Ever since Charles Dickens defined the spirit of Christmas, it has been uncool to question the value of it.
However, we wrote that stopry over 250 years ago and the world has changed since then. Not least, the equivalent urchins of his story are now the same children working in sweatshops, working to keep up with the commercial demands imposed on them by Westerners. I like to think he would be horrified at what an unfortunate season Xmas has become.
I suppose Christmas is a magical time for those who believe in the mythology of it [specifically children], but for those who might be a little older it seems a rather bleak experience. And every time it comes along, I wonder why we keep insisting on going through the motions of it.
For one, it doesn't mean anything any more. Religion continues to slowly disintegrate, undermining the relevance of Xmas as it is anchored in celebrating a specific event in the bible. I would be impressed if 1m people went to church this Xmas day.
However, one aspect of it- the tradition of giving- remains healthy and has stepped in to fill the vacuum of irrelevance. The spirit of Xmas is impossible to distinguish from the spirit of commerce. And this is what I find most slavish about Xmas. Companies begin thinking about Xmas in April, shaping the advertising campaigns to seducer and persuade in equal measure.
I don't know about oyu, but I don't really see anyone having fun at Xmas. I don't see smiling, happy faces as people queue up in the shops to get the latest PS3 that their children have been nagging them for. I do see quite a few folorn faces though- and when I see them, I wonder if it is all worth it. I wonder if the burden is worth it- I wonder if the credit card bills are worth it. 46% of people who put Xmas on plastic in 2006 are still paying it off this year.
The spirit of commerce is also quite frustrating emotionally. Because the desire for what you ask for is much nicer than receiving the gift. And that is the founding principle of marketing- desire in a fundamentally human emotion, and with the right insight can be created for anything. And so this is exploited to great effect. Children now demand £350 PS3s, £40 Transformers and so on. The stakes are much higher.
And the ultaimte irony is that all of those demands are felt in China, Taiwan and so on, as they work in poor conditions to meet the children's expectations. I wonder what the religious view point is - yet another religious sentiment that creates dischord in the world.
