"Was Santy good to ye?"
"Did you get anything nice?"
These were the questions that I posed to my three-year-old Goddaughter Hannah at Christmas. They were also the first questions I got asked myself in the few days after the event.
And did I? Well, I certainly did (thanks mammy and daddy)- I got a nice set of airline tickets to whisk my good self away to Serbia for a week in February for the Belgrade Open (nerd, I know), and a lump sum to buy myself some clothes (as the clothes I have are falling apart). I will probably not purchase new clothes, but use the cash to buy MORE flights to more debating competitions, but you get the idea, Santy was very good.
Aside from this big expenditure, my mother bought "stocking fillers", which are of a quality and standard far from the spinning tops and Slinkie Springs of my childhood Christmas Stocking. Add to that the ridiculous quantities of sweets, cakes, snacks, quality booze and a 28lb organic turkey, and you get the idea that my folks go crazy at Christmas. I am not an only child. there are FIVE of us. so all of that, x5. My mother goes into uber-generous mode at Christmas, and a couple of times even handed over the Visa card for me to order books on Amazon, I went a bit crazy actually...
the point that I am trying to make is this- what is it about Christmas that turns my parents, sensible and balanced middle-aged Irish people, into crazy consumers? I am not worried about their finances, I'm sure my Dad would prevent my mother from losing the plot altogether, and I know that in general they are comfortable enough. They have, however, always instilled in me the principle that you don't have to spend all of your money to be happy. I know that Mam has always gone a bit over her budget at Christmas but I don't think she even makes a budget any more.
We can blame several factors, of course. The bloated economy has made Irish people run where angels fear to tread, so confident are we of our wealth. My parents are of that category where steady, Health Board jobs have made them secure for life.
This doesn't fully explain the urge to spend, spend, spend...we do tend to buy better quality when we have more money, but it's the sheer quantity that I'm really talking about.
Is it clever marketing? Do we feel that it is now the norm for every 12 year old to possess a top of the range phone, MP3 player, games console, digital camera, laptop, whatever other consumer goods we now cannot live without? And the constant upgrading and modifying ensures that there is always something new to "need", come christmas, birthdays, confirmation, graduation.
Is it normal for one family to possess 5 laptops, 2 PCs (one of which is one of those really powerful gaming computers), an Xbox 360, a PS3, and a nintendo Wii, not to mention several Nintendo DS and PSPs? I honestly don't know if I'm just out of the loop but it all seems a bit excessive to me.
It certainly didn't prevent us all from falling out massively on St. Stephen's day, and hasn't contributed to family life since I've been home (other than to keep us out of one another's way most of the time), except for a couple of games on the Wii that are group oriented and quite fun, if you can stop people from fighting over the controls...
I guess what I'm saying is that the spirit of Christmas was present in our house as much as can be expected, but it was not aided (nor hindered, I suppose), by gross over-spending. Personally, I think that this desire to buy everything in sight (as further demonstrated by the manic shopping the day after Christmas in Dublin and Cork) is little to do with having more money- that simply facilitates the spending. Nor is excellent marketing responsible for the splurge, that simply tells us what we really, really need.
In truth, it is a sense of entitlement that best characterises the irish attitude to spending. A sense that we "deserve a treat" for all our hard work. Sure, weren't we poor enough for long enough? "You can't spend it when you're dead" appears to be the maxim.
Perhaps this is the correct attitude to take- what's the point of working hard if you can't enjoy the rewards?
What are the rewards? Let us examine what the effects of greater wealth are on irish individuals. Obesity, debt, pollution, and inequality are all on the increase.
Obesity-the facts:
"Did you get anything nice?"
These were the questions that I posed to my three-year-old Goddaughter Hannah at Christmas. They were also the first questions I got asked myself in the few days after the event.
And did I? Well, I certainly did (thanks mammy and daddy)- I got a nice set of airline tickets to whisk my good self away to Serbia for a week in February for the Belgrade Open (nerd, I know), and a lump sum to buy myself some clothes (as the clothes I have are falling apart). I will probably not purchase new clothes, but use the cash to buy MORE flights to more debating competitions, but you get the idea, Santy was very good.
Aside from this big expenditure, my mother bought "stocking fillers", which are of a quality and standard far from the spinning tops and Slinkie Springs of my childhood Christmas Stocking. Add to that the ridiculous quantities of sweets, cakes, snacks, quality booze and a 28lb organic turkey, and you get the idea that my folks go crazy at Christmas. I am not an only child. there are FIVE of us. so all of that, x5. My mother goes into uber-generous mode at Christmas, and a couple of times even handed over the Visa card for me to order books on Amazon, I went a bit crazy actually...
the point that I am trying to make is this- what is it about Christmas that turns my parents, sensible and balanced middle-aged Irish people, into crazy consumers? I am not worried about their finances, I'm sure my Dad would prevent my mother from losing the plot altogether, and I know that in general they are comfortable enough. They have, however, always instilled in me the principle that you don't have to spend all of your money to be happy. I know that Mam has always gone a bit over her budget at Christmas but I don't think she even makes a budget any more.
