How has the struggling economy changed your holiday traditions?

Americans have always had a vigorous tradition of pessimism, in counterpoint to the optimistic one. In 1819 John Adams worried about the duration of “our vast American Empire”. In 1948 Richard Hofstadter complained that “competition and opportunity” had gone into decline and that Americans were looking “wistfully back toward a golden age”. Much of today’s pessimism may prove as unfounded. Americans should rediscover the spirit of Christmas.

My traditions are religious, so the only cost is getting out of bed by 8:30am on a Sunday. Last Sunday, the church was still open. I feel so bad for churches that have had to close.

We’ve already begun Advent. I love the messages of peace and hope, and the lighting of the candles. I love how we all come together as a church after the service (young and old) to partake in hanging of the wreaths or singing or crafts, instead of having Sunday School.

It’s a beautiful time of year, and I’ve always tried to fight the materialism and the fact that I don’t have the budget to do gifts and decorations. I’ve taken advantage of the moral high ground as my inspiration. Our big family splurge/gift over the last few years was getting a camper cabin at the nearest state park to get away from it all – the Christmas movies, the commercials, the technology. Now there is no “our” on the holidays, it’s just me.

Funny how, despite my zeal over the “reason for the season”… every year, when it’s over I wonder if I’ll be able to have a “real” Christmas next year, and I worry if things will ever be “better.” No matter how hard I try to define the season for my self and make it my own, the bombardment of the traditional American Christmas, one with all the gifts and glorification of family, is so pervasive! The desire to be in a position where one is able to buy stuff and make her home beautiful is so strong. The wishing to have a welcome place in a “family” is undeniable.

I wonder how all the people who will hide behind a new moral high ground this year, really feel about having to cut back.

I guess the change in my tradition is that I used to relish the idea of a creating a “little” Christmas filled with meaning and family and love. After years of doing that, the reality is that my kids are getting older and they expect shit I cannot give them. They won’t even be with me because they spend all of the holidays with their dad and his big “wonderful” family.

So, the change for me this year is the realization that I still dig my religion, but my tradition of trying to make the best out of everything SUCKS!

While still trying to save money, I’ve focused on buying local directly from artisans and crafts people or businesses that specialize in them. There is plenty of local made jewelery in the area if you look for it and much of it at better prices for the quality than a chain store and people like the idea that they have something unique picked out by the giver. I also tend to buy from stores that support our community or causes that I prefer. This economy and government cuts have really hurt the non-profit sector, Instead of buying a gift that will be quickly forgotten why not go to a locally produced play or ballet as a gift maybe with a meal out and/or create a new tradition and find a new version of the the Nutcracker to see every year? All these ideas support the local economy instead of enriching other nations with cheap and sometimes abused labor.

I have downsized the gifts I give, and my holiday dinners are a lot more basic in the last couple of years, due to the Scrooges in St. Paul who have seen fit to freeze the pay of State employees like me. I don’t expect this to change much in the next three years. I don’t put up Holiday lights, in order to save electricity, and it depresses me just a little bit to see my dark house on the same street with many lighted ones.

I predicted the economic downturn coming and gave up all holiday traditions before it struck. After taking a walk on the solstice I will sit alone in the dark. I’ll be fine.

The state of the economy changes nothing that’s really important about Christmas. This “struggling economy” is booming compared to the Great Depression. Folks I know who lived through that episode of history remember Christmas as being a time of special joy, and there were no extravagant expenses. It’s about celebrating the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ, not (contrary to Lucy van Pelt) the gift getting season.

I think it is perfectly beautiful that Michael and Sue de Nim can find Joy and participate in kindness all throughout the year rather than isolating good deeds and happieness to a particular season.

We have all kinds of views on what Christmas is and I feel it is fair to say that while Jesus was the incarnation of God so are all they rest of us. I too love Jesus and I also understand that he wanted all of us to know the power and true divinity within us. I can understand how some people would have a problem with the idea of celebrating his birth and then turning around and celebrating the conspiracy and murder of a man who had nothing but love for his fellow human beings.

If you are not Catholic or Christian, Christmas would be just that-gift giving-sharing what you have but really shouldn’t this be recognized always? So if part of the celebration is this idea of gift giving and you do not have the means to do so -that is if you are low income or unemployed- yes the economy would have an influence on your celebration.

About those depression babies, I would think that at the time of the depression they would have been children. And yes, most children find the Christmas season magical with all the singing and lights and perceived happieness. I too felt the special magic alloted to Christmas time when I was a child. I live in an old home that was built at the turn of the century. The closets are small as well as other built in storage compartments. The time of the depression, people did not have the expectation and overconsumption that we do now.

We found a cheaper way to pay for our holiday vacation using a 17-day Christmas vacation in Hawaii with family. We will use tax payer money to fly us anywhere as many times as we want regardless of the 9% unemployment, it doesn’t affect us so we will do as the pres does, good enough for them should be good enough for us?

According to the Daily Mail, the president’s family covers the cost of a private beach front residence in Kailua, Oahu, for the span of the vacation, reportedly dubbed a ‘Winter White House’ that costs up to $3,500 a day, or $75,000 a month.

Taxpayers will foot the bill for secret service security and travel costs: A similar vacation last year cost more than $1.4 million. Air Force One according to the US Military budget, costs $181,700.00 per HOUR. Barry has spent more days abroad in his first two years in office than any other president. So in touch with the country so we will do as he does and use tax dollars to pay our way for the holiday.

“We will use tax payer money to fly us anywhere…”

It’s comments like these that sets one’s reputation.

Don’t be surprised if people start to ignore what you type.

And what does any of that have to do with holiday traditions?

Don’t patronize, “Swifter.” It makes me gag.

Tip top stuff. I’ll epxcet more now.