American consumerism -Go Fish! Or how Jonah swallowed the Whale
My husband just came home from a 13 month tour of duty in Iraq. He lost 4 memebers of his batallion - 2 were good friends. The people who weren't shooting at them were pretty nice and appreciated them being there.
I am of the firm opionion that Billy the Bigmouth Bass is responsible for our poor image overseas.
Most of us are familiar with the statistics - the USA accounts for 10% of the worlds population but consumes 90% of the worlds resources, and produces 90% of the worlds trash (or something like that).
Take a look at Billy, and his pet Chia, his cousin Tom the Talking Turkey, (on a Darwinistic level they are probably related to Happy Meal toys - although Billy has lost the ability to spontaneously reproduce himself) and any one of a million other doodads and trinkets you can pick up at Walmart or the local convenience store. What earthly purpose do these things serve? How many people actually go into a store around a holiday and say "ooh - I just have to have that singing fish" or "Wow - that fiber-optic flower is just what I need. I hope someone gives me that as a gift." My bet... NO ONE thinks that. No! What you think is - Oh my gosh - that is too cute, dad will think it's hilarious." So you shell out $15 or $20 (whatever the going price is for this months 'must have' item) and you give it to someone else! Now, dad (our Aunt Sue, cousin Bob, whoever) is stuck with this thing. Yeah - it's cute - for about a day. Then what the heck do they do with it? It gets shoved in a closet with the last 5 'cute' things someone gave them. If they have any sense at all - the best thing they can do with it is donate it to a charity thrift shop. More than likely though - what they are going to do with it is throw it in the trash (eventually).
So lets back up for a minute to Billy and his origins. Most of this garbage is manufactured overseas, many times by people making meager wages. At least we are giving them a job. Next point - this stuff requires a certain amount of the worlds resources to create - you can't make something from nothing. It takes energy (both physical and electrical (or otherwise) to produce, package, ship, market, and stock.
POINT: Billy's connection to foreign relations - If you were living in a slum in some third world country, spending 15 hours a day making stuff you knew some American was going to blithely throw in the trash in a few weeks - HOW MUCH WOULD YOU LIKE US?!
I am of the firm opionion that Billy the Bigmouth Bass is responsible for our poor image overseas.
Most of us are familiar with the statistics - the USA accounts for 10% of the worlds population but consumes 90% of the worlds resources, and produces 90% of the worlds trash (or something like that).
Take a look at Billy, and his pet Chia, his cousin Tom the Talking Turkey, (on a Darwinistic level they are probably related to Happy Meal toys - although Billy has lost the ability to spontaneously reproduce himself) and any one of a million other doodads and trinkets you can pick up at Walmart or the local convenience store. What earthly purpose do these things serve? How many people actually go into a store around a holiday and say "ooh - I just have to have that singing fish" or "Wow - that fiber-optic flower is just what I need. I hope someone gives me that as a gift." My bet... NO ONE thinks that. No! What you think is - Oh my gosh - that is too cute, dad will think it's hilarious." So you shell out $15 or $20 (whatever the going price is for this months 'must have' item) and you give it to someone else! Now, dad (our Aunt Sue, cousin Bob, whoever) is stuck with this thing. Yeah - it's cute - for about a day. Then what the heck do they do with it? It gets shoved in a closet with the last 5 'cute' things someone gave them. If they have any sense at all - the best thing they can do with it is donate it to a charity thrift shop. More than likely though - what they are going to do with it is throw it in the trash (eventually).
So lets back up for a minute to Billy and his origins. Most of this garbage is manufactured overseas, many times by people making meager wages. At least we are giving them a job. Next point - this stuff requires a certain amount of the worlds resources to create - you can't make something from nothing. It takes energy (both physical and electrical (or otherwise) to produce, package, ship, market, and stock.
POINT: Billy's connection to foreign relations - If you were living in a slum in some third world country, spending 15 hours a day making stuff you knew some American was going to blithely throw in the trash in a few weeks - HOW MUCH WOULD YOU LIKE US?!
posted by Amber | 7/02/2005 08:47:00 AM
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