Buy Something Christmas

Let me tell you my black friday story, a precursor to my rant.

Very earlier this morning, before I went to bed, I shopped – for myself. Turns out Amazon had some great deals today, so I bought two things. One, will be claimed as a gift to myself, Left 4 Dead for the 360 (can’t wait to play it, I’ve been really into gaming lately). The second was a great find, since Sara needed an iPod dock/speaker system for a secret santa gift, an awesome deal since those types of systems are always over our SS budget.

…stay with me you anti-consumerists…

In the evening, we conformed the traditional way and went to a brick and mortar store. Turns out we found Avery something we’ve been looking for for a while and some long overdue cloths for my wardrobe – all for rock bottom prices.

So for all of those condescending people that think everyone should resist from purchasing something after Thanksgiving through the end of December, what the @#$%?

Why can’t I buy something, for a discount? Regardless if I were to buy it any other day of the year, especially on sale. Shouldn’t the point be: don’t buy anything at anytime, ridiculous but would make sense.

If you’re not familiar with the commandments of the BNC, here we go:

Session 1: Take a risk, don’t conform to those in the spending spree. Mary, the unwed mother of Jesus, went against the grain. Think about it.

Out of all the things the bible teaches, you’re clinging to “consumerism”, labeling me and practically everyone else as a conformist. Really? Mary? She’s the one you choose to be the the example of non-conformity in the bible, really?

Session 2: The best gifts come in no packages. The Christmas story is all about flipping the system on its lid.

So punk rock but true. The best gift is love and showing affection, however, the better gift is a package given with love to show affection. Oh man, did I just flip the lid that was just flipped?

Wonder how the packaged foods for starving children around the world fit in.

Session 3: Image is everything? Well, don’t get pegged as a mindless consumer, be a rebel this Christmas.

This is the part that pisses me off the most, it’s pretty obvious why. How patronizing can you be?

Then there’s the quote in the image, I think it should read: “where did I say that you should make ridicules rhetorical questions in my name?”. Better yet, “where did I say that you should judge others actions instead of saving the world?”.

Let me say, I do believe our consumerist society is a cancer to our well being, lthe “financial crisis” is proof. And I’m not a capitalist, but I will spend money and whether it’s for the betterment of God’s people or myself is my decision.

Lastly – give me a break, IMO these “movements” are a lost cause help – their points are lost in the condescending message for the sender to feel righteous*.

The solution: bless one another and give the “right” gift, love one-another and don’t be condescending and judging, and in doing so celebrate His gift this Christmas the most.

*these types of things remind me of schoolyard name-calling, where you bring down another to feel better about oneself and actions.

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November 28

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About the Author, Dan Cameron:

I'm the owner and solution engineer at Sprout Venture, a web solutions company that specializes in web development including WordPress.

I started my first blog in 2003 and transitioned to WordPress in 2004. Since moving to WordPress I've written a few plugins and themes for public consumption. Lately I'm busy engineering/building/coding and have only been able to share a few code snippets.

If you're in need of some web development, web design or custom WordPress plugins and/or themes contact me, I'll be happy to discuss it with you.

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  • jacquie
    Hey. Just had to chime in here and ask a question about a comment made way up at the top. Dan, when you said "I should mention, the "sharing" comes from the government." Do you mean that you give your taxes to the government and they disburse it, and that's how you view "sharing"?
  • Not exactly, but I'm okay with the govt. help the poor and disadvantaged.

    I'm really not sure where I was going with "sharing". Must have been late.
  • Nate
    I find putting words in the mouth of sad Jesuse offensive. I agree, lame delivery.
  • I've always been a big fan of buy nothing day (at least since I first heard about it a couple years ago) and also a fan of trying to reduce the commercial focus that has come to dominate the Christmas holiday in our society. I think it's an important goal for several good reasons, at least some of which I think you agree with.

    I'm not sure if this post is a reaction coming from something someone may have said to you directly, but if not, I think you may be making this issue a lot more confrontational than it's meant to be.

    Just because they're encouraging people to participate and consider doing things differently doesn't mean that they are in any way judging those who do buy stuff. I looked around on their site, and while I admittedly didn't read the entire thing, I didn't find anywhere where they're being insulting to people in a way that implies (to me) the level of disrespect and outright disdain that you seem to think they have towards people who buy stuff.

    The comment you reference in the "Session 3" link above is a play on the exaggerated "Image is everything" argument, and as such, is an appropriately exaggerated (intended to be funny, not insulting) response. The idea is that if you feel like you need to buy stuff because "image is everything" (or very important), it's just suggesting a way to spin that so you could perceive buying nothing as boosting your "image" as well, if that's what you're after.

