Goat Gifts have been the season’s must have, reports the Guardian. Being that rag it refers to the gift of choice amongst chatterers. Giving a goat to help a poor and needy person is very politically now. One rock star is expected to receive dozens of goats from adoring fans.

At the glut-fest which is Christmas, as at all other times of the year, the poor, hungry and dying of the resource-poor world - the “roadkill of Capitalist/Consumerist Juggernaut” - need our help. It has become politically correct to gift such help this christmas. The gift of the moment, the goat - living, provides milk , makes manure for gardening, disposes of waste and cuts grass. It is one gift among many in the catalogues and websites of charities.

But should we really be ‘giving them’ to each other, even in name? The egotism this shows horrifies. That we would not give the gift to the poor person if we did not know the relatively wealthy one we were “giving” the gift of their goat to is of little interest to the people milking goats today. We need to look at our motives, timing and follow up, however. We need honesty and simplicity in giving, not cross-purposing and marketeering.