The Case for NOT Giving Gifts

I have tried to excuse myself from gift-giving and gift-receiving traditions for the last 35 years, and I am not alone in recognizing ways that these traditions are problematic. There is some overlap of this with the idea of “love languages”, but I tend to come at it from an economics perspective. This video explains it better than I can:

A Tiny Peek at Christmas Economics by Angela Collier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quXEUVLX5II&t=690s

If you need a way to demonstrate affection and closeness in a relationship, spend time making a memory together. Value is lost when we guess wrong what another person wants, pretend to like something we don’t, give gifts based on obligation instead of spontaneous generosity, and give gifts on a day of many gifts so that the joy is drowned out or stolen by comparison.