The Last Christmas December 24, 2007
Posted by Graham in : Environment , trackbackGuest writer Andy Wilson editor of Sustainability Magazine has kindly sent me this piece expressing his thoughts on Christmas:
The Last Christmas – A True Story?
Every Christian knows of the Last Supper, in which Jesus joined his disciples for the last time before being betrayed. The festival of Christmas, in which a billion or more people worldwide will ‘celebrate’ – if that is the right word - the birth of Christ, appears to have begun about 300 years after the death of Christ. Possibly, the Christian movement had gathered sufficient momentum by this time for it to require distinctive festivals of its own. It is probably no coincidence that the time of year chosen coincided with the much older pagan festival of the winter solstice, and this no doubt helped the new religion gain acceptance among the non-believers.
The spirit of goodwill associated with Christmas is an elusive force in these early days of the Twenty First Century. The most ugly crass consumerism and indulgence seems to have subverted the original message. For weeks if not months before the day of celebration, entire populations are subject to a barrage of propaganda exhorting them to buy the latest, newest, biggest, grossest consumer gadget or product. At a time when the latest data on global warming shows humanity to be in dire straights, the recent embodiment of Christmas as a orgy of mindless meaningless and possibly moral-less consumption, is surely nothing more than the madness which occurred before the fall of Rome, Berlin or Saigon. These days will soon be over.
It may not be the last Christmas, but it will be the last Christmas in which such unbridled lunacy is witnessed. Within twelve months, the grim reaper of recession will begin to stalk the land. Already, there is a sense that everyone knows the party is well and truly over, but determined to give it one final fling. Consumer spending appears to be up a little on last year, reflecting no doubt the continuing ease by which people who have no money can obtain credit, but outside the city gates the news is not good.
The rampant economic growth of recent years is grinding noisily and painfully to a halt; house prices are in free fall; interest rates at the financial institutions are climbing; and food prices are rising as a consequence of both the soaring price of crude oil and the diversion of food crops into ethanol. While consumer goods have never been so cheap, one suspects that this time we have reached the bottom of the proverbial barrel. One has never been able to buy so much garbage with so little effort.
The new growth areas will be locally grown food, DIY classes, bicycles, second hand goods and companies specialising in the sale of bankrupt stock. By next Christmas, the credit squeeze will have begun, major redundancies will be deliberately kept out of the news, and developers will declare bankruptcy and try to sneak quietly away from their half finished but already decaying estates of sub standard housing with quaint names like Manor View and Chestnut Close. Some of these may already be occupied by squatters.
On the positive side, there will be something cathartic about the passing of the era of the mindless consumer. Much good will come from a re-evaluation of needs and wants. I experienced poverty myself – in Western terms anyway - in recent times as a consequence of deciding to sacrifice paid employment for unpaid work. I lived on less than half of what a single person on social welfare would be entitled to. I was obliged to make choices about whether to put fuel in the car – which for the moment I still need – score a couple of bottles of beer or go to the local shop to buy something to eat. Usually food came first but occasionally it was the can of beer. If I did as many do in Russia, I would make my own ethanol then I could decide whether to drink it OR save it to put in the car for the monthly trip to distant markets. It gave me an inkling of what things could be like if the economy went belly up:
Dole payment cut in half, all non-emergency surgery discontinued for patients who can’t pay for it, cars rusting on the roadside, shops boarded over, and Government offices open on a part time basis. On the plus side, I fully expect to see most of my neighbours tilling a few food crops, keeping hens or goats, walking to most places they need to get to and having time to talk as they go past. This might not happen next year, but it will happen soon. It may bring out the worst in people, but much of the worst is already on display. Far more likely is it will bring out the best. As anyone who has travelled to Africa, Asia or Latin America knows, it is the poorest people who are the most generous.
And what about Christmas? I’m kind of looking forward to it. I am not a Christian myself but I look forward to Christmases/solstices of quiet reflection and occasional raucous celebration, instead of the contemporary ergotine fuelled five or six week insanity, where one can appreciate the winter for what is it – the coldest and darkest time of the year – and look forward to the spring, the season of rebirth.
Comments»
Indeed, christmas is something I have come to regard as the symbol of gross consumerism. So pleased that at least a few brave souls are saying what they think about this mad circus. Thanks for speaking out.
This is a dismal picture indeed, however true. Sending a chill down my spine, i feel sad but know that it can’t go on like this, i worry for those up to their neck in it, it’s one thing when you are single but with a family in tow. Well said , it has to be said.