Buy me nothing for Christmas. I mean it.

[sophiaserpentia]

This started as a response to cullent's post about Buy Nothing Day, but I realized it was a good enough rant to go in my journal.

For me, "Buy Nothing Day" has nothing to do with being "überhip." I'm one of the most terminally unhip people you will ever encounter. I'm so unhip, anything I touch instantly turns 'so fifteen minutes ago.'

The reason I espouse this has little to do with third-world sweatshops, although that is never far from my mind. That is an issue that will require far more work than simple boycotting, since it is now endemic in our standard of living. Some of the Democratic presidential candidates are talking about adding international labor standards to trade pacts. I think this is a step in the right direction.

No, for me "Buy Nothing Day" is about refusing to play compulsory conspicuous consumption games.

If you look at the numbers (which numbers are hard to even find because there's been a deliberate campaign to discourage you from adding this up), even the "boom years" of the late 90's were artificially inflated by the amounts of money credit consumers spent during November and December. Towards the end of the 90's this season literally made the difference between "expansion" and "recession."

Conspicuous consumption has a downward pull on the quality of goods and services. Companies are encouraged to make cheaper, more disposable products. Going down this road has made America insanely overworked -- we work longer hours to make cheaper products, so that we can buy more, not just because we are programmed to want more, but also because we have to buy more to replace things more often.

The average American spends between $800 and $2000 on this season alone. This is not cash being spent, but credit, which adds up and never seems to be completely paid off. There's a good reason why our forebears thought of debt as a vice. When the economy was buzzing along, and people had no trouble meeting their minimum credit card payments, this was like a big happy party. Look at the bankruptcy figures now. A lot of this is credit card debt, and a lot of that in turn is Christmas shopping.

Furthermore, credit card companies are evil incarnate, almost as bad as the pharmaceutical companies. Many states have laws defining interest over 10% as usury. (Look it up, I dare you.) Somehow the credit card companies have managed to get around this. Even with the prime lending rate feeding from the bottom as it is now, people still feel privileged to have a credit card that charges less than 10% annually.

In the movies, whenever you see slaves in a ship galley being forced to row, they have this big shirtless guy beating a drum, to set the rhythm the slaves are supposed to row to. The Christmas season has an equivalent, and you'll start to see it in a couple of days. Every other day, there will be some item in the news about how much consumers are spending compared to last year. This is ALWAYS a negative appraisal, accompanied by the words "retailers are worried that people are not spending as much this year." If anyone can remember these appraisals EVER being positive, please let me know. The message of these reports is obvious as hell -- if you're not doing your part to fuel the economy, then you are being a bad citizen!

In closing... I hope no one buys me anything for Christmas. I hope no one expects to receive anything from me for Christmas. I hereby give you permission to spend some money on yourself instead. Buy something you really want for yourselves. Encourage everyone around you to do the same.

Comments

[hai-kah-uhk.livejournal.com]

I'm with you, as much as I can afford to be without pissing off my family. I have a personal level in addition to that, though: I don't have the energy to go shopping, and I don't need more stuff. The accumulation of stuff is getting to be a major problem. I need space to keep myself.

My gift to myself will be fewer purchases and more money in the house fund. My gift to you is agreement and good wishes.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

:-D

[ranastella.livejournal.com]

I actually enjoy Christmas shopping, but I don't spend nearly that much money on gifts. I'm a bargain shopper and I'm proud of my ability to find inexpensive, nice gifts for people. I also do not hesitate to make something instead of buying something if the inspiration strikes me. There have been many times when I've wanted to tell my family "I'm not buying Christmas presents for anyone this year, so don't buy me anything" but with the structure of my family being what it is, it would cause too many problems.

Our family lives all over the world, so Christmas has become more of a "here is a gift once a year to show that I still think of you" sort of thing and not at all a religious thing. We don't spend too much money on each other anymore either. I don't plan on going into debt this year. I completely agree with what you've said though, because Christmas is such a commercial holiday. This is why holidays like Thanksgiving are much more enjoyable to me, because it is less commercialized and it involves people working together and (hopefully) enjoying their time together.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

I think if people were able to keep it simple like this, it might not be so bad. It is not so much the idea of exchanging gifts that I object to, it is the compulsory aspect of it.

[azaz-al.livejournal.com]

"The average American spends between $800 and $2000 on this season alone."

(please ignore that crashing sound - its the sound of my jaw hitting the floor)
My entire Christmas budget is under $200 - it's all I can afford! That's why I tell people don't expect gifts from me, although I might send a card or something - I get things for my kid and whoever I'm dating at the time, and the obligatory office exchange present. Christmas has depresssed me since I was in my teens, because of this culture of "you must buy everyone you remotely care about a present or prove yourself to be a scrooge." I quit celebrating it altogether until Aaron was born.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Many years I barely had money for food and transportation, much less money for gifts. I would have had to use credit, if I had it. There is tremendous pressure on people that causes them to feel guilty if they are unable to "do their part" in the orgy of conspicuous consumption. So much for gifts being a purely selfless reflection of generosity.

[alobar.livejournal.com]

Back when I did buy gifts, my Christmas budget was under $50. I'd rather buy me vitamins & better quality food to improve the quality of my life than give someone else something they do not really need.

However, needless to say, I have no children.

[azaz-al.livejournal.com]

Yup. Over half my Christmas budget is for Aaron's and C.'s benefit.

