deep into your bank account overdraft facility that you would still be trying to shovel your way out of debt for the next six months?

Personally I think that the whole commercial thing has gone way too far.  Christmas used to be a time spent with family and friends. We'd of course exchange a few gifts but we would have put some thought into it and it was about giving someone something that you thought they would appreciate.

These days Christmas is nothing more than a massive shopping exercise where stressed out shoppers tear up and down the high street laden with carrier bags full of pre-packaged and impersonal gift sets.  The shelves of the high street retailers are packed with boxes of identical bath sets and useless overpriced gadgets.  It's a kind of weird two-sided feeding frenzy with the high street shops on one side keen to unload all this junk and make as much profit as possible.  On the other side we have hoards of manic shoppers eager to spend whatever is left in their bank account or credit card.

Christmas is too commercial these days So consumer spending is supposed to be good for the economy is it?  But what about the current level of debt carried by people in the UK on loans and credit cards?   What about the recent soaring oil prices which will inevitably lead to increased transportation costs and home energy bills?   What about the state of the UK property market?  We have over inflated house prices and mortgage lenders still happy to dole out mortgages to prospective buyers that can barely afford them!   I reckon as a nation it's time to draw in the purse strings and think a little before hitting the plastic this year.

lining the pockets of some fat cat...

Why not for a change instead of splashing out at M&S and the like; go into your local Oxfam shop or Help the Aged charity shops and pick up a few gifts there instead?   Spread the word to your friends and make this year a charitable Christmas!   Instead of lining the pockets of some fat cat or inflating the share prices of some big brand name you will be spreading a bit of Christmas cheer to someone who really needs it.

After all, that is what this is about isn't it?

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20% VAT - reminds me when the Tories hit us with the heavy duty Poll Tax and it stayed with us forever.

We seem to be giving more and more to the Government and what do they do for us?

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Who voted for this damn govern - 15-Dec-10 09:48 

I am absolutely broke too! I cannot afford Christmas and I will be in serious debt when the Sales start.
I will be avoiding Sales in January because we will be hit by a massive 20% VAT on practically everything!

0

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Who voted for this damn govern - 15-Dec-10 09:45 

Reflecting on this article again, YES Christmas is too COMMERCIAL!!l Bl**dy VAT is going up 20% in January 2011 !!!! Is this legal! Tories live in the middle ages - TAX, TAX, TAX and give to the RICH.
It makes me so angry that we work just to pay bills, taxes, bills, taxes and if anything is leftover, well I feel guilty to buy myself the smallest treat! Meanwhile, the filthy RICH demand more from us.

Bl**dy Xmas ! It has made me totally broke!!!

-11

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xxxx - 15-Dec-10 09:24 

Why is Scrooge your hero, 'Abolish Christmas'?
Putting Christmas aside, Scrooge was a nasty employer who expected people to work till late for a pittance. All he care for was his money. He never helped anyone and never wanted to.
Scrooge came to his senses, eventually and took the opportunity to help and joined in the Christmas spirit.
I think you are a lonely, old miserable person who hates the world.

+1

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xxxx - 15-Dec-10 07:54 

Scrooge is my hero. Christmas is for sickies. For greedy, nasty people. Think of the billions we are pouring down the drain towards the oriental economies. Xmas is an economic disaster for Britain.

+2

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Abolish Christmas - 15-Dec-10 05:05 

I love Christmas but omg, it has turned into Barbie world. I now Burlesque has become a product added to the Christmas spirit. They talk about burlesque like it is the same as going to the hairdressers.

Celebrities have taken over the UK. Lets call it Celebrities Christmas!!

-4

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Celebrities rule ok - 15-Dec-10 00:51 

Quite simple - don't send any Christmas cards. Actually, I haven't bothered sending any for a few years now and thankfully people have almost stopped sending them to me. The eCard equivalents are much more fun and you don't have to carry a bag of old ones up to the supermarket to be recycled in January. Such a waste of resources because some many people feel they have to send out cards because everyone else is doing it. Look, if you were more thoughtful, considerate and friendly to the people you know throughout the rest of the year you wouldn't feel obliged to make such a special effort at this time of year!

+9

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Mark - 13-Dec-10 14:58 

How can I avoid sending any Christmas cards this year?

+4

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Stop Xmas - 13-Dec-10 13:28 

Then don't spend silly amounts on presents then.....simple!
Surely family of all people should understand if you can't afford much at Christmas if not then they are un-greatful!
Or if you feel that strongly about it then don't celebrate it....again....simple!
x x x x

+1

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scrooge - 12-Oct-10 12:13 

I think 25 December should be renamed Capitalistmas in honor of the vile consumerism that permeates it. The date isn’t even Jesus’s birthday, which was much more likely to have been 17 April.

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Jojo Bizarro - 26-Sep-10 13:57 

Far too much waste of money and food send the money too somebody in the world that really needs it

-8

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bah humbug - 13-Nov-09 21:21 

Funny you should say that GL; I've just watched the "Horizon" programme from Tuesday about black holes, which also touched on the big bang.

The current theory is that everything came from a singularity at the centre of a super large black hole, where the atoms are tightly packed (instead of moving in relatively huge orbits as they do now in normal matter) and where gravity was pretty much infinite. The universe is all expanding away from that event, including lots of smaller black holes.

Astronomers are currently trying to "see" the black hole at the centre of our galaxy in the hope that they may be able to come up with a theory uniting quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. The problem is that you can't actually "see" a black hole as no light can escape it, but they are hoping to see the event horizon surrounding it.

