Do we hate Christmas?

[El Rojo]

Do we? I was talking about its materialistic nature ect ect a few days back with some mates, and one of them turned to me, eyes wide with concern and said seriously "woah man, you can't ruin christmas"

whats the talk on St Nicks day then?

[redmist]

Christmas is just another day. What I can say I like and hate in equal measure is the amount of people, who over that period, seem to be overwhelmed by some ridiculous happiness that they do not feel for the rest of the year. I think it's very pretentious, although it's always nice to see people being friendly once in a while, however exaggerated it is.

[#FF0000]

Yeah, the only issue we might have with christmas is the consumerism, but tbh I don't think it needs any more attention than the exploitation that occurs every single other day of the year.

I don't think most people see Christmas for the gifts though. Maybe kids do, but everyone I work with and all that like having the time to see family and that sort of thing.

"We" don't hate christmas, no. People just might take issue with the consumerist bit though, which isn't uncommon even among non-socialists.

EDIT: man some of you guys are unnecessarily cynical.

[the last donut of the night]

Christmas, and other public holidays, may all have stupid or just horrible histories behind them, but it's real non-sense for us to fight them. It'd be really saddening to have one party's political program have "The Destruction of Christmas" as a goal. We have bigger points and messages to get across, taking this stance wouldn't do us much good.

Plus, the food is delicious anyways.

[Orange Juche]

Do we? I was talking about its materialistic nature ect ect a few days back with some mates, and one of them turned to me, eyes wide with concern and said seriously "woah man, you can't ruin christmas"

The bigger question is - should you be reliant on the political opinion of others to form your own opinion on something?

[danyboy27]

xmas is a day off.
enuf said.

[ArrowLance]

Last year I got a puppy. How on earth can we be against puppies!

But in all reality I don't see any problem with the holiday in itself. It only gets disgusting when a billion useless items get thrown at you by advertising and the Christians go haywire about Jesus.

[bailey_187]

Most books on Marxism etc i get for Christmas....

[CartCollector]

Of course we hate Christmas. Haven't you seen the O'Reilly Factor?

[blake 3:17]

It'd be really saddening to have one party's political program have "The Destruction of Christmas" as a goal.

I might join an anti-Xmas party! It's generally my least favourite day of the year. I do like Santa though -- he's kind of a crazy magic anarchist flying around with reindeer breaking into peoples homes to leave presents...

On a slightly more serious note, the issue of holidays (aka holy days) is something for socialists to think about. They are deep deep deep parts of all cultures. To simply erase or ignore them seems anti-cultural and anti-social. Today is IWD, my favourite, and what did I do? Wished a few people happy IWD.

Kinda flat, eh?

[Sarah Palin]

Do "we?" Why don't you think for yourself. Just gather all the info about what the holiday means and what its practices entail and so on then draw your own conclusions. You are not a robot.

So that's it. I'm leaving this site. Many of the users' practices have ticked me off just enough to become burnt out with at least this picture of the leftist community. Thoughts to leave you with:
-Listen to diplo. He makes good music.
-Think for yourself
-1984 is a fun book. Read it if you're up to it.
-Hang out with some friends and get some air. Some of you are interested more in this site and not what it stands for.
-If you're in school, argue with your teachers.

I've got nothing else to say to the seasoned members of this site except that you all really screwed up. Mad respect to TAT, Kevis, Holden, Fuserg9, and Comrade Joe. It's been real. The rest can fuck off.

What is this horseshit? Images removed. Pull this thing again, and you will get an infraction. -- Kassad

[The Vegan Marxist]

http://i46.tinypic.com/2ef3u6h.jpg

[Sarah Palin]

Imaged removed and infraction given. Stop spamming. -- Kassad

[MolotovLuv]

I have a son (not living with me but that's whole other story :() Any parents on this forum want to share their advice on Christmas as it is highly aimed towards children. How do other marxist/anarchist parents celebrate with their children during the holidays without falling into the commercialism trap? Also I highly recommend "what would jesus buy?" awesome, funny movie. :)

[bcbm]

christmas is fundamentally a winter festival of celebration, feasting and gift-giving with family and friends. why would we hate that? if anything we should push for more such festivals.

[Audeamus]

Christmas being caught up in the consumerism of capitalist society, it is not hard to imagine it undergoing a major shift in a socialist society. Obviously a shift away from consumerism, and a shift away from a focus on the nuclear family and towards the community.

Reserving a special hate for Christmas though is a waste of energy, by focusing on the symptoms instead of the underlying problem.

[Jimmie Higgins]

christmas is fundamentally a winter festival of celebration, feasting and gift-giving with family and friends. why would we hate that? if anything we should push for more such festivals.Yep, I hate the stress, the crowds, the advertisements, the holiday muzak in every freaking store, the commercialism, and the stupid social pressures... but I love Christmas. After Halloween it's my favorite. We should be pushing for more days where you hang out with people you love, don't have to work, stuff your face, get drunk before dinner, and give gifts to people*.

Actually under capitalism I wish holidays would go back to their feudal roots and we could walk through Beverly Hills singing Christmas carols and buring the mansions of people who don't give us food and booze when we come knocking on their door.




