An Optimistic New Year
For a Pessimistic time
I am currently working on a larger piece on “revolutionary optimism” with a comrade, but I wanted to post a quick Happy Holidays/ Merry Christmas/ Happy New Year to all my subscribers and propose an alternative “glass half full” interpretation of the holiday season.
The holidays recall images of Black Friday chaos, selfish individualism at the retail store, and intense pressures on personal and home finances. It is a time of year when wallets are drained (even I have started driving Uber part-time) and minor family feuds can turn into catastrophic divides.
Political groups around the country are calling for “No Christmas as Usual” to raise awareness of US backing of Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians. However, as comrade Andreas Malm and others have argued, these efforts to block average consumers from accomplishing their everyday, reflexive activities, are often counter-productive. The average American does not want to have to walk through a protest to buy a gift for their Meme or child, and it often produces more animosity towards the activist group and its message.
If I were a gambling man I would guess that the same people calling for “no Christmas as usual” are retreating to their families and friends on the nights that matter to them. This isn’t to say that the protest is weak, but that we all understand the inescapability of the holiday season and the mootness of general strikes. I like to joke that you can always tell who is relatively new to leftist activism— it is the people calling for a general strike—the greatest myth of leftism. My point here is that if you feel guilty about engaging in the holiday season as usual, even though this year feels particularly melancholic, just know you’re not alone nor are you wrong.
But does that mean that all protests that seek to get us to rethink our relationship to the holidays are useless? Not at all. Instead, I suggest practicing consumer consciousness and seeking alternate sources of gifts, whether it’s smaller stores, homemade goods, or local producers. For kids, it’s important to be cognizant of the goods that are reifying capitalist culture versus those that are actually honing their analytic and humanistic skills.
It is precisely this paradox that the holiday season puts all of us in; to consume is to give our money to the corporate overlords we despise, but to abstain from the festivities is to lose the joy of giving and receiving love and care. We all know that “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism” but we can ethically approach the holidays by instilling a sense of compassion, care, and optimism in those around us. In some sense, the most revolutionary act we can engage in is to demonstrate to others what it means to be full of care, optimism, and compassion. In my experience, this attitude is infectious and can go a long way.
Finally, what if we approach the holidays with some revolutionary optimism? It’s not hard to imagine the end of one year and the beginning of another as a moment of renewed promise and hope for the future. Instead of seeing gift-giving as a burden and reflexive responsibility, let’s approach it as a redistributive practice. It’s unfortunate that we live in a world where it is easier to spend our money on major corporations and major shopping centers, but in some sense, the luxuries we purchase give us access to a wealth of information that can open minds to new forms of political engagement. A simple phone is no longer just an object to make calls, but one that opens possibilities for sharing ideas and content. As for the other things—squishmallows, gift cards, back scratchers, salt lamps, and whatever other commodities— we can permit them to bring us joy and comfort in a time when so much is uncomfortable.
I could continue rambling but I’d rather just wish everyone a happy new year and happy holidays. There are many articles in the works for 2024: Revolutionary Optimism, Weird Marxism, and Marxism and Gender to name a few, and I am eternally thankful for all the subscribers and people who support me so far.
In solidarity,
Alex