We can blame several factors, of course. The bloated economy has made Irish people run where angels fear to tread, so confident are we of our wealth. My parents are of that category where steady, Health Board jobs have made them secure for life.
This doesn't fully explain the urge to spend, spend, spend...we do tend to buy better quality when we have more money, but it's the sheer quantity that I'm really talking about.
Is it clever marketing? Do we feel that it is now the norm for every 12 year old to possess a top of the range phone, MP3 player, games console, digital camera, laptop, whatever other consumer goods we now cannot live without? And the constant upgrading and modifying ensures that there is always something new to "need", come christmas, birthdays, confirmation, graduation.
Is it normal for one family to possess 5 laptops, 2 PCs (one of which is one of those really powerful gaming computers), an Xbox 360, a PS3, and a nintendo Wii, not to mention several Nintendo DS and PSPs? I honestly don't know if I'm just out of the loop but it all seems a bit excessive to me.
It certainly didn't prevent us all from falling out massively on St. Stephen's day, and hasn't contributed to family life since I've been home (other than to keep us out of one another's way most of the time), except for a couple of games on the Wii that are group oriented and quite fun, if you can stop people from fighting over the controls...
I guess what I'm saying is that the spirit of Christmas was present in our house as much as can be expected, but it was not aided (nor hindered, I suppose), by gross over-spending. Personally, I think that this desire to buy everything in sight (as further demonstrated by the manic shopping the day after Christmas in Dublin and Cork) is little to do with having more money- that simply facilitates the spending. Nor is excellent marketing responsible for the splurge, that simply tells us what we really, really need.
In truth, it is a sense of entitlement that best characterises the irish attitude to spending. A sense that we "deserve a treat" for all our hard work. Sure, weren't we poor enough for long enough? "You can't spend it when you're dead" appears to be the maxim.
Perhaps this is the correct attitude to take- what's the point of working hard if you can't enjoy the rewards?
What are the rewards? Let us examine what the effects of greater wealth are on irish individuals. Obesity, debt, pollution, and inequality are all on the increase.
Obesity-the facts:
- Obesity accounts for at least 2,500 deaths in Ireland, each year.
- Increasing obesity is associated with increasing mortality.
- Obesity is directly associated with a number of serious diseases including diabetes, heart disease, many forms of cancer and high blood pressure.
- In Ireland, 47% of people report being overweight or obese (13% obese, 34% overweight; SLÁN 2003).
- Ireland has the fourth highest prevalence of overweight and obesity in men in the EU and the seventh highest prevalence among women.
Debt- credit card debt as a proportion of personal debt and disposable income has risen from €290 million Euro to €1850 Million between 1995 and 2004. we can say that income itself has increased hugely, but what happens when there is a downturn in our economy- how will people clear their debts?
Pollution-
Pollution-
-
Tonnage of Greenhouse Gas emissions 1.9 per cent higher than in 2004;
-
Main increase from transport emissions which increased by 6.9 per cent (an increase of almost 870,000 tonnes);
-
Substantial increase from energy generation of 2.4 per cent (increase of 380,000 tonnes) attributable mainly to increased use of peat in power stations;
-
Emissions from agriculture continued downward trend and are 1.8 per cent lower than in 2004.
And what about the spirit of charity that is supposed to be all pervasive at this time of year? I'm glad to say that my folks haven't entirely abandoned their morals and do feel a bit guilty at spending it all on themselves (and us)- they have increased their charity donations too, and encourage the kids to do as much as they can for volunteer organisations in our home town.
But I get the feeling that this isn't the pervasive attitude. Having looked at levels of aid donated by the Irish in the last few years, the proportion of voluntary donations (this excludes Irish Aid which is derived from tax) in relation to GDP has diminished. Levels of homelessness and relative poverty in Ireland are becoming more serious.
This is a shame. Do we consider ourselves a successful nation? Are these the results of success? because if this is how it goes, success has a lingering, bitter after-taste.
But I get the feeling that this isn't the pervasive attitude. Having looked at levels of aid donated by the Irish in the last few years, the proportion of voluntary donations (this excludes Irish Aid which is derived from tax) in relation to GDP has diminished. Levels of homelessness and relative poverty in Ireland are becoming more serious.
This is a shame. Do we consider ourselves a successful nation? Are these the results of success? because if this is how it goes, success has a lingering, bitter after-taste.
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