It was very interesting; try to catch a repeat sometime, or you could probably see it on the iplayer.

grumpyoldwoman

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GRUMPYOLDWOMAN - 6-Nov-09 08:40 

Yes, I have to agree, if God and Jesus exist, and God made us all, who made God?

And if someone made God, who made that someone?

I can go along with us all evolving over billions of years from "primeval soup", microbes evolving to humans,

But one thing that does muck up my head thinking about it, is where did all the material come from in the very first place?, the stars, planets, rock, metals, water, where did it all come from in the very first place? there must have been a time when space was empty,

But I will still be putting up the xmas tree in December.

+8

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Gainsborough lad. - 5-Nov-09 22:39 

I'm sorry to bust your bauble, but jesus (if there was ever such a person) was not born nor did die on dec 25th of any year. He is a myth, made up from story tellers.
Jesus loves me, this I know, because the bible tells me so....
What a load of cod w.....p !

+6

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x m a*s* - 5-Nov-09 22:20 

Christmas is too commercial. Return it to a Christian festival for the birth of Jesus. Christmas should be about carols, not dashing around spending hundreds of pounds!

-2

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Terry - 1-Sep-09 00:08 

Christmas is a big mixture of traditions from paganism, more modern religions, other traditions and now the great god commercialism. I wouldn't mind if it started in December and carried on until the New Year, but when it starts in August and ends on Boxing Day I think it is taking the mick just a bit. The thing that makes the most sense in our cold climate is that it marks the longest night and the return of the spring. Things start to grow again after December. If you think, long ago, this was important to people when they relied on what they grew for their survival. Now we buy everything in Tescos. I prefer New Year, it is less commercial.

+8

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Jackieclems - 17-Dec-08 16:35 

Hi, I have a seen essay tomorrow and have a choice of the topic "The Christian ritual of Christmas has never really been about Christ, it has been hijacked for commercial purposes". I have been rather interested by all the responses I have found on websites like this; from the deeply religious, the 'reason for the season' people, the 'give me gifts and money' mob, the people who are all about the family, as I've seen here; the people that don't care at all, and all other spaces in between. I've haven't always appreciated all that I have received, Christmas or not, but this is not in the true 'spirit', as it were, of Christmas. I have noted that many of what would be considered 'commercial' aspects of Christmas, actually have very traditional and meaningful roots. For example: as many of you would know, "Santa Claus", was derived from the person Saint Nicolas, and part of the tradition of gift giving came from his acts of charity to the poor, and goodwill to all. He has been converted into an overweight, red-coated, commercial character, whose intentions, though they have good origins, are somewhat questionable in the modern world. Or the 'Christmas Colours' and decoration of the Christmas tree. Origins of this are very varied, from Luther, to other Christian historical figures. I found one such explanation that I found satisfactory, that of the 'Paradise Tree', part of the 'Paradise play'. The play was designed to represent the Garden of Eden, and, since apple trees (The tree of Good and Evil) were not available, the people of the 1300s used pine trees with apples hung on them. Even then, it was adopted by the private residences of many people, and became a Christmas tradition. Even good ol' Xmas, which is widely accepted as a commercial representation of Christmas, had good beginnings as a simple abbreviation. X (or Chi) is the twenty second letter of the Greek alphabet, and was commonly used to abbreviate "Christ". Indeed, Christmas has become too commercial.

+7

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Modnar, read it backwards - 18-Nov-08 03:08 

Christmas is what we are and what we make it of it, not the commercial enterprise, not the church, not anyone or anything that foists the spirit on us to intrude upon our genuine self.

What brings on the fuzzy-wuzzy, schmaltzy feelings of soft humanity beneath the holly and mistletoe: the innocuous candles, inexpensive wine, the log cabin warmed by the dying ember in the fireplace, and lots of love and memories moved by the nostalgic strains of the timeless carols and hymns familiar.

Flanders summed it all up. It's all about family gathering. It's that one time of year when we all feel right, just right, gift wrapped in the glow of simple faith, hope and charity. Bah, Humbug! begone.

-6

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Sam, the Tiger - 6-Nov-08 07:28 

chirstmas is about of alot of things remembering the past and who was there to share it with you. Looking forward and who is going to share chirstmas with you next, what the year has brought. You think about what you went through that year and think next chirstmas is going to be different. you will always have your chirstmas that didn't work out and you will have a chirstmas that went wonderful. Chirstmas might be over rated and gone to far in some ways, but you are brought to grow up to think its wonderful. Its time for family to get together. To see that person that you haven't seen, to see that new baby, to see the boy/girl come back from school, to set on santas lap and tell him what you would like, and most of all to watch a young boy/girl that still beleives in santa and see there eyes glow and the big smile on there faces. Its about beleiving in that there in a God. I hope when you read this that something will come back to you and what you enjoyed. Sure you think shopping is nuts but when your with your family and look around and see that smile are here that laugh you think this is what Chirstmas is about. I hope this year will be the year you belevie again and that is my chirstmas gift to you . MERRY CHIRSTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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a girl that still beleives - 6-Nov-08 02:22 

God how I hate Christmas. I've always hated Christmas, even as a child, forced to sit on the knee of an unemployable drunk with bad breathe in the local department store, just 'cos it was tradition. No thank you.

And the kitsch of Christmas how cheap and nasty it is, all probably nowadays made in China.

NO way will I celebrate this "season of good will". I wish no one "good will". "Humbug" is fine enough for the likes of me.

Christmas is crud.

-2

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Nix enjoyment - 11-Oct-07 21:27 

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