Would Christmas be celebrated under Communism?

[Psychedelia]

Just thinking of this,im not a big fan of christmas,on the other hand i hate it,all those stupid fireworks,all that useless toys,drinking,.... It drives me nuts.

If you ask me christmas is the perfect propagation for capitalists.

What are your thoughts on christmas? Do you think that it will exist under communism?

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

I doubt it ..but people always have some holidays / special days set aside for celebrations and family gatherings etc...maybe it'll just be under a different name and have a different focus (exchanging of gifts, parties etc but without the uber-commercial and corporate elements or the religious aspect)

[Hexen]

Simple Answer: It would cease to exist in a Post-Revolutionary society and it would be a memory of the past due to changing material conditions.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

Seeing as yule comes from one of those yearly winter-solstice/good luck with the agriculture of the new year things originally (that was assumed by Christianity for the sake of making a religious transformation in Europe easier) I'm not sure it would disappear, though certainly change.

[Krano]

Christmas for me means spending time with family and friends eating well and having a good time, don't really like the materialist aspect of Christmas.

[honest john's firing squad]

it will still be celebrated by many people and i have yet to hear of any reason that this would not be the case; stop being such a grinch.

[Yazman]

I can't see any reason it would go away. It predates capitalism itself; shit, it predates the very concept of currency. I imagine the culture around it might shift a little, and the trappings of a typical christmas might also shift (as they have many times over the millennia) but I can't see it just "ceasing to exist".

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

http://libcom.org/files/imagecache/article/images/library/christmas.jpeg

[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

I don't think it will be the same, we definitely wouldn't be celebrating Jesus.

[EdinSumar]

I like Christmas, it is an excuse to give free shit to people and share what you have. Everyone who believes in the whole "the true meaning of Christmas" spiel becomes a little more Leftist whenever Christmas rolls around.

- Edin

[Yuppie Grinder]

Religion is a tool of class rule, and by the advent of genuine free-access communism religion will have withered away.

I can't see any reason it would go away. It predates capitalism itself; shit, it predates the very concept of currency. I imagine the culture around it might shift a little, and the trappings of a typical christmas might also shift (as they have many times over the millennia) but I can't see it just "ceasing to exist".
The use of religion as a tool of class rule predates capitalism.
Will holidays and seasonal celebrations continue to exist? I can't see why not.

[Yuppie Grinder]

Christmas for me means spending time with family and friends eating well and having a good time, don't really like the materialist aspect of Christmas.
Materialist =/= conseumerist

[Koba Junior]

I had a dream one night in which I came up with a revolutionary idea: fuck Christmas.

I mean it, though. It's an awful holiday centered around buying things. It's never not been unpleasant or stressful. I understand that people enjoy spending time with their families, but if gifts are to be exchanged, why can't they be small, inexpensive gifts as a rule? Gifts should be gestures of thoughtfulness; they shouldn't be so expensive that the acquisition becomes the center of celebration. Even as much as people assert the primacy of their family time during the holidays, it very clearly is about consumption.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

COMMUNISM IS THE GENERALIZATION OF CHRISTMAS AND ITS DIFFUSION THROUGH EVERYDAY LIFE. ALSO, EASTER. ALSO, MAY DAY.

Also, is anybody else totally fucking pumped about weird heretical millenarian sects? Does anybody else really want to practice weird drug-fueled nature religion dressed up as Christianity? Emphasize totally weird bits of the bible, like chasing the money changers from the temple, and the weird "morning star" Jesus/Lucifer ambiguity? Eh?

[Yuppie Grinder]

COMMUNISM IS THE GENERALIZATION OF CHRISTMAS AND ITS DIFFUSION THROUGH EVERYDAY LIFE. ALSO, EASTER. ALSO, MAY DAY.

Also, is anybody else totally fucking pumped about weird heretical millenarian sects? Does anybody else really want to practice weird drug-fueled nature religion dressed up as Christianity? Emphasize totally weird bits of the bible, like chasing the money changers from the temple, and the weird "morning star" Jesus/Lucifer ambiguity? Eh?
Absolutely.

