Comercialism!!! Good or Bad?

[demonsurveyqueen]

This is definately a topic that has been bugging me for years. Has anyone else noticed that Christmas season starts now before halloween? I remember when it didn't start till after Thanksgiving.

I have actually started teaching my kids That we do not celebrate Christmas till the Advent season in church. Which is next Sunday.
I refuse to bend into the God of Commercialism!!!

Anyone else want to comment and let me know when this type of lengthening of holiday season started. And when did Thanksgiving become a side note. It used to be an important holiday.

Enough of my ranting.... twisted  

[Lady_Niqui]

It had to have started fairly recently. I hate that I see stores all Christmas-y the day after halloween. It takes so much of the fun and anticipation out of the holiday for me because by the time christmas arrives I'm sick of it already.  

[Corbin Noir]

It's always been commercial, at least for all of my 41 years on God's great earth.  

[queen of qeeks]

For me, I enjoy the gift giving of the holidays...but I hate the "Hey you, what do you want?" and the whole scale and balance of money in how thoughtful a gift is.

I love being surprised, and I really love handmade gifts even more. For the record, I don't celebrate Christmas, but I still enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling of getting together with people you love, having fun and just reminding one another that you love them and think about them often.

I understand that money is needed for the economy...but black friday is out of control. A man was killed at a walmart by my house because he was trying to open the doors for people to enter the store and them trampled him to death. All for what? A TV on sale?  

[Lady_Niqui]

I read about the walmart thing online. That is nuts. I mean, I understand that times are getting a little rough. The economy is crap etc etc but its freaking insanity to be so in a rush to get into walmart that you kill the guy opening the door.  

[Wixandrettas]

I absolutely enjoy seeing all the Christmas-related items. I love anything having to do with Christmas, especially "Christmas in July" sales... Its my favorite time of the year and I love to see what there is available. My daughter absolutely loves it. We cant wait for our first snowfall, we make people laugh with the quirky hats they sell, by wearing them... It brings smiles and laughter to the senior citizens who walk by and see us having fun.

I dont let the commercialism get to me. Its not worth it. Who cares if the stores set everything up so early... besides, its not the individual stores decision to make, its the corporate offices that run them.

I do all my shopping early, never going out on Black Friday ever. If I need anything, then I go...

Commercialism only hurts you if you let it hurt you. There are much more important things to worry about, and the fact that stores put their merchandise up early is just not worth it to get upset over...

Now, before anyone gets ready to flame me with a post-bashing session, please understand that this isnt meant to be a personal attack against anyone here.. its just how I feel about it...


The people who caused the death of that guy in the NY-Walmart are the types of people who need to learn about what the spirit of giving is.. Like, giving that guy the time he needed to open the doors so everyone could come in safely. People yelled at Police and other employees "Ive been waiting outside since yesterday for this!", and it didnt phase them when they were told they could have been responsible for killing the Walmart employee... it didnt matter to them. This isnt commercialism, this is selffishness... a lack of respect of safety and well being. Completely different than Commercialism.

As far as Thanksgiving goes, it took an act of the President/Congress that made Thanksgiving a religious-related holiday. It was never originally a religious holiday to begin with...

FYI: Commercialism is "The practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce or business.
An attitude that emphasizes tangible profit or success.

I hope businesses can make whatever they can out of the holidays...

Because.. that means people get to keep their jobs, they arent applying for full financial assistance from Welfare. Most likely they have benefits for their families... They can financially support their household by keeping a roof over your head, food on the table, heat for the winter....

If you look at Commercialism for its truly positive benefits.. its not as bad as you think...  

[Lady_Niqui]

It's not that commercialism and capitalism are bad per se. I think unrestrained commercialism and capitalism is though. Case in point, the state of wall street and the guy who died opening the doors to walmart. It can have a positive effect but its definitely a double-edged sword.

The whole thing about christmas really only annoys me I guess because I really think there's a time and place for everything. The time for christmas is december with snow and hot cocoa and all that great stuff. Not that it snows where I live but I guess you can see the general idea.

I'm trying to decide whether I want to teach my kid to believe in Santa or not. Sounds wierd probably but I'm seriously torn over whether or not I should lie to her and tell her that an old fat man is going to bring her presents. I want to teach her not to lie so isnt it hypocrisy if I do? But if I don't, I'm not letting her experience some of what always seemed so magical about christmas. Christmas is a fantastic holiday. Its just too bad that people seem to forget what its about and get lost in materialism and hype.  