*all that or eating some Chinese food with your family and going to movies while all the Christians are still at church or opening presents - I've cerebrated both ways and it's usually been good either way.

[whore]

christmas is fundamentally a winter festival of celebration, feasting and gift-giving with family and friends. why would we hate that? if anything we should push for more such festivals.
it doesnt work in the south then...


ho ho ho, merry christmas. (santa claus is big brother, he knows when youve been good or bad so be good for goodness sake)

[bailey_187]

Christmas being caught up in the consumerism of capitalist society, it is not hard to imagine it undergoing a major shift in a socialist society. Obviously a shift away from consumerism, and a shift away from a focus on the nuclear family and towards the community.

Reserving a special hate for Christmas though is a waste of energy, by focusing on the symptoms instead of the underlying problem.

Why would you want to end consumption in Socialism? Isnt our goal to increase the ability of society to produce so much that we can all consume?

[Pirate Utopian]

Every year I hear "happy holidays"...
KZ1Luh7e0mI

I dont hate christmas, but it's not like I really look forward to it either.
I dont get gifts and to be honest I dont really care about socialising with most of my family either.

[Technocrat]

What's wrong with consumerism? I'd say it's more of a personal failing than a moral evil.

Communists are against inequality of distribution, not materialism itself.

It's mainly moronic eco-primitivists who argue that consumption and materialism are evil.

Just my two cents.

[Dimentio]

Christmas is the most important celebration of the year, due to the yearly Donald Duck festivities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAHk8nPAa-8

This is what 4-5 million Swedes use to watch every christmas.

[Audeamus]

Why would you want to end consumption in Socialism? Isnt our goal to increase the ability of society to produce so much that we can all consume?

Perhaps I misspoke, when I talked about an end of consumerism in Christmas, I was speaking to the orgy of shopping on the basis of wants manufactured by capitalists in order to sell and make a profit off their products. An end to consumption was not my intended meaning.

[StalinFanboy]

I dislike how obsessed everyone gets with decorations and buying the most shit. But I do like to spend time with friends and family, and I do like to give and get things. Especially getting money.

[Y-Love]

Do we?

Don't we? :D

[Robocommie]

The Grinch is green, man. Not red.

And you ever notice how much Karl Marx looks like Santa Claus? Yeah.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzqSzbrtTao

[AK]

Why y'all got diss consumer-mas?

[Dimentio]

I don't diss it. I watch Donald Duck.

It is essential for Christmas.

[Elfcat]

Why is it whether non-Christians hate Christmas? It seems more like some Christians hate every non-Christian special day.

Thank you, and a crisp winter to you too!

[Tablo]

I dislike Christmas. I am expected to buy a bunch of shit for every fucking person I know even when I can not afford it. Then I get treated like shit if I leave someone out..

I hate consumerism and the only thing I like about Christmas is getting to visit family members.

[Thirsty Crow]

What do you mean "we"?
It sounds to me as if all people holding leftist ideas should act as one unified organism with completely uniform attitudes and opinions. IMO, that's what annoys me the most, both when it comes to leftists and leftist critics who argue that "we" all are a bunch of uniform orthodox freaks.

I don't hate Christmas, and I don't really care if someone thinks that hating anything is the real and correct attitude for leftists.

[Twin City Lines]

Peronally I hate Christmas but have made my peace with it. Originally I hated it because I hated Jesus Christ and believed in a different God. Since getting away from my abusive family, I have relaxed my stance somewhat. I still worship Laura, but I consider Jesus to be more irrelevant than an enemy. I don't celebrate Christmas but I try to respect the semtiments of those who do. If someone wishes me a "Merry Christmas", I typically say "You, too" rather than "Bah, humbug" (or worse), as I used to. However, I oppose the gift-giving tradition in this culture as it enables abuse. Examples: "Santa will give you nothing but rotten potatoes and coal if you're bad," for example. Or (more relevant to teens and adults), "After all I've done for you..." the fallacy that if someone does you a favour or gives you a gift, you should have to like or love them, or live your life the way they think you should. A gift given for the purpose of controlling someone by making them "appreciate" it by supplicating to you is worth less than zero, in my opinion. Another thing that offends me is judgmental gifts, for example if someone gives you a Bible because they think you should convert to Christianity or gives you clothing because they disapprove of the way you dress or soap because they think you should be cleaner. I believe that a lot of child/sibling/spousal/relationship abuse is caused by the capitalist mentality that "whoever has the gold makes the rules", that might (in the form of money) makes right. I do think Christmas shouldn't be a legal holiday, though. Not until the 7th of February is, anyway :).

[Quail]

I dislike Christmas. I am expected to buy a bunch of shit for every fucking person I know even when I can not afford it.

This. I hate the pressure of having to buy crap for people that they don't really want, and being given crap in return. I'd like to think people could have good times together and give each other meaningful gifts because that's what they feel like doing, not because Christmas or any other commercial holiday is being shoved down their throats.

Also, I don't see why a communist society would consume quite so much, because there wouldn't be companies trying to pedal as much crap as they possibly can to make more profit. I'm sure that if people weren't bombarded with adverts and the message that stuff/material goods=success, then people wouldn't want so much stuff.