[Offbeat]

It's the most wonderful time of the year...I think it will probably survive as a time for having a meal with your family, singing christmas songs, getting drunk and watching It's a Wonderful Life. During the English Revolution of the 17th century, christmas was banned during the Interregnum period, which didn't go down too well and resulted in the republican regime's popularity plummeting. (Wow, double alliteration win.)

[Ocean Seal]

Just thinking of this,im not a big fan of christmas,on the other hand i hate it,all those stupid fireworks,all that useless toys,drinking,.... It drives me nuts.

A revolution without stupid fireworks, useless toys, and drinking is your revolution, not mine.

[Permanent Revolutionary]

In my opinion, we need a celebratory occasion in the dark, gloomy winter time. And the Winter Solstice, Yule or Christmas does just the trick. So no, it won't go away, but it'll change surely

[pax et aequalitas]

It will evolve, as holidays always do. Maybe we'll just call it midwinter fest or something like that who knows.

Also:
9NKHJ64qRR8

[Book O'Dead]

No, it will be changed to Marxmas.

[Pretty Flaco]

http://haphappy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/pottree.jpg

ooooo christmas tree oooo christmas tree ;)

[Sten]

Even if religion ceased to exist I'm sure there would still be people celebrating religious holidays for purely cultural reasons, without any transcendental meaning attached to them (this, for example, is the case for many agnostic/atheist members of the Jewish community).

[Railyon]

What will you give as a present if you have access to everything? Flatscreens and the new LotR boxset? Presents presuppose (individual) ownership so you can give it away in the first place.

So while the holiday may still exist, the act of exchanging presents will either cease to be, or be reduced to self-made, more intimate presents (either case is fine by me)

[gorillafuck]

christmas is a time when people celebrate jesus in the same way that thanksgiving is when we celebrate the pilgrims

(it's not)

(christmas will go on)

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Fremont_Lenin_Christmas_2006.jpg

Lenin approves of Christmas.
We must celebrate it.

[Rafiq]

http://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=171636

[MarxSchmarx]

Every day will be Christmas under communism.

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

I like Christmas and the idea of it and I love the season aside from the fake materialist bullshit. It's one of the few times a year I feel a little bit happier and cheerier about things.

God bless us, every one.

[Veovis]

Alexandra Kollontai liked Christmas (http://marxists.org/archive/kollonta/1922/soon.htm).

[Grenzer]

No, after the final victory of Socialism in One Country, it will be Hoxhmas.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

No, after the final victory of Socialism in One Country, it will be Hoxhmas.

Khurshchevmas. Titomas.

[Anarcho-Brocialist]

Khurshchevmas. Titomas.
Highly inappropriate, comrade. We all know Khrushchev will not properly harvest the corn needed for the feast.

[seventeethdecember2016]

No, it will be changed to Marxmas.
O Marxmas Tree! O Marxmas Tree! How Lovely Are Your Classes!

In Beauty Red Will Always Grow, Through October And February Revolution Snow.

O Marxmas Tree! O Marxmas Tree! How Lovely Are Your Classes!

[RebelDog]

The poor turkeys must be praying for communism.

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

Every day will be Christmas under communism.

Yes, Yes! I was just about to write exactly That! HA!
Everyday will be Christmas in Communism.

[Rusty Shackleford]

who the fuck knows when communism will be the global organization of society and how people have changed between now and then

[Lokomotive293]

who the fuck knows when communism will be the global organization of society and how people have changed between now and then

This. I don't see anything wrong with celebrating Christmas, though. Of course the consumerist bullshit connected to it is awful, but for me it's all about having time to be together with all the people I love.

[seventeethdecember2016]

http://topiclessbar.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/nk-comm-santa1.jpg

[Yazman]

Religion is a tool of class rule, and by the advent of genuine free-access communism religion will have withered away.

The use of religion as a tool of class rule predates capitalism.
Will holidays and seasonal celebrations continue to exist? I can't see why not.

Yes, but it isn't celebrated as a religious occasion by all and hasn't always been celebrated as a religious occasion. That it's a religious occasion for Christians is notable but it isn't the be-all and end-all of christmas celebration. It can be, has been and often is secular as well.

