According to this article, the USDA has revised its terminology to eliminate the word "hunger" from its annual report, replacing it with the unfamiliar phrase "low food security." In doing so, was the Bush Administration (which has a long history of manipulating scientific terminology to suit its political agenda) merely playing politics again, or was…
Some of us have been going beyond simply avoiding the frenzied mobs at the mall the day after Thanksgiving, for a number of years. We intentionally avoid any purchase on that day. This "Black Friday" full of obligatory consumption, angry parking, elbows, whining kids and glazed countenances is not one…
See them floundering after their cherished possessions, like fish flopping in a river starved of water.
Sutta Nipata 777 (From What Would Buddha Do? (1999)).
A friend of mine recently returned from an extended trip to Egypt. He found it striking that the 18 million residents of Cairo lived in tightly packed conditions and that they owned so very few possessions. Based on his own observations, the average resident of Cairo owned about 10% of the property owned by the average American family. My friend’s estimate was about on the mark. Most Americans would certainly describe most residents of Cairo to be “poor.”
Amidst this material “poverty,” though, my friend noticed numerous signs of family togetherness and harmony that he doesn’t often see in the U.S. Parents and children were spending time with each other, smiling at each other, playing together and apparently enjoying each others’ company. How could this be, that people appeared to be so happy when they owned so little? As my friend described what he saw, I couldn’t imagine Americans getting along that well if someone took away 90% of our possessions. In fact, we’d become embittered and we’d be at each other’s throats.
My friend’s comments caused me to think of the enormous amount of material possessions that Americans have and crave. We have shameful amounts of material possessions. We have many times more stuff than we need. Yet we work very hard to have ever more.
We are afflicted with the all-consuming epidemic “affluenza,” …
I think so. The rampant commercialization of the U.S. becomes powerfully evident whenever I return from an extended trip to a country where people don’t wallow in materialism (on this exact point, see this post by Mindy Carney). Americans are professional buyers and horders of things they don’t need. I believe that the trojan horse of ubiquitious advertising is largely to blame. Before I go further, here are a couple of quotes to ponder.
Don’t tell my mother I work in an advertising agency – she thinks I play piano in a whorehouse. ~Jacques Seguela
He who buys what he does not need steals from himself. ~Author Unknown
Many people would argue that we can freely ignore advertisements. Therefore, it’s OK to make the all-American deal: allow as many ads as necessary to pay for news and entertainment.
I disagree. Yes, we can ignore particular commercials or even dozens of commercials. But the average person is exposed to two million television commercials by age 65. In The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less (2005), Barry Schwartz writes that “The average American sees three thousands ads a day.” As advertising professor James Twitchell puts it, “Ads are what we know about the world around us.” Just listen to Americans! They have become the commercials they have been exposed to. They just can’t stop craving the things they see advertised. They recite skits they hear on commercials just like people often used to sing the melodies they heard on …
It should now be clear to everyone (though, sadly, it is not) that the threat of terrorism has been drummed up for political gain by neoconservatives. In the past, politicians often offered us hope. In recent years, they have found it more useful to claim that they are protecting us from nightmares. Thus, they often claim that they are rescuing us from horrible dangers we cannot see, by conducting their wars on "terror" and immorality. In reality, they have been offering us dark illusions and fantasies. Until two days ago, those politicians with the darkest imaginations had become the most powerful. For those of you wondering how this insanity came to be, consider viewing the BBC’s superb documentary: “The Power of Nightmares: The Shadows In The Cave.” Here is a taste of this gripping three-part documentary (If these links don't work, try Here's a new set of links that work on Google for the three parts of the documentary. Part I Part II Part III ):
There are dangerous and fanatical individuals and groups around the world who have been inspired by extreme Islamist ideas, and who will use the techniques of mass terror - the attacks on America and Madrid make this only too clear.