As the holiday season arrives, it’s easy to see how people feel disgust with regards to America’s materialistic culture. Traditionally, the holiday shopping season began the day after Thanksgiving. Now, our increasingly merchandise-hungry society has changed all that, and Christmas decorations light up department stores starting as early as October.
There’s no doubt about it, Americans love to buy. But, it’s not just during the holidays anymore. Those profiting off of our culture have moved into new genres. The most recent culprit? Patriotism.
Immediately following September 11, many homes could be seen with flags hanging outside expressing support for our country and the volunteers helping sort through the aftermath. Seeing so many people join together caught on to me, and I felt a great deal of pride.
Now, after more than 3 years following the tragedy of September 11, the number of flags hanging has subsided, but more industries have popped up and those making money by selling patriotic apparel and other various articles appear to be booming.
The latest trend is the “support our troops” magnets, in the shape of ribbons, that everyone seems to have affixed to the bumper of their car or SUV. Just looking at them, its possible to see why they’re so popular. They fit into our culture perfectly—they don’t require any real action. People only have to do what they’ve been doing all along: buy more stuff. Furthermore, when the driver is finished supporting our troops, they don’t need deal with the stickiness left behind by bumper stickers, all they need to do is remove the magnet—it’s that easy.
Don’t get me wrong, I support the troops, and if you think about it, I can’t think of many people, at least those with any sense, who don’t. But actively supporting our troops means more making a trip out to Wal-mart and buying a silly magnet for your bumper. Stores are profiting off our patriotism, and the troops in Iraq won’t see your bumper magnet.
If everyone who spent four dollars on decorating their bumper used that time and energy to actively support our troops, the troops’ lives would be much better. And more importantly, they could see our support, which is really why people are sticking bumper magnets on the back of their cars anyway.
