BehindBlueI's
Grandmaster
- Oct 3, 2012
- 25,937
- 113
Forced giving, like Christmas exchanges or any holiday generated for the sake of consumer sales, is a tax. I avoid them for the most part.
"Forced giving" and ritual predates the very idea of a consumer or an economic market place. It predates money (take a look at studies of tribes in Papua New Guinea as an example). It strengthens societal bonds and reinforces community. Something sadly lacking in the cynical and "fling poo at everything" society of the increasingly urbanized and Internet-centric modern US culture.