I don't really like the Christmas holidays either. The whole season is so shallow and... mechanized. I won't complain about getting gifts, but it bothers me that we're expected to get each other stuff. Even when the person we're buying for doesn't "need" anything, we still buy him stuff because that's just what we're expected to do (Why buy people gifts for Christmas anyway? For Jesus?). So yeah, definitely the consumerism. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with Christmas (Why not buy loved ones gifts for Christmas?), but everyone going on autopilot spoils the whole season.
Mechanized. That's a great word for it. Or maybe just 'industrialized?' It's an 'economic' event now, rather than a spiritual or emotional one. The few gifts I bought this year, I bought irregardless of price. I bought them with a clear intention of making directly better the life of someone dear to me.I don't really like the Christmas holidays either. The whole season is so shallow and... mechanized.
This. I bought gifts for people when I knew exactly what I wanted to get them before hand and when I had an exact reason to get them that thing. If I didn't have those feelings about someone, that person didn't get anything. Of course, that meant that there were a lot of people in my life that didn't get anything. I don't mind, either.I bought them with a clear intention of making directly better the life of someone dear to me.