Families try present-free parties

This is, as the article suggests, a large problem indeed. What weight should goods (presents in this case) be given in our life? Philosophers have pondered this question for centuries. The Greek Cynics thought that possessing nothing or very little was the right way. Aristotle, on the other hand, gave wealth and material possessions more weight, although he would have been distressed by the excesses of consumerism. Children who grow up in an endless frenzy of gifts will be spoiled, and it generates anxiety at an early age about who has more. Reflective parents have a good deal to teach, even if they don't declare all birthday gifts unnecessary. Incidentally, what role has all this played in the growing problem of childhood obesity?