Michael J. Sandel makes a good point. We are spending things on things that are affordable and are up-for-grabs. We, as a society, can buy anything we damn well please, and the only thing that stops us, is our treasury in general. It's not our fault though, we spend because it shows ourselves that we are capable of spending on luxury, and still survive with our necessities taken care of. My greatest fear is to live on my own and have a money problem in keeping me alive. I'm scared to move out soly for that reason, and I'm sure tons of people are the same way. I don't think I can do it in an economy like the one we have today. Aside from that, we the bare fact of spending as a sign of relief that we aren't broke or bankrupt.
Lauren Smith also makes a good point as well. We do spend a lot on Christmas and our spending on gifts usually shrouds the idea that we're suppose to be together, happy, as a family. But on the other side, whenever someone has been given a gift, when has someone not been happy? There's a lot of alternatives to that statement and there always are, with dark spots in the world where people give toothpicks as "gifts" and such, but the big picture shows that people are happy when receiving a gift. The "new" and modern Christmas is about being alive and happy. Gift giving shows us that we are alive when we're happy and when we can't see what's inside the gift makes us curious and wonder like the kids we used to be. New Christmas is about living and being happy knowing we can lay down for a bit and see that we all can be happy at once.
I think Christmas has always meant to be happy, and alive. I just think we all have different opinions of what being happy is, for some is receiving gifts, but in my opinion just being with family on Christmas has always made me happy.
ReplyDeleteI agree that giving gifts is a way of showing how alive we are and our happiness. Giving gifts is a normal thing now because of how we made it look for the new generation.
ReplyDeleteThat idea of feeling like a kid when opening presents is so true! Every Christmas reminds me of when I was young.
ReplyDeleteI agree that everyone when they see a gift they ant to know what is inside it right away and we are reminded of that every Christmas. You present your argument very well and thought out.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, we buy what we want, and don't get everything we need. I don't believe in the whole gift thing for Christmas, it was good to receive them, but I have always seen it as a time for the family to get together and just be happy with no problems.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I really like the "New Christmas 2.0" title. And second, you are right that happiness is what should matter the most, but unfortunately, not everyone is like that. Thank God I've only met a small few of those kind of people who are happy, unless they get an awesome gift.
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