Scrooge

It has been suggested that, in view of the present financial crisis, we should cancel Christmas this year.

Christmas was outlawed in the U.S. state of Massachusetts between 1659 and 1681. Anyone caught celebrating was punished with a five-shilling fine.

You might wonder if Massachusetts had the right idea. Cancelling Christmas would spare us frantic shopping in jammed malls, endless bickering with stressed-out relatives and exhorbitant gorging.

In America in the run-up to Christmas each year a group of volunteers heads to the mall around the holidays to serenade patrons with some unusual carols. This one is sung to the tune of "God Bless Ye Merry Gentlemen":

Slow down ye frantic shoppers for there's something we must say,
If you would spare a moment all the stores would go away,
Big business has been telling us what Christmas means today,
Now it's time we decided for ourselves, for ourselves,
Yes, it's time we decided for ourselves .

The lesson we should learn is to cut down on the commercialism and wish "Peace on Earth to Men of Goodwill".

P.S. Last Christmas a Labour party think tank called for Christmas to be cancelled on the grounds that it is a “white” holiday which offends Britain’s immigrants. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), described as the ruling party’s “favourite” policy office that has shaped many Labour policies, said Christmas “should be downgraded to help race relations.”