Merry Christmas and Stop Ruining the Planet

There's much to be said about Christmas - a festive holiday that now begins in October and, for most people, ends in January with a grand pile-up of credit card bills. Restaurants, bars, clubs and even pubs had started advertising their ‘exclusive’ and ‘ultimate’ Christmas plans even before I started shopping for a Halloween pumpkin. So, there is very little to be said when after such grandiose run-up you emerge on Christmas day without any gifts for your loved ones. And that's the high time to get philosophical.

If you start by pondering aloud, in an as-a-matter-of-fact manner, “why, oh, why do I have to buy?”, any reasonable person would just give up trying and make a mental note not to get you anything worth more than 2 quid for next Christmas.

If, however, they manage to miss the sarcasm in a haze of holiday hype and courteously listen in on your deep and meaningful monologue, then you can bring in the religion card. Caught in the spirit of ho-ho-ho, even Muslims and Sikhs go on spending sprees and set up emergency Christmas funds. But if you take a step back from that ever-so-charming spirit and go back to the roots of the holiday… most of us aren’t even Christian! We just like the sales, and the ribbons, and tearing up layers of wrapping only to discover your boyfriend doesn’t know you all that well after all.

And most importantly, a philosophical thought worth a PhD thesis is whether all this consumerism is in accord with the Green idea that is so en vogue these days. "Think of all the polar bears that are drowning because of the global warming! Think of the tonnes of excess packaging produced specifically for this environmentally hostile holiday!" - you could say, and pray they be reasonable.

Perhaps, as an ultimate gesture of desperation, to save the planet and to make poverty history, you could buy each one of your friends a copy of the Big Issue: a quality read for them, a big sincere ‘thank you’ for you, and a hot meal for the homeless.

It takes that little for a Christmas to be truly merry.