It is the morning every shop assistant dreads. Black FridayThe day after US Thanksgiving, when lots of shops offer discounts on goods for Christmas shopping. is upon us. The day when hordes of hungry shoppers storm into shops, hunting for pre-Christmas bargains. Phones, computers, consoles, televisions, toys, clothes: everything is up for grabs.

Much of it will end up under the tree, to be seized on Christmas Day. Presents will be unwrapped, unsealed, unboxed. The best ones will be used, then exhausted, then eventually tossed into landfill.¹  The unwanted ones will sit in a cupboard gathering dust.²

In many countries, buying Christmas gifts has become the norm. Yet some people have proudly broken with the trend. Writer Nell Frizzell stopped giving gifts to other adults and has made Christmas a time for family activity.

Present-giving exposes society's inequalities. Some parents can simply fill their baskets. Others have to scrimp and save all year to please their children. 

Gift-giving has a long history in Christianity, although for centuries it happened on New Year's Day. But some Christians think that today's commercialised celebration has strayed far from its sacred spirit.

According to theologianA person who studies religious beliefs. Eve Poole, capitalismA form of economy characterised by private property and competition between companies. has made us insatiableImpossible to satisfy. and obsessed with novelty. We are briefly sated by shopping. But we always want more. And "if we can never be satisfied, the system need never come to an end". We are trapped into buying and buying.

Many people still enjoy a gift-filled Christmas. Presents under the tree have remained popular because they bring joy. A YouGov survey of 12 countries found that only 23% in Britain - and 9% in Denmark - felt that Christmas was mainly celebrated "because of pressure from commercial companies".

Besides, Christmas gift-giving is economic adrenalineA hormone made by the body in response to a stressful or threatening situation..³ If we stopped buying presents, a huge number of jobs would be lost. If we stopped buying presents, numerous shops and suppliers might close down.

Freeing ourselves from this cycle will have a cost. But it might also make gift-giving quieter, more thoughtful and more enjoyable.

Would Christmas be better without presents?

Yes: Christmas has gone too far. It causes gift-givers to feel shame and guilt. It turns children into ravenous monsters, desperate to have the best presents. And it turns the Earth into a junkyard.

No: Cheer up! Yes, Christmas inspires a lot of complicated feelings. But nothing beats the sensation you feel when someone smiles over the presents you bought them. It is all worth it just for that.

Or... Some old-fashioned Christians may disagree. But presents are the main point of modern day, secularA word used to describe something that is not connected with the religious or spiritual sphere. Christmas. If you take the gifts away, you do not have Christmas anymore, but something else instead.