Occupy Christmas

[L. Coyote]

What if we boycott the holiday spending and donate to homeless shelters instead?

Don't kill a tree for Christ's sake - don't waste paper on materialism.

[dkf]

1. What would you say to your kids?

[canoeist52]

11. "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store."

Narrator: Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any presents at all!

He HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling:
Grinch: How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages boxes, or bags!
Narrator: And he puzzled and puzzed, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more."

[KittyWampus]

24. But Christmas DOES come from the act of Giving and Receiving

It's not the presents that are the issue. It's the attitude.

[itsrobert]

36. Yeah, the attitude to give to the homeless

and the poor.

[L. Coyote]

20. Since when does one's children's interests collide with the general good interest?

If your children need materialist gifts for Christmas, you are part of the problem!

[KittyWampus]

26. Frankly, your dogmatic approach is the problem. Children do love receiving gifts

as do humans in general.

And there's the whole Mythos/Pageantry involved in Christmas.

Your OP is foolishness.

It'd be one thing if you suggested making gifts, or buying locally or American. Or giving practical gifts.

But no, you need to crap on the entire concept and turn it into a partisan game.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

32. But don't you see the genuis of Occupy/Boycott Xmas???

If we don't give presents to our kids we drive down profits the corps will layoff/not employ tens of thousands of employees. And then THEIR kids won't get presents either!

And what child wouldn't understand the value of sticking it to the man during the holiday season?

:sarcasm:

[dkf]

34. Yeah the kids will just love participating...I am sure it will give them joyful memories of the OWS

Movement.

[L. Coyote]

33. So, make some really cool gifts.

And I'm not saying abolish Xmas, just Occupy Christmas. You figure out what the best way to do that is for you!

[dkf]

2. And isn't this one reason some people are occupying? Because their kids don't get presents?

Parents sound so sad when they talk about how their kids have no Christmas.

[TheWraith]

7. Not to mention, holiday shopping employs hundreds of thousands of people.

Temporarily yes, but I speak from experience that temporary employment is usually better than none.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. Christmas trees are a crop farmed by many family farms and

they are a vital part of Oregon's economy. If the land was not used to grow trees, it would not be a forest instead, and those trees do not come from natural woods. They are farmed, like corn.
I'll have a tree. 99% of the gifts I do buy are locally made by wee, tiny businesses.

[NYC_SKP]

5. No matter how hard one tries, one can not make xmas tree farms a "green" enterprise.

Like corn, there is a carbon footprint to harvesting, growing, shipping, replanting, etc. holiday trees.

I hate to see the public believing that it's OK.

It won't kill the planet, but it's not helpful.

Trees should be left to grow and thrive, tractors and trucks and cars of people going out to buy these and bring them home and the garbage trucks that pick them up and all that crap....


....It needs to stop.

x(

[Fawke Em]

25. Yes, trees need to be left to grow, but little evergreens of the

"Christmas tree" variety aren't the types of trees needed for sustainability. These trees rarely get tall and stately and, if they do, then they are spinally and tend to fall over at the first blustery gale.

I see no problem plopping a tree upon my car at the local Kroger's while I'm doing my shopping, putting up the pretty thing and then setting it out for our city to mulch and use to grow other plants.

Your argument about cars and trucks going out to get them is a straw man. Most people would be out shopping for gifts, food and other things when they go grab their tree anyway and many truck are already out in the country to bring in produce.

If you want to discuss "green living," then worry more about the crap Montsanto puts in our crops that the Farmer Joe's Christmas Tree Farm.

[laundry_queen]

29. *laugh*

I'm just having a giggle at Farmer Joe's Christmas Tree Farm. As you'll see by my post below, "Joe" was my grandfather, except his name was Mike. lol.

I agree with everything you say except the second sentence. My grandfather, when he retired, let his trees grow and 20 years later, boy are they beautiful! They are thicker than your normal scrub pine type of forest and there is so much wildlife that likes to hide in the Christmas tree forest :) I'm not sure what kind of pine my grandfather planted (I know there was some blue spruce in there, but he had a few varieties) but they grew tall and strong :)

I agree, it's one of the greener business around. Funny how even green businesses are subject to outrage here for not being green enough and large corps are defended.

[laundry_queen]

28. By your definition

Not much humans do is a 'green' enterprise.

My grandfather used to own a Christmas tree farm. He planted the trees on land that was mostly grassland and swamp dotted by bush. He hired students to trim trees by hand in the summer, at a high wage for that time ($15/hr, 20 years ago). The way he cut his trees was unique in that they were usually able to regenerate, so he rarely had to replant. People who knew about his farm would come and pick out a Christmas tree and my grandpa would charge them the wholesale price. But since he was very far away from the city, he normally had to sell to wholesalers, and generally he sold to small 1-person businesses (at a VERY low wholesale price) that would open Christmas tree lots around the city. My grandpa's trees were really thick and symmetrical and were in big demand.

When my grandpa decided to stop doing the business, he was in his late 70's. No one wanted the land and it wasn't his to sell (his mother gave it to him, but not legally and there are several other brothers who own it as well). So now, the trees have been growing for nearly 20 years and it's a beautiful pine forest, loaded with wildlife and wild berries. I think that's a pretty green way to end a business :)

[NYC_SKP]

4. I support this idea and I kinda sorta do that anyway.

I only give gifts to my octogenarian mom and dad, last Thanksgiving I volunteered with a homeless shelter in San Jose, CA.