[gozai]

If people wanted to celebrate christmas it's not like it's gonna be banned.

[ColonelCossack]

I suppose if people want to celebrate Christmas then they will, and if they don't want to then they won't. I don't see why we should stop them. We just shouldn't make it any kind of official holiday or anything :p

[Lenina Rosenweg]

I read in Robert Tucker somewhere that Lenin"celebrated Christmas in the German fashion", which I guess would mean on 25 December. In 1919 I believe there was an incident when he and Krupskaya had their Model T Ford full of Christmas presents car jacked. Bummer.

Rosa Luxemburg celebrated Christmas, or at least had a Christmas tree.Engels celebrated Xmas and I assume Marx did as well.

I've always liked Xmas. I couldn't care less about the supposed "birthday of Jesus" whom I don't think ever actually existed, and I try to ignore the increasingly frantic propaganda to buy stuff to keep retailers happy.

Christmas is a time of idealism (not in the philosophical sense but of making the world a better place). cheer, getting drunk and getting (and giving) presents.

[MotherCossack]

No, it will be changed to Marxmas.

ha ha that fits in with XMAS!!!! Nice one.
Hey... my first name ends in x! How cool is that? Soooo.......


I suppose if people want to celebrate Christmas then they will, and if they don't want to then they won't. I don't see why we should stop them. We just shouldn't make it any kind of official holiday or anything :p

ARHHH!! Doncha enjoy our little famiwy cwistmas ?
doncha like yor pwessies?
doncha ave a larf when yer mum and yer nan fight like cats'n dogs fer hours....
doncha fink its fun worryin that yer dad is secretly drinkin in the toilet....
wot about stuffin yer face wiv a tin of quality street wen no-one is lookin....
and .... and....hmm....maybe not...

Next year will be our first year without Great-grandad.....
That is a very sad thought....miss you grandad. miss you lots...
Wish I had been with you on your last christmas.......
Thankyou....and sorry for not staying more.....
I'm sad ... now...

[A Marxist Historian]

Just thinking of this,im not a big fan of christmas,on the other hand i hate it,all those stupid fireworks,all that useless toys,drinking,.... It drives me nuts.

If you ask me christmas is the perfect propagation for capitalists.

What are your thoughts on christmas? Do you think that it will exist under communism?

In fact, the Soviet regime did try to slowly get rid of Christmas, with some success. Even Stalin wasn't foolish enough to "ban" Christmas, but by the time the USSR collapsed, it really wasn't celebrated much at all, replaced by other holidays.

New Years Eve was a real big deal in the USSR, and still is in post-Soviet Russia, likely still a bigger holiday than Christmas there.

-M.H.-

[A Marxist Historian]

I read in Robert Tucker somewhere that Lenin"celebrated Christmas in the German fashion", which I guess would mean on 25 December. In 1919 I believe there was an incident when he and Krupskaya had their Model T Ford full of Christmas presents car jacked. Bummer.

Rosa Luxemburg celebrated Christmas, or at least had a Christmas tree.Engels celebrated Xmas and I assume Marx did as well.

I've always liked Xmas. I couldn't care less about the supposed "birthday of Jesus" whom I don't think ever actually existed, and I try to ignore the increasingly frantic propaganda to buy stuff to keep retailers happy.

Christmas is a time of idealism (not in the philosophical sense but of making the world a better place). cheer, getting drunk and getting (and giving) presents.

The best word on Christmas is Tom Lehrer's song about it. A few verses:

"Christmas time is here by golly,
disapproval would be folly,
deck the halls with hunks of holly, fill the cup and don't say when

Hark the Herald Tribune sings, advertising wondrous things,
God bless ye merry merchants may you make the Yuletide pay!
Angels we have heard on high, tell us to go out and buy!

It doesn't matter how sincere it is or how heartfelt the spirit,
sentiment would not endear it, what's important is the price.

(something, something) Hail our dear old friend Kris Kringle,
Driving his reindeer across the sky...

Don't stand underneath when they fly by!"

I've heard that suicide rates always peak on Christmas weekend.

-M.H.-