    While I'm sure that like any group, especially ones devoted to a cause, there are some "extremist" members who actually would participate in a condescending or name-calling manner, but I suspect that those are the minority.

    I think the "buy nothing crowd" is, for the most part, interested in correcting their *own personal* priorities and curbing their *own personal* over-indulgences first, and then secondarily sharing that story with others and encouraging them to try doing the same, because of the joy they've found in doing that. I don't think there necessarily has to be any judgment involved.
  • Not making it confrontational. I'm just calling BS on the whole deal.

    #3
    Well, I thought it was obvious. I'm talking about the "mindless consumer". That's name calling, and it's not from an "extremist".

    If it were to "correct their *own personal* priorities", awesome, but it's coming across wrong because (I feel) the only people this message is serving are those that wholeheartedly agree with it already. I rather not call my parents mindless conformists but if I were to share this with them I could imagine a bad reaction, and it's not because they want to spoil their grandchildren.
  • As for who this message serves, I think it can serve as a wake up call to a lot of people. Sure, the ones who are quick to agree with the idea will embrace it most vocally, but I actually think that tons of people agree with the underlying premise - that Christmas isn't and shouldn't be primarily about buying gifts.

    It's my opinion that if you asked most people in our society what Christmas was "all about", many would cite the birth of Christ, and even those that don't believe in Him would probably list some less materialistic, more "love"-based, "It's a Wonderful Life"-ish sentiments of family, camaraderie, etc...

    The problem is that in our society, if you take our actions and time as evidence instead of our words, I think you would find that we are overwhelmingly focused on the material side of things around Christmas, rather than the other things in the previous paragraph. That doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with gift giving, just that it has eclipsed other things that should have a more prominent focus.

    So, in the end, you might say that it's a message only meant for people who actually believe it already - preaching to the choir, in other words. But here's the catch - sometimes the choir needs some preaching.

    In fact, to take that as a literal example, just because I believe every word of the Bible, I'm not going to gripe at the pastor when he presents a lesson on how to live a better Christian life. I guess I could take it as an insult, implying that I'm NOT doing it right now, but I'd rather take it as an encouragement, acknowledging the truth that sometimes I'm not living as closely in line with what I believe as I should be, and sometimes we need other people to help motivate us to get back on the right track.

    That's all this is meant to be, in my opinion.
  • Preaching to the choir serves best in church, not standing on the corner
    with a sign, in this case "posters" across the web.
    Maybe my point was lost:
    I don't have a problem with the point, I have a problem with the delivery
    and message.
  • Well, I tried explaining the "mindless consumer" thing above, but maybe that wasn't clear. Let's see if I can break that down:

    That particular example is in the context of a hypothetical response to the concern that "Image is everything", expressed by a hypothetical person who would state that "image is everything" for them. The "Image is everything?" lead in is short for "So, you're saying that image is everything for you?"

    Since, of course, most people would never say that so blatantly (even if it were true), it's an exaggeration for the sake of illustrating a point. They respond to that hypothetical question with an equally exaggerated "... don't get pegged as a mindless consumer, be a rebel ..."

    Note that even if this weren't an exaggeration, they themselves are not calling people "mindless consumers", even in this hypothetical exchange. They're merely saying "hey, some people might accuse ["peg"] you of being mindless consumers, so wouldn't you rather have the 'image' of a rebel instead, since image is everything for you?"

    Short version - I wouldn't worry too much about that one phrase taken out of context.
  • how can you run your own business without being a capitalist?
  • It's easy, I have to work to provide for me, my family and others. "Others" means sharing and sharing IMO doesn't fit into a capitalist society.
  • Nate
    Shareing fits perfectly into a free market, capitalist society. I'm makeing book reccommendations this morning, only because I've been interested in this subject over the pasty, but I think you would find Buisness for the Glory of God very helpful. It's really short, perfect for someone starting thier own buisness.
  • Yeah, like I told Jacqui, I'm not sure where I was going with "sharing". Maybe I was talking about some sort of re-distribution and providing for the dis-advantaged.
  • I should mention, the "sharing" comes from the government.
  • you're not a capitalist?
  • Nate
    Funny, I'm reading a book by F.A. Hayek. The Road to Serfdom. Being a loved classic, it's a pretty good argument against economic planning even though he does advocate social saftey nets.
  • Nah, I'm not sure what I am. I'm not completely a socialist and I'm not completely capitalist. Is there an in between? :)
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