iBle - the new Bible

This is almost too realistic to be funny. OK, it's still funny, but it's especially appropriate during the Christmas season.

Obviously, when it comes to Christmas, I probably disagree with devout Christians about most things. But we still might agree on the idea that Christmas has become too commercial. However we might disagree about the "reason for the season," we probably agree that it's not to "shop until you drop."

But there's a reason why Christmas - and other holidays, too, to a lesser extent - has become more and more a shopping extravaganza. Businesses make a profit from that, so they have a real incentive to push it.

Stores start advertising even before Halloween sometimes, and many companies make their entire profit the last couple months of the year. Media companies push Christmas, because they make money on advertising. The media would no more question commercializing Christmas than they'd admit that it doesn't really matter who wins a sports match - and for the same reason.

The idea behind gift-giving is fine, no doubt, but we are constantly encouraged that way only because people make money from it. It's funny, but there's a very selfish reason behind this push to be generous. And we're gullible enough that people often go into debt to finance Christmas in the manner to which the media have convinced them is appropriate.

My parents used to tell me that, when they were children, they typically received one toy at Christmas. Mom said she received a doll one Christmas,... and the doll clothes the next Christmas.

When we were kids, we had lots of gifts under the tree, but that paled next to the mountain of gifts my nephew and nieces received in later years. Partly, that was a matter of increased family wealth, of course. But a lot of it was different expectations of Christmas, too, I suspect.

It's not just gifts, since we're constantly urged to spend money on decorations and everything else, too. And it's not just Christmas, since we are increasingly bombarded at nearly every holiday to spend more money. Well, as I say, it's a conspiracy - or maybe just a synergy - between the media and other corporations. Everyone wants a cut of the pie, and it's to everyone's benefit that the pie be as large as possible.

I suspect that even non-profit groups benefit. When there's lots of money flying around, it's easier for pretty much anyone to snag some of it. We tend to be more generous at Christmas, at least in part because we're already spending a lot of money on other things.

But does this benefit you and your family? It certainly doesn't if you go into debt. It certainly doesn't if this leaves you short of money to save for your retirement - or for your children's education. Whatever the real "meaning of Christmas," is it all about money? Not for me.

My Christmases have gotten so much better since I stopped exchanging gifts. Oh, I'd still give gifts if there were young children in the family, of course. And for older children, I send money. Even for adults, I might give a token gift of candy or flowers. I'm not a fanatic about this.

But there used to be a lot of stress at Christmastime. I'd spend weeks worrying about what gifts to buy, struggling to get just the right thing for everyone. Then, at Christmas, at least half the time my gifts would clearly fall flat - and I'd be given things I didn't really want, myself.

Eventually, I realized that we were giving each other items that we simply didn't want badly enough to buy for ourselves - just because that's what we'd been led to believe was the right thing to do at Christmas.

And I don't like to shop. Some people do. Some people apparently love to shop. But not me. For me, it was an unwelcome chore, and a stressful one. You can't imagine how much nicer my Christmases are these days!

I love Christmas. I don't necessarily love everything about it, but it's always been one of my favorite holidays. But I've never liked being manipulated by other people for their own advantage, and that's what seemed to be happening at Christmas. There was a reason why Christmas was becoming too commercial.

Well, I'm not a parent, either, and Christmas is all about children. So maybe that has something to do with it. At any rate, you can celebrate Christmas any way you want. I have no desire to dictate to anyone else, none at all. But this works for me.