Gift giving for Christmas is a materialistic idea created solely to steal your money. Do not misunderstand me, gifts are great to give to someone you care for. However, American culture has taken the idea of gift giving and turned it into something materialistic and inconsiderate. 

Gifts have turned into something people feel obligated to get, from gags to boring Hallmark cards. Instead of taking time to consider gifts or spending a large amount of cash getting something the recipient would actually care about, Americans know that the easiest thing to do is get a $10 Starbucks gift card and Holiday themed Christmas card. 

Gifts should be meaningful and well thought-out. They should represent both the gift-giver and gift-receiver. Though perhaps I’ve had bad experiences with gifts in the past, many have bought me gifts I don’t even use because the gift had no meaning to me. I would have rather had someone spend time with me. I believe that Christmas should not be centered around gift-giving but rather experiences with your loved ones. 

When the Holidays come around, we are constantly fed advertisements for gift cards and overpriced doodads that have no real meaning. It’s to sell, that’s all it is. There’s no true meaning behind meaningful gift giving other than profit for companies. A multi-billion dollar company could care less about you, or anyone you’re buying gifts for. What happened to homemade gifts? What happened to quality one-on-one time? Gifts that are just gifts have no purpose and that’s what angers me; they need structure. People would rather shell out money just because they feel obligated rather than dedicating time out of their day to experience the holidays with a person they care about. And yes, I know many people still make gifts, and many people spend quality time with their loved ones. However, the great majority of America is stuck in a cycle of spending far too much money on meaningless gifts that everyone will forget about in a matter of months.

It’s clear at least to me that Christmas has been taken over by corporations and materialism. I feel as if the wholesome family dinners and Christmas get-togethers have been replaced with overly zealous store-bought gifts and white elephants. 

In short, I believe that Christmas, at least in America, has been so ingratiated with buying gifts that gifts have lost all meaning. We as a country have forgotten the meaning of the holidays – a time to look back and spend time with family and friends. That is why I believe Christmas gift-giving is a materialistic scam.