1,077 words
German translation here
Editor’s Note:
This essay was written last year, but since its points are still valid, I am regifting it to you.
Even though I am an unbeliever, the Christmas season is my favorite time of the year. Christmas, like dogs, brings out the best in people. It awakens a desire to beautify one’s world and adorn one’s soul with good deeds.
The worst kind of evil is not merely harming people, but harming people by exploiting their goodness. A pickpocket merely steals your money. A con artist who steals your money by saying that he is collecting donations for a good cause also penalizes virtue and undermines the trust that is the foundation of civilized society.
That is why I despise the commercialization of Christmas. There is a whole economy of “fourth quarter” industries that depend on Christmas giving. Advertisers whip us into materialistic frenzies, so we rack up huge credit card debts. Traditionally, Christmas shopping begins after Thanksgiving. But recently, it has been creeping back toward Halloween. If capitalists had their way, of course, we would be listening to Christmas muzak and pushing shopping carts in midsummer.
But there is a limit to when Christmas shopping can begin. If religion had anything to do with it, the absolute limit would be Easter. But economics is the deciding factor here. And in economic terms, Christmas shopping cannot begin until consumers have paid off their credit card debts from the previous Christmas.
The Friday after Thanksgiving is now called “Black Friday.” Traditionally, a Black Friday marks a massacre or disaster, and for consumers, I suppose it is. Merchants may be in the black, but consumers end up in the red.
It is too soon for White Nationalist politics in the United States. But racially conscious people still want to “do something.” The best thing we can do is make ourselves strong as a community. And the best way to do that is to become as independent as possible from the existing political and economic system. The Christmas season is the best time to begin that process, because it is the time when we spend the most money on the dumbest things in the dumbest way in the least amount of time.
So it is time to STOP shopping for Christmas.
Take a holiday from holiday shopping.
Stop running yourself ragged running up debts.
1. Don’t go into debt. Freeze your credit cards. Literally. Go to the kitchen, fill a container with water, put your credit cards in it, and stick it in the freezer. Don’t even think about thawing them out until January. And when January comes, resist the temptation and see just how long you can go without them.
2. Give the gift of freedom. Make a list of the people with whom you exchange gifts. If you have enough ties, enough sweaters, enough useless “novelty” items and your friends do as well, call them up and propose that you let one another off the hook.
3. Regift. Admit it, the thought has crossed your mind. I have done it countless times, usually with sweaters. A lot of people buy gifts just to buy gifts. What are the chances that they know you well enough and have the time and the taste to find you the perfect gift? This means that the first time around, many gifts do not reach the right recipient and end up unappreciated. Regifting is a way of helping them find the right home, at no additional cost and with the added benefit of reducing clutter. I start thinking about regifting well in advance (on Christmas day, truth be told), whereas many people choose gifts at the last minute.
4. Create, Reuse, Refurbish. Can you make your own Christmas cards, wreaths, and ornaments? Do it. Were your garden and fruit trees unusually productive? Consider giving preserves or pies for Christmas. If you have a particular talent for making bread or brewing beer or bottling wine, give those for Christmas. Old furniture is usually better made than new stuff. Learn to refinish and reupholster. Do you bind books? Offer to rebind a friend’s favorite book. Do you sew, knit, crochet? Make something. Between now and Christmas, you have plenty of time to do any of these things. You even have time to pick up new skills.
5. Teach, Encourage, Empower. Do you have talents and skills you can teach your friends? Give them “gift certificates” (hand-made, of course) entitling them to lessons. Do you play the piano? Offer the children of your friends some introductory lessons. Do you know how to maintain and repair your car, your air conditioner, your bicycle, your appliances, your plumbing, your lawn mower? Well most of your friends don’t. They spend hundreds of dollars every year repairing or replacing items that they have not maintained properly. Give them lessons, and you will help them save money and become more independent. Are you a great cook? Give your friends cooking lessons. People spend enormous amounts of money eating out. When they can make better food cheaper at home, they will not need or want to.
