‘TIS THE SEASON to be jolly? NO, ‘tis not! Bargains galore at the New Year sales? Do NOT be fooled!
Generally, I find it’s the beginning of the season to be miserable. Days beyond Halloween are a time to get even grumpier than usual as we ride the out-of-control Coca-Cola emblazoned juggernaut of jolliness into the retail insanity that is Christmas. It’s all so unnecessary; frankly, I find it depressing and upsetting.
A recent report on climate change concluded that having messed up the planet we are at the point of no turning back: we MUST stop consuming and buying stuff we don’t need and start conserving the things we do.
Problem is, our consumer-led economy and financial markets fly in the face of reason. Without consumption, our system insists, the wheels of prosperity do not turn so pension pots are not topped up and shareholders aren’t paid. It’s all so very wrong!
Then there’s breeding: Christ Himself was born to a virgin, allegedly. Believe that or not this I DO believe: it’s time we stopped having kids.
I frequently argue that I should be paid a “no-child benefit” since by not procreating I have made the single biggest impact I can in not destroying our planet.
IMHO Child Benefit is an outdated concept and should simply be stopped henceforth, thereby helping both environment and economy by discouraging people creating children they can’t afford and thus not requiring the manufacture of more stuff we simply don’t need.
Look at plastic toys and the packaging that holds them. Throughout Christmas and the New Year sales be aware of how much you are throwing away to make room for more incoming gifts you really don’t need.
Meanwhile, High Street retailers are suffering, according to the latest holiday sales figures; poor them! Here’s a tactic they could adopt: stop slapping a ‘Sale’ sticker on everything that doesn’t move while smugly assuming that every customer is stupid enough to think it really IS a bargain and so they must buy it. Failing retailers deserve to go under. When was the last time you got proper service in a department store? When was the last time you felt like a valued customer? They’re all in a race to the bottom and the problem isn’t helped by insane council rates and greedy landlords. Where will it all end?
So, after rambling like a drunk at an office party, to my point: NEVER buy your technology in the Christmas sales!
You will pay too much for it, you will swell the retailer’s coffers, you will feed the myth that Christmas and New Year sales are a Good Thing and encourage them to keep selling us more phoney, cut-price rubbish. Just don’t do it!
If you want to remind the consumers in your life about their effect on the planet the perfect gift is ‘A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things’. But DON’T buy them any more plastic gadgets; it’s just more rubbish none of us needs