[callandor.livejournal.com]

I agree with most of what you said. I sincerely hope that if a Democratic President gets into office we do include International Labor (and Environmental) standards in trade agreements. I don't spend a lot on Christmas for others and this year my wife and I are spending nothing on each other. But what we are going to do is to give our remaining resources at the end of this year to the poor. There are a lot of great international charities out there and the only redeeming feature of Christmas, the only thing that makes me happy about this time of year, is the spirit of giving that comes over some people. I would encourage everyone to donate money to charity rather than spending money on gifts.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

I sincerely hope that if a Democratic President gets into office we do include International Labor (and Environmental) standards in trade agreements.

They're going to be a hard sell, because it will make prices go up. But the long-term benefits could be tremendous, if we can muster the will to do this.


I would encourage everyone to donate money to charity rather than spending money on gifts.

That's not such a bad idea. :)

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I will do a natal chart reading for friends on their birthday. But doing a bunch at once would be quite a tax. I have a few professional tarot readers on my friends list. Maybe one or two of them might ofter some hints on dealing with the psychic costs of doing a bunch of readings at once... ::hint hint::

[alobar.livejournal.com]

Many years ago I realized I was very grumpy and un-thankful around Christmas time. I pondered on it, and realized that almost nobody bought me presents I really wanted, and after laying out cash for presents, I felt I just was not getting a good return on my cash outlay. I got some friends & younger relatives to open up & discovered that others felt the same way. So I began telling people to buy themselves gifts instead of buying them for me, and I would do the same. It took several years (& really pissed of some family members) but I stopped buyiong all gifts (except for my parents & my lover), and I more-or-less stopped the in-flow of gifts I neither wanted nor desired.

Back when I actually had a discretionay income, I bout myself stuff I wanted around this time of year. I bought them now because prices are often cheap in this season, and in January. These days I have no discretionary income, so I just observe the Christmas rush from as large a distance as possible.

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

You brought up a number of additional good reasons why I dislike the Christmas gift season. I rarely get gifts I really like and can usually think of something else I would much rather have spent the money on, if it were left to me.

I know I'll hear it from people who enjoy the challenge of trying to pick "the perfect gift" for someone they know, but the only perfect gifts I have ever gotten were things I expressly requested.

Therefore I would much rather be given a gift certificate or cash, if one absolutely insists on giving me something. Still, I'd rather just spend some money on myself and know that everyone I know about is doing the same -- pampering themselves. It's a good self-esteem boost.

You also mentioned "pissed off family members." That's another aspect about this I really dislike. Gifts are never really given selflessly, and if they come without reciprocation or what might be deemed a 'proper' level of gratitude the gift-giver is almost certain to get upset.

Why do we put ourselves through all this?

[alobar.livejournal.com]

> Why do we put ourselves through all this?

You are being rhetorical, I assume?

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

Yes.

but I *like* presents!

[rowanf.livejournal.com]

I got long and moved my response to my journal. :-)

[cullent.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect to folks who stay home on bnd. As I said, I stay home too, but mostly because I'd have to be a lot crazier than I am to go shopping that day. I was reacting to the notion that anybody who intentionally stays home that day is somehow an activist, and that folks who do go out and shop are all mindless consumers. I was reacting specifically to a person who mouthed off about his own uberhipness (and how do you do the umlauts, please?) and about the parasitic nature of anybody who didn't also stay away from the stores. I took this personally because he's a rich white college boy and he was talking about a poor black woman in my neighborhood. I was also responding to the smug attitude I've encountered from lots of armchair activists about this whole thing, who act like they're radicals just because they stay home on this one particular day. I love Christmas, and I love giving presents. I make most of mine, and I don't spend much because I don’t have much to spend. But I like thinking about other folks and making or buying some little thing that I think will please them. I don't feel obligated to spend a lot, and I don't feel guilty or inadequate because I can only buy my kid a few things for under the tree or because I can't match my brother in spending, etc. Some of the same folks who feel shamed and unworthy because they can't be good little consumers are also being shamed and made to feel unworthy because they try to do what little they can to fit into this mass hysteria. It's fine to stay home of course, and really the only sane thing to do on bnd. It's grand to rail against our economy of excess and poverty, and to march against the politicians who celebrate this stark inequality and call it prosperity. But it isn't fine to dehumanize anybody (except maybe the politicians) and that's what I was reacting to in my (admittedly) ineffectual way.

[rowanf.livejournal.com]

Another small follow-up. :-) Luckily I am not so much in the culture described but I heartily agreed with the conclusion.

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1206-01.htm

The human, social and economic cost of our lack of mutual respect is enormous. Consider the wasted emotional energy, the destruction of confidence and creativity, and the alienation that results from it. Anxious and undermined, we hand on humiliation to others, then deplore the dissolution of social bonds. The industries that surround us will do nothing to reverse this trend. They make their money and find their audiences by appealing to our egos.

We cannot allow marketeers to establish our social norms. We need to find ways to re-establish the encouragement of empathy, respect and consideration towards the people around us. The existence of those values acts as a social safety net, connecting us to one another. They make us feel happier and less threatened by the world in which we live.

[galaxygrrl.livejournal.com]

I know this post is over a year old at this point, but I had to comment.

I'm so unhip, anything I touch instantly turns 'so fifteen minutes ago.'

X-D This is so incredibly funny, I think I'll have to add it to my reper-- list of funny expressions. (can't spell)