Line of shoppers for what the corporations say are bargains and tell us we need.
I never say Happy Christmas as I do not believe in the so called Christ. Sometimes I say happy holiday. But even this increasingly sparingly. The reason is that the holiday is a savage cruel time. Not one where there is much happiness. First there is the incredible pressure of capitalism. Their massive media machine goes into top gear to convince everybody they must buy and buy and buy. The propaganda is that you do not care for your loved ones unless you buy and buy and buy. This puts terrible pressure on people. Especially those who are not in good financial standing. The pressure and guilt is terrible. It is like the Catholic church making people feel guilty for their "sins" and then offering the confessional and demanding their loyalty and money to use the confessional to get rid of their guilt for their "sins". Capitalism makes people feel guilty unless they buy and buy and buy and then offers its retail outlets to make people feel better. In the process of course it makes a lot of money.
The holiday time is also terrible for the workers in the stores. They have to handle increased sales. And in the present climate the owners try as best they can to get by with hiring no more workers. So more sales and the same amount of workers equals a much harder day for these workers. Remember this when you are shopping. It is not the cashier's fault there is a line. It is the owner's who to make more profits refuses to hire enough workers. Then they do not let the cashiers even have a seat to sit on. They must keep them on their feet and running. I am sure the owners of Macy's, Target, Walmart's, and the rest do not spend all day on their feet.
Try and take a stand against the pressure of the bourgeois Christmas. I know it is hard. But if there is time to spare and you want to get together with some friends get together in your home and share a little food and a little hot drink. Try and avoid the buy the present mania, writing a short note to say how you feel about your friends along with your own home made food and drink will be better than buying a fancy present which in turn pressurizes others to buy fancy presents. Break with the bourgeois Christmases.
Another thing about the holiday times in this country. Days off are very few. I remember how shocked I was when I came here first to find that workers only got one or two days off at most for the holiday. Back home they would get up to five or six. Yes, the bosses are not much into Christmas cheer. For them it is a chance to make more profits by increasing sales and by making workers work harder and by conceding as few days off as possible. We need strong unions with fighting leaderships to take on the situation and allow us to all have a good winter holiday, rather than being ripped off by buying things, being pressurized to do our shopping after and before our work hours and at the same time, especially in retail, work longer hours and harder for no more pay.
Sean
1 comment:
Christmas does tend to highlight the disparity between rich and poor in a more intense way. There is excess pressure on us all because of all the marketing that is carried out. We could certainly have less pretentious relationships if we did not feel compelled to buy all these products. Christmas is a lot of pressure.
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