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Why You Should Never Take Me Christmas Shopping
Rob Hopkins, Transition Culture
When viewed with detatchment, there is something profoundly sad about the annual deeply stressful and financially impoverishing orgy of Christmas consumerism, as distinct from the far more enjoyable aspect of it, the time at home, time off work, seeing friends and family and so on. My thinking this means that I must be a dreadful pain in the arse to take Christmas shopping. What follows is an account of my forays into the world of the Christmas shopper….
I didn’t do a great deal of Christmas shopping myself this year. For my family I bought, as part of my attempt to give as low carbon gifts as I could, a land dedication at Summerhill Organic Farm in Devon, as part of the Soil Association Land Trusts scheme. Most of the rest my wife did (bless her cotton socks), but Christmas did require me to occasionally dash to the shops, which I did on two very different occasions. I thought I would share my observations from these immersions into consumer culture.
Friday November 20th 2008, London.
While visiting London and doing some early Christmas shopping, we found ourselves passing Harrods, and realised that we had actually never set foot in the place previously. Felt like a cultural experience one should have at least once in a lifetime, so we ventured in, intrigued. Taking me to Harrods is an experience in dragging a curmugeonly git around somewhere which happens to have many hundreds of things for him to grumble about.
Regular readers will know of my anthropological fascination with designer handbags. Well, in Harrods I actually saw ÂŁ4,500 handbags (they were appallingly vile objects), alongside ÂŁ65,000 fossils (amazing things!) and ÂŁ10,000 televisions. I was struck with the parallels between walking around Harrods with its opulence and lavish consumerism, and the Titanic.
(5 January 2009)
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A generation adjusts as teens confront a harsh economy
Marco R. della Cava, USA Today
… Perhaps never before has a generation that has wanted for so little — these offspring of acquisitive Baby Boomer parents have amassed cellphones, iPods, laptops and a perceived sense of entitlement — been forced to give up so much.
But far from paralyzing teens, the new fiscal order finds them embracing these leaner times. Instead of tuning out, teens are eager for parents to share the sober details of family finances. Instead of whining, they’re clamoring to help by cutting back on outings and getting odd jobs. And instead of moping, they’re shifting expectations for the present and banking lessons for the future.
“The only time there are arguments in the house is when it’s about money,” says Caitlin Morgan, 17. “So at least now we’re all talking about what we spend on which expenses, and what needs to be done to make it through this year.”
That the economic meltdown is having such a vivid effect on teens in Marin County, among the nation’s wealthiest, shows the breadth of the financial crisis. In previous downturns, upper-income families seldom felt the need to cut back. But today a record 51% of consumers making more than $75,000 a year say they’ll spend less on discretionary entertainment, according to a recent Discover U.S. Spending Monitor survey.
(8 January 2009)
The masters of the universe who cannot live with failure
Andrew Clarke, Guardian
Faced with losing their fortunes and their status, desperate financiers are being driven to take their own lives
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One day, they have it all. The next morning, they don’t. Sudden, dramatic slumps in fortunes caused by the credit crunch can take a tragic toll on high-flying businessmen accustomed to a life of success.
… There has been a trickle of self-inflicted deaths among financiers struggling to come to terms with heavy losses in a brutal, barely anticipated economic downturn.
At least six documented suicides in the financial industry have been linked to the credit crunch. Experts caution that suicide is never caused by a single factor – underlying mental health problems often play a role, as can substance abuse. But it has become clear that the recession is exacting a human toll.
“Some people have been so successful throughout their lives that they haven’t learned through experience how to tolerate loss or failure,” says Lanny Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology. “Some people identify their sense of self so rigidly around the concept of success that loss of success – failure – can push them to despair very quickly.”
… Ronald Maris, director of the University of South Carolina’s suicide research centre, invokes the French sociologist Émile Durkheim’s concept of “anomie” – a condition of weakened social regulation during a crisis which leaves individuals feeling adrift.
“A recession can cause a lack of orderliness, a disruption in social control,” said Maris, who argues that high-flyers can be particularly vulnerable.
(9 January 2009)
