What to Know Before Holiday Shopping This Year

Political protest and self preservation are first and foremost

Dec 03, 2025

One thing about my toddler that I am particularly fond of is his effortless ability to say bye to things. He’ll be completely engaged with a toy or some little distraction when we’re out and about, and when it’s time to go, he sets it back in its place and says, “bye, bye!”.

At times, I catch myself in more of a clingy mode, thinking, Oh! He loves this so much…Maybe we should take it home with us. But he has not yet learned that need to collect things, to purchase something to bolster his self-worth or self-image, and I try really hard not to teach him.

In fact I try to soak up as much of his disengagement with American capitalism as I can right now, because, gosh, sometimes I really need it.

Take a couple weekends ago, for example.

We took my 13-year-old niece to a nearby store that was holding daily scavenger hunts, where the winner would get a modest gift card to spend on something in the store. She is very into holiday decorating, and had her eye on some festive home goods. And we both love a good hunt, so it promised to be a fun excursion.

Boy were we in for a surprise.

Pulling into the parking lot, about 10 minutes before the store opened, we saw a crowd of bundled up shoppers gathering by the door. Obviously, we weren’t the only ones who had heard of the promotion. And these grown adults did not look like they were playing a game—they were on a mission.

When we went inside, people clambered through the aisles, searching for these little hidden trophies like their life depended on it. They eyed us suspiciously and cut in front of one another like they were driving in traffic. My niece gave me a disappointed look but continued on, not ready to give up on the morning.

I walked around the store, trying to keep up with her and my toddler, and mostly just took in the scene. No one really looked happy. They seemed more like they were in a let’s-get-down-to-business mood.

When all the prizes were found (about 15 minutes later), the speed of foot traffic calmed down, but not the competitive atmosphere. The line of losing shoppers waiting to pay for little consolation prizes they’d found looked completely miserable, ready to get this chore of buying a trinket over with and annoyed with everyone in their way.

Meanwhile, my son was oblivious to the whole ordeal. He hugged decorative throw pillows, admired car ornaments and raced to push any abandoned shopping cart he spotted. My niece laughed and rolled her eyes in exasperation as we tried to wrangle him in. The store was more a playground than anything else, and when we left, he said goodbye with ease, hopping out the door, holding his big cousin’s hand with just as much joy as he’d entered with.

We left intact. Their innocent presences were formidable opponents to the miserable spending showdown that has come to define American holiday shopping.

This week, we are in the obligatory news cycle that focuses on consumerism. Headlines suggest a boom in spending on Black Friday, and hype up the expectation that Americans are just gunning to break open their wallets for the Christmas season.

Despite months of hardship and economic uncertainty, Black Friday deals and assertions that “must have” products will be snatched up quickly flood the airwaves. There is a gimme-gimmeness in the ether, a little push to spend big to meet expectations of a successful Santa visit.

Right now, there happens to be at least a bit of a counter current to the spend-like-there’s-no-tomorrow narrative that big corporations push.

This year, there is a question of affordability, an acknowledgement of rapidly growing economic stratification, and a conversation about what it all means for the social traditions built around vast spending and debt accumulation.

CNN graphic explaining the “K-shaped economy” that economists use to describe today’s wealth inequality, heightened by Trump’s tariffs and government shutdown.

Though forecasts predict that overall holiday spending may be on par or above last year’s, they also distinguish that those below a household income of $175,000 will be drastically cutting corners. It’s what economists call a K-shaped economy, with a drastic split in how much people can afford depending on how much they make and are able to invest. While the luxury markets boom with stock market beneficiaries seeing growth, Americans living paycheck to paycheck have to do with buying less and paying more for it.

With this division of economy, marketing and buying pressure is still high, because retailers depend upon and cater to the few who can afford to spend lavishly. However, the ability of most Americans to meet those lofty buying expectations is severely depressed.

The combination of factors leaves economists anticipating that credit card debt will become unruly for those middle and low income consumers trying to gift-give as they have grown accustomed to doing. And as much as I don’t subscribe to the idea of a big, consumer-driven Christmas in my own home, I can’t say that I’m immune to the pressures of those pushing it.

The pressures that drive people to stand outside big box stores, elbow strangers in shopping aisles, and pile up a massive display of superfluous Christmas presents are real. I think that they suck, they’re misguided, and they erode our humanity. But they surround us, and they aren’t easy to shake, no matter where you sit in the K-economy.

The one deceptive thing about the K-shaped economy visual is its congruence. Two lines with equal weight represent people with greatly increasing and decreasing spending power skew off in a mirror image. It gives the impression of a half has, half has-not condition.

But no economist describing the situation talks about such a distribution.

In fact, those making over $175,000 per year were fewer than 25% of the population in 2024. Professor of economics Edward Van Wesep says it’s expected that 20% of the population is “carrying the economy” and the rest are “suffering”. Renowned economist Heather Long illustrated the disparity by explaining that 10 percent of the population—those households making $250,000 or more—are responsible for 50 percent of spending, up from 35 percent of the spending in the 90’s.

So, what are Americans feeling and thinking about their needs and values going into this draconically unequal holiday season that is rocketing out of control?

Right now, we are really putting our political knowledge and social values to the test, because they are directly squared off with long-held traditions and understanding of how to behave during the holidays.

Black Friday shopping and splurge spending are built into our culture around the holidays. People see ads of women going gaga over jewelry from their partner or grandkids giving big, heartfelt hugs after receiving some toy from their grandparents, and those wallets just kind of open themselves. We’re pushed to use gift-giving as a love language, and the bigger and more expensive the gift, the greater its meaning is.

But, as people against Trump’s policies and abuses, we need to slow that roll down. It isn’t helpful to any of us at the moment.

If we’re on the winning side of the K-economy right now, we need to think about what that means. We might increase our giving to organizations and people that have been short-changed by the recently greenlit spending bill. We could lessen our free-spending and limit luxury purchases in a way that reflects an understanding of the inequity that it promotes.

Chief economist Mark Zandi reflected on the risk of America depending on such a narrow demographic for its economic health saying, “it makes the economy incredibly vulnerable. Folks at the top end of the K, it’s not like they have to pack it in and stop spending. If they just turn a little more cautious, given what else is happening to the rest of the distribution, we got a problem.”

And that’s a problem that Americans seeking reform can leverage to their benefit.

Meanwhile, if we’re on the down-side of the K-economy, we also have to internalize what that means. As a means of self-preservation, we might curtail spending, change how we use our credit cards, and reject the ridiculous marketing ploys that are geared toward the uber wealthy. Like during Covid, we may understand that this year is just different, and we adjust.

For anyone conscious of the political scene, it’s a great idea to shop local and support businesses that reflect your values, when possible.

But, in truth, my hopes for us this holiday season are bigger than that. My hope is that we tie our changing political awareness to an evolving understanding of our economy and how we relate to it. It is that we protest in the stores just as strongly as we protest in the streets, and we learn that we are a culture defined more by how greatly we care for others than by how much we can buy from them. More for how we spend our time and energy, than how freely we spend our money.

For all of our sakes, I hope that more people can have the kind of happy holiday experience our kids are so naturally drawn to. Enjoying themselves in the wonder of the season and saying goodbye to its excesses.

I think we could all use the gift of that magically powerful feeling that happens when we come together to make the world a better place.

With love and hope for the future,

Stephanie

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How have your holiday plans changed this year? Do you feel like the K-economy has hit home for you?

Parks People

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