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Preeti on the Web |
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Providing Food for Thought |
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Holidays Bring a Clash of Values |
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America: A land of life, liberty and the purchase of happiness. |
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Consuming: A core American value |
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December 7, 2001 |
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To Contact Preeti: preetiontheweb at yahoo dot com |
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Please note that this op-ed originally appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader. Please do not quote or paraphrase without using proper citations. |
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Note: An edited version of this op-ed appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper December 6, 2001. As always, the holiday season is a time to reflect upon family, friends and the things truly most important in life. Especially in light of September’s 11’s tragedies, Americans intend to make this holiday season more meaningful than ever. Paradoxically, in conflict with this spirit of love and appreciation is what we’ve been told is the patriotic thing to do: spend, spend, spend! If we do not indulge in unbridled consumption, economic recession will come our way. Even if we do not forget the true “reason for the season” and spend more time in reflection with loved ones, it will still be a holiday failure in economists’ eyes if we don’t shop enough. It is a conflict of priorities. Do we spend time with our friends and relatives, or do we spend it making purchases that increase our debt? On one hand, we can do as President Bush instructed and help one another in our own communities by donating to local charities (such as the Hope Center) that are short on donations. On the other hand, we can be “patriotic” and head to the mall. Financial experts even say purchasing a dishwasher will prove more economically “patriotic” than purchasing the new war bonds being issued by the federal government. I always associated patriotism with self-sacrifice. (Talk to anyone that lived during WWII.) I guess self-sacrifice now amounts to raising one’s credit card debt. Yes, we gave millions for relief efforts in New York, a collective expression of generosity. Nevertheless, taken as whole, we’re still a society fixated on incessantly acquiring more material luxuries. The “simple living, high thinking” philosophy upon which I was raised may have spiritual, personal and environmental value, but it doesn’t seem to have any “patriotic” value in a “shop till you drop” society. So let’s just be honest and admit that overconsuming is a core part of what the United States is all about. The Consumer Federation of America states that in 1999 families with a credit card balance owed on average $7,500 and spent over $1,000 in interest and penalties. This year’s estimated federal statistics indicate that 2001 will be the sixth year in a row where more Americans declared bankruptcy than graduated from college. And where did all the money go? It went to feed our “the bigger, the better” mentality. Americans like bigness. We are a big people. (More American adults are overweight or obese than are of a normal weight). We drive big vehicles (Witness the progression from Explorer to Expedition to Excursion). We live in big houses. (The size of the average American home nearly doubled in the last 50 years). Even at the cinema, a small-sized drink is a big 20 ounces.
We see the American consumerist ethos symbolized by the image appearing on 15,000 posters San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown’s staff recently distributed: an American flag with shopping bag handles. Last Independence Day, I witnessed many people wearing U.S. flag t-shirts with the phrases, “Old Navy” and “USA 2001” printed above and below the flag. “Old Navy” was in larger letters than “USA 2001.” (And, I thought that etiquette prohibited use of the flag for advertising purposes.) The message that overconsumption and overcommercialization are American values could not be made any clearer short of replacing the white stars of the flag with green $’s and officially redefining ourselves as a land of life, liberty and the purchase of happiness. So, here’s what we’ve got. Holiday season: supposedly a time for family, friends, spirituality, charity, thankfulness and reflection. In competition: Patriotism equals shopping. It is a clash of the values that dominate the social and religious spheres of life with those that control the economic domain. Can we survive in a world where the values underlying the various sectors of our lives are not in alignment with one another? There’s no immediate hope of restructuring our institutions so I suppose that the best we can do for now is to try to balance the internal inconsistencies of our lives and hope we don’t end up suffering from any social pathologies. (Or are we already afflicted?) So, hitting the malls this holiday season may help create jobs. Nevertheless, I simply can’t accept the idea that the model civilian patriot is the frazzled shopaholic. It may not be a popular idea right now, but for the sake of our long term well-being, we’ve got to reconsider our lifestyle of overconsumption and the policies that encourage it. |