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bah, humbug, etc.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008 06:46 pm'Tis the season. Bother. Last year I copped out on maddened gift exchange with friends because I was broke. This year I'm going to cop out again, on the grounds of geo-political ramifications and general frenetic busyness, but this time I think it's going to be pretty much a permanent statement of principle.
As before, I love you all. If I wasn't frantically working I might have done something about buying presents before this, but I haven't. Today was reasonably representative of the last month in that it was the kind of day that is only survivable by resorting to the chocolate stash, to which I had no actual time to resort. Much though I love you all, the thought of wading through shopping malls with a list at this late stage fills me with dread, horror, despair, exhaustion and rage.
Even if I wasn't frantically working, though, I think this whole Christmas thing bears examination on the grounds of socio-cultural wossname. We are in a worldwide recession, brought about by the Godzilla of rampant and uncontrolled capitalism lurching destructively around the globe. The Christmas season has become emblematic of spending, to the point where I can no longer distinguish my impulse to give my friends presents from the conditioned impulse of the Christmas consumer. This narks me off and creates a need to reject the whole thing with hauteur and a curled lip, particularly given that we're in a worldwide recession and no-one has spare cash anyway.
I have surveyed my need, and found it righteous. Therefore, I shall give no presents to anyone except family this year, and ask friends to count me out of their lists likewise. Statement valid for further Christmases unless explicitly void. I shall express what remnants of Christmas spirit I can scrape up through the medium of the Boxing Day gathering, at which I shall endeavour to be festive.
(And don't anyone give me the "but Christmas spending helps retail to survive the recession!" argument. That's the kind of fuzzy thinking that got us into this mess in the first place.)
As before, I love you all. If I wasn't frantically working I might have done something about buying presents before this, but I haven't. Today was reasonably representative of the last month in that it was the kind of day that is only survivable by resorting to the chocolate stash, to which I had no actual time to resort. Much though I love you all, the thought of wading through shopping malls with a list at this late stage fills me with dread, horror, despair, exhaustion and rage.
Even if I wasn't frantically working, though, I think this whole Christmas thing bears examination on the grounds of socio-cultural wossname. We are in a worldwide recession, brought about by the Godzilla of rampant and uncontrolled capitalism lurching destructively around the globe. The Christmas season has become emblematic of spending, to the point where I can no longer distinguish my impulse to give my friends presents from the conditioned impulse of the Christmas consumer. This narks me off and creates a need to reject the whole thing with hauteur and a curled lip, particularly given that we're in a worldwide recession and no-one has spare cash anyway.
I have surveyed my need, and found it righteous. Therefore, I shall give no presents to anyone except family this year, and ask friends to count me out of their lists likewise. Statement valid for further Christmases unless explicitly void. I shall express what remnants of Christmas spirit I can scrape up through the medium of the Boxing Day gathering, at which I shall endeavour to be festive.
(And don't anyone give me the "but Christmas spending helps retail to survive the recession!" argument. That's the kind of fuzzy thinking that got us into this mess in the first place.)