If you still have gifts to give after running through the above list and you are compelled to go shopping, consider the following rules of thumb.
6. Buy from local, small businesses, not big chains.
7. Buy goods made by white people around the world, not non-whites.
8. Patronize artists and craftsmen, not mass producers of plastic junk.
9. Keep your money in the racially conscious community. Buy from racially conscious publishers, booksellers, and other merchandisers. Readers, please post links to racially-conscious merchandisers in the comments to this article.
10. Affiliate Marketing: If you buy from Amazon.com, enter through Counter-Currents and we will get a commission at no cost to you. (If you have Amazon.com already bookmarked on your computer, replace your old bookmark with the url in the link above, and Counter-Currents will still get a commission, even if you do not enter Amazon.com from this site.)
No, I am not Scrooge. I am not the Grinch. I am not trying to steal your Christmas. I am merely suggesting that we celebrate Christmas intelligently and creatively, in ways that enrich us as a community rather than impoverish us, in ways that empower rather than weaken us. Decommercializing Christmas and reconnecting it with family and community will actually make it more meaningful and fun than ever.
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas from everyone at Counter-Currents/North American New Right!
5 comments
“Now the propaganda machine is cranking up to announce that a 2% increase in holiday retail sales means the U.S. economy is off and running. Santa, please, please, please order your reindeer to stomp the life out of the idiotic fantasy that Americans buying a few billion dollars more needless junk from China is any sort of evidence that the U.S. economy is “growing at a healthy clip.” The entire retail sector is 7.9% of the GDP compared to a 21.4% share for the FIRE tranch (finance, insurance and real estate) of the economy. Does anyone seriously believe that 3.4% of the economy can possibly leverage up the entire GDP with a razor-thin increase of $10 billion in holiday sales?”
http://opinions.caduceusx.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=4595
Good tips Greg and good focus for Whites. Christmas is not only a Christian celebration but a celebration of our European roots.
One of the things I’d like to see White leaders do more of is what you have done here – simple monetary advice. Budgeting advice along with wealth creation is a necessity for our people, especially the younger ones. And the #1 principle that cannot be stressed enough is to live within your means or, as Mr Micawber said, never let your outgo exceed your income.
Whites need to get off the credit card treadmill. Whites need to divest themselves of debt, especially credit card usury. It is one of the major causes of our enslavement.
I am amazed the fact that 40% of The US consumer shopping is done in this Christmas season. Human nature to desire new items doesn’t seem to change soon. Black Friday and Cyber Monday will never disappear. US economy itself depends on this season. I wish that more people will be aware of how easily we are lured to such greedy big corporates’ markets.
Well, this is the first I have heard of “Cyber Monday.” Yet you assure me that it will always be with us.
These are free and wonderful gifts, not just for children. I’ve put 3 samples below from the large selection. I’ve never emailed or posted links like this before, so I hope it’s not a mess. MOB
http://www.artsreformation.com/talespinners/
TALE SPINNERS FOR CHILDREN
Tale Spinners were a series of children’s vinyl records sold in the US during the 1960’s. Printed on the back of the record jackets was the following:
“The Tale Spinners for Children introduces an exciting new concept on records for young people. Every album in the series combines three major ingredients: classic stories for young people; a fine theatrical company plus a famous actor or actress playing the title role, and the music of the Hollywood Studio Orchestra providing the finest background possible.”
“Through the magic of Tale Spinners, young listeners are exposed to the finest literature, and a form of classical music presented in a most attractive setting.”
Information on other children’s records can be found at Children’s Vinyl Record Series.
The complete Tale Spinners discography can be found at Wikipedia: Tale Spinners for Children.
SAMPLES:
• The Pied Piper & The Tinder Box with Denise Bryer mp3s
• Aladdin and the Magic Lamp with Denise Bryer mp3s
• The 3 Musketeers with Robert Hardy mp3s
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