I am really fed up with being urged to go shopping for the sake of my country, and the following is from a letter I wrote to a number of friends last night…
I think I will throw my radio under the wheels of a bus if I hear another news commentator or elected leader implore the American public to save the nation by getting out there to shop. It has finally happened–the deal has been sealed between the American identity and consumerism. “Don’t let the terrorists keep America down: go to the mall, take the kids to Disneyland!” So we are to return to the business of being American: amassing a collection of consumer products. Well for god’s sake, thousands of people are DEAD, and countless thousands more are mourning the loss of their friends or family members. The entire nation is wounded. And they want us to buy a new pair of SHOES? I can’t believe the crassness it takes to believe that pointless frivolity is an appropriate response to a national trauma.
I would like to think that, now that the country is paying attention to how the rest of the world sees us, and everyone has been very busy singing “God Bless America,” this is a fine opportunity to assert an American spirit that is not shallow and vacuous. So the economy needs our help to remain viable and healthy? Here are my suggestions for getting money into the system in life-affirming ways that are a better memorial to the dead and wounded than a bunch of new CD’s that nobody really needs:
Promote international understanding by supporting a scholarship fund that helps American students study abroad, or that assists international students studying in American universities. If you can afford it, create such a fund at your local university if it doesn’t already have one. Donate to Rotary International. Buy a newspaper subscription for the school library. Get yourself a subscription to a decent newspaper that offers comprehensive coverage of international news.
Make life better for people in your own community. Buy new pairs of nice socks for all the residents of the nearest nursing home. Get gift certificates for your child’s teachers. Buy a saddle and bridle for a handicapped riding program. Buy a new computer for the county’s rape crisis center or domestic violence advocacy organization. Donate to the community’s AIDS/HIV advocacy organizations–they would love to give their underpaid workers a raise.
Remember the critters. Call the animal shelter in your community and ask them what kind of food they use for their rescued animals, and show up at the shelter with a few hundred pounds of it. Buy several big buckets of horse treats for a large-animal rescue organization. Buy a membership to the nearest zoo–your money will pay scientists and naturalists who are doing the important work of preserving biodiversity around the world.
Art is the conscience of a culture. There are many underfunded grass-roots organizations that provide technical assistance to traditional artists–let your money boost their efforts to help marginalized artists get noticed. Donate to organizations like the Shoah Foundation, which is making art out of the stories of Holocaust survivors.
Give democracy a hand by purchasing a printer cartridge and stacks of paper, envelopes and stamps. Write letters to all the state and national-level representatives and senators you can think of advocating for campaign finance reform. Give money to your area’s third-party political candidates.
Get the idea? If our wallets are meant to be weapons, let’s use them to redefine a nation that is humane, community-minded and forward-thinking rather than a hollow monument of acquisitiveness.
[This message was edited by hobson on Oct. 04, 2001 at 11:31 AM.]
[This message was edited by hobson on Oct. 04, 2001 at 11:42 AM.]
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