[Taxi Mama]

Santa is what parents hide behind so the kids don't pester them to death for stuff. "Write a letter to Santa and we'll see what he brings you" is way easier to say & do than saying "no" or "maybe" a thousand times. My kids figured out Santa was just a dodge by the time they were 10, but by then they knew not to pester for things, so it worked out.
 

[ThisEmptySoul]

Lady_Niqui

I'm trying to decide whether I want to teach my kid to believe in Santa or not. Sounds weird probably but I'm seriously torn over whether or not I should lie to her and tell her that an old fat man is going to bring her presents. I want to teach her not to lie so isn't it hypocrisy if I do? But if I don't, I'm not letting her experience some of what always seemed so magical about christmas.

My parents never taught me about Santa which I actually see as better, especially in our situation at the time. My dad didn't make much and my mum didn't work, so sometimes our Christmas gifts were a bit meager. One year, my dad asked us if we would prefer Christmas presents or keeping our old four-wheeler {which we all enjoyed riding}... because the only way he would be able to afford getting us presents would be to sell it.

Had he and my mum taught us about Santa, he would not have been able to ask us that... and when we hardly got any gifts, didn't get what we wanted, or even didn't get any gifts at all despite good behavior, what would that have done to our self-esteem and outlook on life? I could easily imagine myself feeling that no matter what I did, it wasn't good enough and completely stop trying.

Because I knew there was no Santa, I did what I could do make sure my family had presents... I would use my {small} allowance to get gifts for my parents and siblings instead of depending on Santa to do that.

I know this isn't the case for everyone and most see it as just a fun thing for kids to believe in, but I personally think it's better to be honest with your kids and not lie to them, even if it is "tradition" or "just for fun"... especially if finances are tight. I don't feel like I missed out on anything when it comes to Christmas.

We still made cookies and put them out for my dad blaugh along with eating quite a few ourselves ninja We'd decorate a tree and be surprised by presents under it on Christmas morning because my dad wouldn't put them out until we were all in bed on Christmas eve to prevent us from shaking them around and possibly peeking, though sometimes he would put a few under there sooner and we'd open one on Christmas eve... depending on how many we were actually getting that year. We'd still make lists of things we want so my dad would know what to look for when he shopped.... knowing money was tight also made some of our requests a little more reasonable.

Of course, the final decision is up to you.  

[Lady_Niqui]

Sounds like you have some awesome holiday memories thisempty smile Thats the kind of thing I want for my family and not this spirit of greed that seems to come over everyone during the holidays. It is what is. Businesses make most of their money during this time of year and thats great. They want and need to sell you all the "hottest" toys and whatnot. But how many kids get a ton of stuff and by the end of the week half of it is already gathering dust. I really just want to find the happy medium lol. That magical point where maybe you didnt get everything you wanted but what you did get was enough and what you gave was honestly appreciated. Maybe I'm dreaming but it seems like a good goal.  

[ThisEmptySoul]

as annoying as I find it when stores try to "sell Christmas", I don't really blame them for it. They saw an opportunity to capitalize off of something and they took it. They realized that people are willing to shell out a lot of money for the sake of Christmas, so they stock products and advertise in a manner to try to get that money for themselves, because it's bound to be spent somewhere.

I would prefer if they didn't try to shove Christmas down your throat with their flashy displays and mind numbing music, though... I can't imagine such tactics actually getting people to spend more, but they've been doing it for years so apparently they at least believe it does.

As far as greed goes... it's always going to be there. The best you can do is try to raise your children right in hopes that the next generation won't be as bad, or at least your family won't succumb to the trend. Unfortunately my sister still ended up greedy due to her friends, but she's gotten better with age, now that she has to pay her own bills and realizes how hard it is rofl  

[Wixandrettas]

Funny this subject just hit home here in my hometown of Manchester, New Hampshire..

Today's online article:
http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Economy+woes+hit+home+on+'Main+Street'&articleId=85691a1c-b4c6-427d-abd8-b76c5ebe5669

Our 'Main Street' is Elm Street, and most of the businesses were interviewed saying they wish people would go and shop... It really angered me enough that I posted a comment. Almost all Unionleader.com articles give the reader the ability to post a comment/blog about the article being addressed.

I posted under my first name, "Melanie"... on that article...

Basically the businesses are upset that more and more people are not spending money. Well... Im a consumer that will make the decision when, where and how much I will spend... my post even got a running joke from someone in Nashua, NH that posted. Never cracked up so much...

Ultimately, its up to the consumer to decide the when, where and how much. And if we dont want to, thats perfectly fine. Does the article pressure me to go out? Not in the least bit... just like I mentioned earlier.. Commercialism is only bad if you allow it to manipulate yourself. Its very easy to ignore it.... if you so choose..

Read the article, its actually comical in a weird way...