Six o'clock on Black Friday morning. A mad dash for the best deals. A fight in the aisles over big-ticket items. A security guard calls for calm. No one listens.

The weekend following Thanksgiving in the US marks the start of Christmas shopping. Stores lure bargain hunters with "unmissable" discounts. And it's not just stateside. By the end of today, known as Cyber Monday, shoppers in the UK will have spent £8.74bn.¹

But the cost of living crisis means fewer goods are being bought this year. And money expert Martin Lewis wants consumers to "ban unnecessary Christmas presents".²

In a viral video, he targets the tradition of people buying "gifts for others that they know they won't use with money they don't have, causing stress they don't need".

So, is it time to ban present-giving and rediscover the spirit of Christmas?

The problem, says expert Philip Hancock, is Christmas and gift-giving have always been closely "entwined".³ Even the pre-Christian winter festivals were about the exchange of presents. During the Industrial RevolutionA period of sudden, rapid industrialisation that transforms a country from an agricultural to an industrial economy., the new middle classes embraced Christmas as a time to spend and share their prosperity.

The anthropologistSomeone who studies human beings and societies. The word "anthropology" comes from the Greek "anthropos", meaning "human". It developed as a subject in Europe in the 19th century, although some regard the Arab historian Ibn Khaldun as the first anthropologist. Claude Levi-Strauss wrote that gifts are an expression of the "inner spirit of community life".⁴ Giving and receiving creates the bonds that hold society together.

According to expert Nelson Blackley, it is also a "vital boost" to the economy.⁵ October to December is known as the "golden quarter" when companies try to make a profit. A seasonal spending spree creates jobs and supports business.

But not everyone agrees. The economist Joel Waldfogel wrote Scroogenomics, arguing that present-giving is wasteful.⁶ Only the recipient knows what will make them happy. In the UK, £733m is spent on unwanted gifts for children, which could be invested in their future.⁷

But Black Friday is not about planning. Marketing creates a "sense of urgency", says psychologist Jo Perkins.⁸ Sales urge us to make snap decisions to get the "perfect" present. These "quick fixes" set us up for disappointment.

Some call this buying frenzy "overconsumption", harming society and the environment. Instead of Black Friday, they honour Buy Nothing Day, a "24-hour detox from consumerismSociety's obsession with acquiring consumer goods.".⁹

Yes: Consumerism creates desires for things we do not need and often cannot afford. Instead of worrying about what stuff our friends and family might want, we can give them something invaluable: our time.

No: Gift-giving is messy and stressful and imperfect, but it is a fundamental part of human relationships. Exchanging presents is an ancient tradition that binds people together into communities.

Or... You cannot ban it, even if you want to. People will always find presents to exchange. But we can think more carefully about what and how we swap presents, for the sake of each other and the planet.