Not sure if I'll go back this year, but yeah, stop buying crap and hit em in the pocketbook.

All they care about is profit, we can eliminate them.

[MADem]

6. I give money at Christmas. I have no idea what people need, so that's easiest.

It also makes me fairly popular--no fool, I!

The best bargains are to be found in January, any, if people have a need to buy something at this time of year.

[napoleon_in_rags]

8. I say buy from small business, give things to poor. nt

[Goblinmonger]

37. EXCELLENT idea.

Buy local! Support small business.

[BeyondGeography]

9. I love this Small Business Saturday idea

http://smallbusinesssaturday.com/

There are so many great little shops that depend on Xmas. Keep Main Streets and small towns alive just by buying one thing for one person. Consuming isn't all bad.

[Sherman A1]

10. Ya, know

If I choose to buy a few things, give a few gift cards or send some money to those for whom I care at Christmas time. I think I will just do that. I will give to those charities I choose to do so through the year and while the idea(s) in the OP may work for them, I believe I will follow another path and have the holidays be what I want them to be for me.

[aquart]

12. Yes. Let's kill every American retailer depending on Xmas to pay bills.

How about spending the money on something NOT made overseas? Google for American made and order what you find. Or go to a local crafts fair and buy beautiful things that support American craftsmen.

[GeorgeGist]

14. Fear less.

[OtherSideTeam]

13. One of them War on Christmas crowd, eh?

(sarcasm)

[freshwest]

16. We have a special sarcasm smiley! I'll put yours here. Welcome to DU.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

Hope that wasn't too much.

:rofl:

[KittyWampus]

27. Actually, this is the sort of thread that feeds that kind of stupidity.

[RB TexLa]

15. I haven't spent anything on Christmass in a while, not my job to help the economy

[The Genealogist]

17. What I used to do for Christmas, when I had some money

I haven't really done anything for Christmas in a few years now. When I had money for gifts, which has always been just a little money, it was usually something from small antique malls/flea markets or thrift stores. Such a variety of things, old and fairly new, and great places to browse for small gifts that are not expensive but have much meaning. I had a few Christmas trees.

Now, I have a simple meal, traditional but not extravagant. I treasure the day for the time I spend with loved ones and not what goodies I get. If I do get something, I do appreciate it very much, but I don't expect anything. It is amazing to me how meaningful the season is when almost no money is invested in it.

[DesertRat]

18. Works for me

My kids are grown and none of us needs more stuff.

[Brickbat]

19. I harvest my own tree off my own land, I buy only union-made or Made in USA goods, or I buy gift-

certificates for services (restaurants, massages). That about sums it up.

[appleannie1]

21. My daughter taught her kids to make a box and take it to a poor family. That is how they

celebrate every year and the kids love doing it and look forward to it. As a result of teaching them this sort of thing, the first thing the oldest did when she went to college this year was to sign up for volunteer services in the area. She spends weekends by helping in a nursing home one day and working with mentally challenged people one day.

[adigal]

22. I am making all my gifts this year

I did it last year, and I am doing it again. My sons want money and my daughter wants an i-pod, so I told her to ask her Grandparents about that. I am not darkening the doorway of any big stores for gifts - if I can't make it, I will go to local retailers.

[KittyWampus]

23. It's possible to spend wisely on gifts of quality/utility AND be charitable.

This thread is ridiculous

[canoeist52]

39. Not possible if you barely have enough money for necessecities.

[KittyWampus]

40. Look on Etsy, there's plenty of gorgeous things to make out of old newspaper.

[roody]

30. I've been doing that for decades.

[datasuspect]

31. fuck christmas

it's goddamn bullshit

[L0oniX]

35. xmas = social terrorism.

[laundry_queen]

38. I think that's too radical for most

while the premise certainly makes sense, I don't think it's a 'win' if you're looking to spend the message of give to the poor and forgo material goods.

And about the killing tree stuff - usually that's what those trees are grown for, and a lot of people who grow them are still the small-time farmer (because Christmas trees haven't yet been GMO'ed by Monsanto, LOL) and it hurts them. Plus, the trees are biodegradable which is better than the plastic ones (full disclosure - I own a plastic one. I got it for free 8 years ago. Real ones are too rich for my budget. My grandpa used to sell them for $10/tree. The lots here charge $80/tree).

Also, I like to make a lot of my gifts. No, it's not what you think. I don't knit the horrid sweaters. I DO follow trends in fashion and knitting (and crocheting, and sewing, and other crafty things) and will make stylish accessories. One year I gave my mom a scarf knit in a very unique yarn. She got so many compliments on it, and 2 years later the exact same thing I knit was in the stores everywhere! People at her work were like, "I finally found a scarf like yours in the store!" So, so far I have had good results :)

I also buy off Etsy for some gifts. Nothing like supporting a crafter and/or small business.

There are many things you can do to create a less material/more meaningful Christmas. You don't have to cut it out altogether to make your point. And you can still donate money to charities and finish your gift giving all in one fell swoop. Many charities now give out cards you can give to your gift recipient that "$XXX has been donated in your name, Merry Christmas" Just search online and there are many places that do that - I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be pleased with that as a gift. I would :)