The News Of The Foz
The Joys Of Christmas (Pt. 2) 27/12/02 21:03
I can't be fucked with apathy any more, I really just don't care about it. It seems one of the main problems with Britain, so perfectly demonstrated by the city & county of Swansea, is that people just can't be bothered to get off their arses and actually do something to improve their situation. After all, actually doing stuff costs money surely? And what if it all goes wrong? One would end up looking foolish. From a very early age we are taught by our peers to conform, to be normal. Anything else is just odd and perverse. That is why the government is proposing making it completely illegal for bands to perform anywhere, including in a private house, without a licence - probably a common-sense idea which has gone silly as red-tape men lie awake at night in a cold sweat worrying that someone, somewhere may actually be enjoying themselves... That is why us Nestle & Nike boycotters are just whinging middle-class moaning minnies who are apparently 'Making things worse for the people we are trying to help' (a choice quote from whatever bland politician was about at the time things got a bit heated in Genoa last year). So what has all this got to do with Christmas?
Christmas performs an absolutely vital social function in Western society, far more vital than the House of Lords, Bucky Palace, The Mayor of London and the Second Minister for Squashing New Initiatives put together. Originally(?) a pagan festival before being rudely hijacked by the Church (ooh did I say 'Hijack?' ooh surely they couldn't have been terrorists, not that nice Reverend Dickie from the village next door, he doesn't even have a beard!), Christmas is there to help us cope with the dark, brooding Winter when the cold and bitter weather and long dark nights erode our optimism and make us feel uncomfortable in our Ikea chairs. Whether it is getting in touch with your spiritual side, or strengthening weakened and tested family ties or seeing how much food/booze/drugs/designer shopping you can consume in a week, the Christmas period is one to stimulate and encourage the soul. New year's resolutions are crap - you only ever make them knowing you will break them. But it is a good time to try and take stock, discarding the old and unneeded clutter and getting the fire burning in the hearth of productivity. Now is the time to grasp an idea and thrash it out kicking and screaming until it is developed. otherwise before you know it it will be November and you'll be worrying about your Christmas shopping again...