While I think it is important to give and receive presents - it is a part of the festival that everyone enjoys and a good expression of friendship - it doesn't have to be the latest products. A small but appropriate gift, maybe even a home-made gift, would be just as much appreciated. In my Livejournal circle of friends we have a Christmas tradition of writing each other short stories as presents.

Christmas is clearly not a scam. It is a historical, celebrated festival that is marked all over the Western world (and increasingly in the non-Western world). It honours a religious event, the birth of Christ, and present buying is, whilst also a long-standing tradition, not at all compulsory.

What people choose to do to mark the occasion is their own business. No one obligates them to buy presents. It is possible to celebrate Christmas giving simple gifts at the end of a relaxed family meal, or possible to burn out one's overdraft and credit cards buying opulent gifts and an expensively showy meal for extended family. No one makes anyone choose either of those options, or any other.

Advertising naturally encourages people to take one option over the other; businesses want to make money, so of course they subvert the meaning of Christmas into being about buying as much as is possible for as many people as possible. They do not hold anyone down and force them into it. Admittedly there is a lot of psychological pressure placed on parents, in particular, to buy as much as they can, but it ultimately comes down to their own decision whether to shop or not.

Even if someone does buy more than they can afford, the word 'scam' is not accurate to describe this. The word implies that people are spending money on something which ultimately is not as promised, and cons them. They are not. They are spending money on gifts, which they then give to people, who then use the gifts. This is a valid transaction for all parties.

The central point, however, is that without any purchases at all, the concept of Christmas would still stand. There would still be religious celebrations. There would still be family meals, where people gather together to be close to each other. This seems to imply that it is not a scam.