Six o'clock on Black Friday morning. The doors open. The crowd swells forward. A mad dash for this year's best deals. A fight in the aisles as shoppers squabble over big-ticket items going fast. A security guard calls for calm. No one listens.

The weekend following Thanksgiving in the US marks the start of a consumer bonanza. With Christmas just around the corner, stores lure bargain hunters with "unmissable" discounts. And it is not just stateside. By the end of today, known as Cyber Monday, shoppers in the UK will have spent £8.74bn.¹

But analysts say a cost of living crisis means fewer goods are flying off the shelves this year. And money expert Martin Lewis has repeated his annual call 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". Others go further - like writer Nell Frizzell, whose family has stopped giving presents completely.

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

The problem, says expert Philip Hancock, is "Christmas and commerce" have always been closely "entwined".³ Even the pre-Christian winter festivals were about the exchange of gifts. 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 presents are an outward expression of the "inner spirit of community life".⁴ Giving and receiving creates the bonds that hold families and 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 hope to turn a profit. A seasonal spending spree helps create jobs and support business.

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

But Black Friday sales are not about planning for the future. Marketing creates a "sense of urgency", says psychologist Jo Perkins.⁸ Flash sales urge us to make impulse purchases to get the "perfect" present or the treat we "deserve". These "quick fixes" set us up for disappointment.

Some say this buying frenzy is "overconsumption", harming society and the environment. In recent years, Black Friday has also become Buy Nothing Day, a "24-hour detox from consumerism".⁹ And the Buy Nothing Project boasts 7.5 million members, reusing and recycling instead of buying new "stuff".¹⁰

Christmas and shopping have evolved together, and it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. For example, it is an urban myth that Coca Cola invented Santa's red-and-white suit. On the other hand, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer was dreamed up by US department store Montgomery Ward in 1939.¹¹

Yes: Consumerism creates desires for things we don't 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.