A matter of opinion: are Christmas lights a no-go this year?
Created: 10/19/2022 11:31 am
By: Max Müller, Anna-Katharina Ahnefeld
Christmas lights on or off this year?
Our editors disagree on this.
© Michael Kappeler/dpa/IPPEN.MEDIA (montage)
Winter is coming and energy is becoming scarce and expensive.
The German Environmental Aid therefore finds it "natural" to do without Christmas lights.
That's right!
Or not?
An on-off debate.
In view of the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine, the head of the German Environmental Aid, Jürgen Resch, called for a renunciation.
Christmas lights off - that should be a "self-evident fact" this winter, he said recently.
But Christmas in particular is a proverbial ray of hope for many people.
Balm for troubled souls in uncertain times.
And for the Christmas business too, dark inner cities would probably be counterproductive.
Is a dark Christmas really taken for granted?
The points of view of the debate:
Lights out!
Politics editor Katharina Ahnefeld is convinced
that “business as usual” no longer works .
lights on! Dark inner cities are at most symbolic politics
, argues editor Max Müller.
As an editor for IPPEN.MEDIA in Cologne, Katharina Ahnefeld prefers to write about international politics with a focus on global problems and systemic grievances.
© IPPEN.MEDIA
Lights out! Politics editor Katharina Ahnefeld is convinced that "business as usual" no longer works.
Of course, Christmas lights "on" or "off" is an emotional matter.
The German Environmental Aid rightly points out that the festival lights consume more electricity than medium-sized cities every year.
That's an absurd amount of electricity.
Will "waiving" solve the energy crisis?
No – just as little as cold showers.
But he makes a mark.
Because the idea is correct.
We are in an energy crisis, war is raging in Europe, the German economy is heading into recession – not to mention the climate catastrophe.
This is exactly why: turn off unnecessary artificial lights!
As a sign that the crises of this world concern us and that our actions have consequences.
As a symbol that every small contribution counts.
That "business as usual" no longer works - and our "normality" of brightly lit consumer strongholds is no longer sustainable in the face of war and the climate crisis.
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"The golden years are over"
This is exactly why the term "waiver" by environmental aid boss Resch is problematic.
Turning off lights is not a waiver, but a necessity.
So that our planet will still be habitable in the future.
Incidentally, you can also make yourself nice without electricity at Christmas.
You can light tea lights, hang up straw stars, sing or listen to Christmas carols.
Nobody should really have to do without such things that create a nice atmosphere.
It is worrying that our salvation should depend on artificially lit streets, on an abundance that is no longer up-to-date.
The golden years are over.
We finally have to understand that.
Let's set a sign for more charity with the (switched off) Christmas lights.
Because that's what Christmas is all about.
Max Müller reports for IPPEN.MEDIA from Cologne on everything that moves society.
© IPPEN.MEDIA
lights on! Dark inner cities are at most symbolic politics
,
argues editor Max Müller.
We should be careful with the term “self-evident”.
What is taken for granted?
Unfortunately, less and less in these times.
Above all, it is the wording with which environmental aid boss Jürgen Resch is wrong.
In view of the energy crisis, he demanded: "This winter it should be a matter of course that both the Christmas lights in cities and in houses and apartments will be avoided." The private "lighting orgies" alone would consume over 600 million electricity per year generate kilowatt hours of electricity - as much as a city with 400,000 inhabitants consumes in a year.
"How much more energy is used if the Christmas presents all have to be delivered?"
Sounds convincing at first.
But numbers only work in context – and Resch leaves that out.
After all, what do the 600 million kilowatt hours mean in concrete terms?
How much less money ends up in Putin's pocket?
How strong is the slowing effect on climate change?
And how much more energy is consumed when almost everyone orders their Christmas presents online and has them delivered because they don't feel like dark inner cities?
And Resch has forgotten something else: Dark inner cities would probably ensure that more people stay at home - hardly with candlelight, electrical appliances switched off and a (cold) can of ravioli.
In other words, saving energy in one place can mean using it elsewhere.
If you then think of the people whose souls find support and meaning in the pre-Christmas sea of glitter in these uncertain times, the overall calculation has more variables than Resch's simple savings target of 600 million kilowatt hours.
Resch makes it very easy for himself: that's it, no lights this year, that's that!
However, this is not a culture of debate.
He should examine his arguments, present them calmly and contextualize numbers.
That would actually be a matter of course.
Vote!
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