I need to make it clear: I have no solution or suggestions for this state of affairs: that dollars are fungible has moralized every human activity and possession. Nothing is any longer in the non-moral zone. Those starving children accompany us to theaters, sports events, fancy clothing stores and even on those long vacations where we, above all else, try to “get away from it all.”

What does this mean? I really don’t know.

We all struggle to be generally good and decent people, but in the US it seems like our “talent” for not thinking out the consequences for our spending behaviours has reached new heights.

If one agrees with me that no purchases are really amoral, perhaps we can see it in two ways: 1) we have blood on our hands every time we buy a non-necessity (broadly defined) and Guilt will forevermore accompany us to every store; or 2) we can take insight this as a challenge to fight the broad and deep message delivered under the radar by ubuitous advertising. We can remind ourselves that spending for entertainment and luxuries is not necessarily the guilt-free activity the merchants suggest. Not that we need to question ourselves every hour or minute, but at least occasionally.

I realize this isn’t satisfying. As I suggested in my post, it’s rather annoying to come to this conclusion.