Christmas is too commercial
15-March-2010
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Christmas is too commercial

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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. Christmas is too commercial these days

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.

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 its time to draw in the purse strings and think a little before hitting the plastic this year.

Just a thought…

Why not for a change instead of splashing out at marks and sparks 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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You all suck balls
I love chrismas
It is awsome
yeah
*I love christmas 123  25-Jan-2010 17:44

 
Christmas is awsome.
All the other guys are wierd
Even though I did not get much for christmas it was still awsome.
*I love christmas 123  25-Jan-2010 17:42

 
Dis guy below is just RANDOM, wat the hell is 'fromal'? I think christmas is really all about spending money nowa days, it's really sad if you compare today's with traditional Christmas.
*Next Year I Won't Get Presents, Dang...  31-Dec-2009 09:49

 
Please next time post your name and date of post. This will help viewers in the future. Also could you please be a bit more fromal.
*ANONYMOUS911  31-Dec-2009 09:44

 
Far too much waste of money and food send the money too somebody in the world that really needs it
*bah humbug  13-Nov-2009 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
*GRUMPYOLDWOMAN  06-Nov-2009 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.
*Gainsborough lad.  05-Nov-2009 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 !
*x m a*s*  05-Nov-2009 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!
*Terry  01-Sep-2009 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.
*Jackieclems  17-Dec-2008 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.
*Modnar, read it backwards  18-Nov-2008 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.
*Sam, the Tiger  06-Nov-2008 07:28


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