"The Christmas tradition...for children is founded in the belief that it will allow us a peek through the gates of the magical kingdom captured in a child's imagination and allow us a brief return to our own lost world of wonder. This is the ticket we hope to 'buy' with the toys we wrap..."
Scroogenomics vs Santa-nomics
Scroogenomics, has done a superb job of typecasting Scrooge for a 21st Century version of the old classic. It is an update to the very logic and emphasis of the actual character of this years extraordinary animation of the original Scrooge himself, so powerfully portrayed in: A Christmas Carol by Jim Carey.
(I brought my 5 year daughter. She loved it even though it's scripted in the lofty dialog of the original text. What a creative feat.)
This small booklet of Scroogenomics, by Joel Waldfogel (from U of Penn, Wharton business school), is summarized by George Wills in Scroogenomics & Holiday Gift Giving (11-26-09). George gives us his biting review with all the academic conservative flair his columns are known for. What makes this latest editorial so magnificent is that Mr Wills unwittingly provides a series of examples that demonstrate the very reasons for this ‘season of giving.’ That a man of such genius would miss his own looping trail of logic completes this story of the Christmas classic and those who would make an issue of its gifts.
The punch line holds that: "The measure of the inefficiency of allocating value by gift-giving" comes to 20%. In his example of the $66 billion spent on gifts, it produced just "$12 billion less satisfaction than...if the recipients had spent" the money themselves.
For this short fall, they suggest that all the pageantry of the Christmas traditions be swapped out and transferred over into gift cards, of which 10% are “never redeemed.”
(This leaves gift cards with just a 10% advantage over the actual gifts - if we are to go on Scroogenomics measure of ‘satisfaction.’)
It is revealing that his editorial starts with the conclusion that "Gifts ..people buy for others are USUALLY POORLY matched to the recipients' preferences," but then he gives us this example that offers a whooping 80% success rate.
Do people even know what they want 80% of the time? The fact that others do, seems wholly miraculous to me. I´m interested to see how this compares with our own shopping performance. Do my purchases leave me with 20% "less satisfaction" then I originally anticipated: pants that happen to be too tight (must be the wash), the dream phone that only holds 1 and half hours of charge per day (it is a serious problem) or the nightmare apt. by way of cost and neighbors. Where should we start the countdown to satisfaction?
Odd Gifts like Old Wines
The decades have left me with the hint of misty-eyes as I remember the charm of my Grandma´s annual birthday gifts of underwear and socks. I never used them as a boy in India, yet the other (seemingly important) gifts for their day somehow escape my recollection now. Which gifts hold greater value?
The column gives the examples of Uncle Ralph´s "sweater of appalling color and style that went out in the 40´s" and Grandma´s kaleidoscope to Jimmy who preferred Grand Theft Auto IV.
Guess what Uncle Ralph is going to be remembered for in the years to come or what Jimmy will cherish most when Grandma dies? Yeap, its going to be that appalling sweater and the kaleidoscope. It can seem that the more odd the gift, the more likely the memory. I guess advertisers have known this for years. Are odd gifts the new old wines of Christmas?
These gifts are different then the example of the wedding registries offered as a counter to Christmas tradition. Wedding gifts are specifically geared to help a young couple with their new home. Leaving them a gift card may therefore prove more useful to this end. Christmas is different – much, much different.
The 12 Blessings of Christmas Gifts
1) Expression of Greatest Ideals
Christmas is a personal expression in sharing our greatest ideals of hope, kindness and the commemoration of Divine Love in all its 'Glory to the World' as a social phenomenon.
2) Window to Personality
Christmas gifts, much like the act of giving, therefore provides a vivid window to the unique personalities that are the family and friends that enrich our lives with experiences so different from our own. This is the very point of Christmas and George tellingly portrays it in the gifts he suggest they would buy.
3) Art of Expression
Christmas gifting is a powerful medium of expression that touches upon an art in its own right and should be valued in par with those of the other arts. This does not mean more commercialization. It means more artistry in the selection and creation of, presentation to and reception by, our loved ones.
4 & 5) Fairy Tales & New Worlds of Experience
Christmas gifts serve several roles. The most common are those that allow things we wish for but maybe out of our own immediate reach. This experience can recreate all the magic of our childhood fairy tales where 'wishes do come true.' However, there is another, if more important role for gifts as well. Gifts often have us try something we would not otherwise do on our own. In short, gifts allow us to step into new worlds of experience beyond the purview of our own choices.
(Say for example, you come across a friend with the same sweater or your girlfriend finds the kaleidoscope incredibly charming. Your sense for these things now has this reference wherein you can recognize the charm and novelty that was otherwise beyond your own interests or experience.)
6) Gates to Magic Kingdom
And there remains another facet of blessings to this art of giving. The column nicely alludes to this in the example of Uncle Ralph in “the desperate bewilderment about what (you) might like.”
It is called empathy. Empathy has us dance in another mans shoes to try and experience the world through their eyes of joy and novelty. The Christmas tradition of doing this for children is founded in the belief that it will allow us a peek through the gates of the magical kingdom captured in a child's imagination and allow us a brief return to our own lost world of wonder. This is the ticket we hope to 'buy' with the toys we wrap and the economic theory behind Santa Clause´s tireless work: the Santa-nomics if you will. (Christmas stories usually follow along this theme of the childhood magic.)
7) Art of Celebrating Life's Joys
Christmas is unique in that it is one of the last remaining social events wherein empathy is asked of us. We have now been walled off into such a myriad of social cubicles in contrast to the world of yore that required far more dependence, cooperation and social interaction then we find in many of today's family, community, church and vocational relationships. Christmas is the social occasion where we once again try on the old camaraderie of those days through this precious art of celebrating life's joys through another mans smile. The apparent failures in either choosing the right gifts or in properly honoring them, only goes to show the growing need for more practice. Thank God, Christmas comes annually.
8) Key to Idealistic Ambitions
Empathy holds the mythical key to our most daring idealistic ambitions whether they be for World Peace or the brotherhood of mankind, but there are more immediate uses that may have been over-looked. As a Realtor for example, I've come to discover the real secret of our profession that personifies the point.
9) Empathetic Proficiency
In NY. you are not going to ‘sell’ someone a (half) million dollar home. Our specialty is actually based upon our ability to find the 5 homes that best suit our clients dreams over the rest of the 400 other properties to choose from. We are matchmakers. The better we can match them to the right property, the better we stand as a Realtor. This Empathetic Proficiency is the secret to a host of other professions and activities that finds its play-ground in the glory we call Christmas.
10) Personal Growth
The (inter) personal growth we talk of here has been cast as mere ‘sentimentality’ and merrily dismissed: “Were it not for sentimentality about sentiments, which are highly overrated, we would behave rationally, giving cash, thereby avoiding value subtraction.” So says George Wills. As Scrooge 'rationally' points out, Christmas is both a whole day of lost work as well as wasted money spent for nothing but a bunch of 'hogwash*.'
11) Pure Sentimentality
Of course, the obvious irony here is that Christmas is really little more then pure ‘sentimentality.’ You maybe able to denigrate sentimentality for most any other occasion. However, their recommendation that we suddenly drop it for Christmas is antithetical to the whole point of Christmas.
12) Great for Economy
Take away sentimentality and there goes the very magic we call Christmas along with the more then $70 billion ‘irrationally’ spent on it. This simple fact would seem obvious to most everyone - especially a business economist. Instead, it has gone to showcase that Scrooge-a-logic comes up short to those who have missed these wonderful secrets behind the magic of Christmas.
