Hi. I am Greg and to begin the year, I want to reflect back and grumble about Christmas presents.
Not being one for celebrating deities of either the religious or commercial kind, I headed for the hills for Christmas – literally. I was staying in a small town at the foot of Mt Buffalo in Victoria, and on Christmas morning a few hardy souls pedalled up the mountain to enjoy the grand views of the alpine plateau.
About half way up two cyclists cruised past me like I was not moving. I was relieved when I got to the top to find that they were half my age, but on returning to where I was staying, there were a couple of teenagers riding their new bikes around the park. No doubt that was a Christmas scene repeated around the country, but the catch here was that these were electric bikes.
Now electric bikes can be good and useful – but do healthy teenagers really need an electric assist to pedal the largely flat terrain that a 20-inch bike wheel will traverse?
We hear the messages about childhood obesity, we know the benefits of exercise to mental and physical health, and you don’t have to wear lycra to enjoy the simple pleasure of riding a bicycle. And yet, here were these kids whizzing around the park on their carbon-unfriendly toys.
Ok, an electric bike is still a better present than a computer game or an I-something, but really – if one has to buy-into the Christmas consumer culture (and that’s a whole grumble in itself!), is that really the best that can be done?
And so, to the two guys who passed me on the way up to Mt Buffalo, and especially to the pair on the tandem I saw the day before pulling a trailer over Mt Hotham – chapeau!
And to all those who trundled, walked, jogged or swam over Christmas – well done.
But for those whose Christmas presents encouraged sedantry lifestyles, or just thoughtless and wasteful consumerism: hmmm.
I am Greg and I am grumbling.
This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast.
First Broadcast: 6 January 2015
Greg's Grumbles can be heard on Radio Adelaide during SACOSS' Small Change program - 6pm every Tuesday night. 101.5FM or online.
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Monday, 5 January 2015
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
21. Christmas
Hi, I am Greg and I want to grumble about – well, Christmas, of course. What else could one grumble about in this season of peace and goodwill to all men.
Where to begin? Maybe with a simple bah-humbug, but it is such a cliché - and Dickens sold Scrooge out with a change of heart.
So, where to begin? The enforced Christianity, the social assertion of the supremacy of the biological family, or just the crass commercialisation? Or maybe that our society degenerates into a gaudy, wasteful festival of greed and over-consumption. The simple and good notions of a holiday and getting together with family and friends get commodified and polluted, while those who do not fit this happy Christmas picture are pushed to the edge.
Of course there are many acts of generosity at Christmas time, sometimes in thoughtful present-giving, and sometimes in acts of charity and support for those who are not doing so well – but just maybe, at least some of those people are not doing so well because of the pressure and social exclusion that is the inevitable outcome of the Santa Clause culture. And let’s not forget that Christmas is not just an occasion of mirth and giving, it is also an occasion of increases in offensive drunkenness, domestic violence, road carnage and suicide.
There are many Christians in our society who have a right to celebrate their days of religious significance. Ok, yes, I know it was originally a pagan festival that was taken over by western Christian churches in a colonial process which pre-figured the more recent colonisation by a fat man in a coca-cola-sponsored red suit. But if I have to hear one more banal Christmas carol, I don’t know what I’ll do. It is why I usually try to head to a mountain somewhere at this time of year. I am sure that if there is a god – singular or plural, of whatever description, they are more likely to found in the glory of nature and the call of the wild than in artificial religious ceremonies or in Department stores selling useless objects as meaningless gifts.
So, I hope listeners have a good break and get to share time and themselves with friends and families. But personally, I want to imagine a day when our society’s main festival isn’t a celebration of religions of either the theological or commercial kind. But until then, I am Greg and I am grumbling.
This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-21/
First Broadcast: 24 December 2013
Where to begin? Maybe with a simple bah-humbug, but it is such a cliché - and Dickens sold Scrooge out with a change of heart.
So, where to begin? The enforced Christianity, the social assertion of the supremacy of the biological family, or just the crass commercialisation? Or maybe that our society degenerates into a gaudy, wasteful festival of greed and over-consumption. The simple and good notions of a holiday and getting together with family and friends get commodified and polluted, while those who do not fit this happy Christmas picture are pushed to the edge.
Of course there are many acts of generosity at Christmas time, sometimes in thoughtful present-giving, and sometimes in acts of charity and support for those who are not doing so well – but just maybe, at least some of those people are not doing so well because of the pressure and social exclusion that is the inevitable outcome of the Santa Clause culture. And let’s not forget that Christmas is not just an occasion of mirth and giving, it is also an occasion of increases in offensive drunkenness, domestic violence, road carnage and suicide.
There are many Christians in our society who have a right to celebrate their days of religious significance. Ok, yes, I know it was originally a pagan festival that was taken over by western Christian churches in a colonial process which pre-figured the more recent colonisation by a fat man in a coca-cola-sponsored red suit. But if I have to hear one more banal Christmas carol, I don’t know what I’ll do. It is why I usually try to head to a mountain somewhere at this time of year. I am sure that if there is a god – singular or plural, of whatever description, they are more likely to found in the glory of nature and the call of the wild than in artificial religious ceremonies or in Department stores selling useless objects as meaningless gifts.
So, I hope listeners have a good break and get to share time and themselves with friends and families. But personally, I want to imagine a day when our society’s main festival isn’t a celebration of religions of either the theological or commercial kind. But until then, I am Greg and I am grumbling.
This Grumble can be heard online or by podcast at https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/gregs-grumbles-21/
First Broadcast: 24 December 2013
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