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... and theirs
By KINNEY LITTLEFIELD
of TheColumnists.com
“What do you think, Osama?”
I asked myself that recently while watching a television commercial for Levi’s low-cut jeans--the one with the animated talking navels.
Bare, perky, lithe, animated talking navels. The kind of commercial that, given the events of September 11 and after, seems like a demented message from outer space.
“Osama, what could
you possibly think?”
Not that I hold the opinion of purported terrorist Osama bin
Laden in any kind of esteem. Our minds could never meet.
But since the United States began bombing Afghanistan I’ve tried looking at America and American culture through the eyes of people--and presumably there are other people named Osama--in other parts of the world.
I’ve tried seeing through the eyes of folks who live where any food is good food, where water is a trek down a dusty road. Folks who don’t have closets full of Gap or Tommy Hilfiger--who only know America from what they hear on the radio or see on satellite TV.
However the rest of the
world may know us, it knows we Americans like to consume and
possess. It knows our popular culture is a global epidemic. It
knows we like the soft life. Gap and Nine West and pricey Starbuck’s
lattes. That’s just the low end. And our low end is woefully
higher than the average life in Afghanistan or Somalia or Bangla
Desh.
Recently Dubya Bush and other leaders issued a patriotic call
essentially urging all good Americans to fight terrorism by going
to the local mall. Buy, buy! Fight back by ratcheting up our
credit card debt.
As if goodies could ever assuage our grief.
Middle Eastern families who may have heard Bush’s call to action may well have thought “How thoroughly American. How decadent.”
Granted our economy runs on consumer spending. But what does that say about our values and beliefs?
Our airlines have conned $15 billion in bail-out money from the federal government, pleading victims of terrorism. Of course many airlines were going under before Sept. 11, victims of their own greed, of big-ticket mergers.
Now the broadcast networks are joining the whiny chorus, crying poor because they must pay for reporting the war on terrorism, here and abroad, instead of airing regular programs that reap hundreds of thousands of dollars for a 30-second commercial spot.
And I thought network news divisions were supposed to cover the news.
Meanwhile big corporations are announcing mass lay-offs. But their head honchos--who undoubtedly will not be laid off--are still pulling down big fat bucks.
Wouldn’t it be patriotic for CEOs to slash their own over-inflated salaries and save their employees’ jobs?
Greed is still very much with us in our culture of excess.
Recently I went to a big birthday party for a three year-old boy. I’m guessing he opened at least two dozen large, expensive, fancily wrapped presents he certainly didn’t need. That was American excess at work.
At a press conference on Oct. 11 Bush asked American children to donate $1 apiece to beleaguered children in Afghanistan.
We need to remember that having a dollar to give is an honor and a privilege.
We Americans are always so hurt, so oddly surprised, when we hear people in other countries and cultures hate our guts.
But why shouldn’t they?
We have what others don’t.
Survival? Too busy shopping to think about it.
Before Sept. 11 we were, despite our cultural domination, separate from much of the world. Then suicidal hijackers brought the rest of the world to us.
The rest of the world is often hungry and envious and angry. It won’t go away again.
Now our best response to
terrorism is simple. It’s called “get real.” Let’s
think about basics, even in TV commercials. Let’s tally
up what we don’t need and what we truly do.
And above all, let’s consider what is fundamental and precious
in life--not just from the perspective of American comfort but
also from the vantage of an Afghani mud hut.
So what do you say, Osama and Dubya and Joe and Joanne Six-Pack? Don’t we all have a lot to think about?
© 2001 by Kinney Littlefield.
The series logo illustration © 2001 by Jim Hummel.
You
can comment on this column or contact Kinney Littlefield with
an email to: talkback@thecolumnists.com
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