I’M A CITIZEN FIRST

by PraetorOne

Prescription drugs, food, food supplements, doors, windows, cars, trucks, carpets, furniture, colleges, pet products, jewelry, clothing,insurance, outdoor siding, house plant aids, legal services,deodorants, private security such as alarm systems, movies, TV programs, political candidates, ad infinitum:  those are just a few of the items that our cable TV is telling us that we must own.  Why if you didn’t know better you’d think they were trying to tell us that we’re less than human if we don’t buy the best and latest products that corporate America wants to foist on us,  That the only way to be happy is by purchasing things.

I’m not  saying that we need to take oaths of poverty and give up all our possessions, but there are more important things than consumerism, namely citizenship

I’ll admit that advertising is important but I am a lot more than a customer.  I have ideas about citizenship .And the thing that irritates me the most is he fact that in our consumerism-driven society we have begun to thin of our leaders, our Constitution, and our personal liberties as commodities which can be bought and sold like boxes of cereal or cartons of milk.  We have become so obsessed with the idea of buying bargains that we vote for politicians who promise us cheap ways out of complicated problems.  For example, John McCain offers an easy way out of the current energy crisis, nuclear power and domestic drilling, oblivious to the fact nuclear power presents problems in the area of waste disposal and ignoring the fact that domestic drilling would also prove expensive–not only environmentally but in the fact that domestic drilling would take at least seven years to prove effective.  Moreover this is just a temporary fix to a long term addiction.  In addition McCain has no real plan for shifting us to renewable sources which would permanently reduce our dependency on oil.  Obama on the other hand has a comprehensive plan but McCain and his followers are selling their plan as if it were a bargain at the local supermarket, selling quantity over quality.

I admit the analogy is stretching things a bit, but only a fool can deny that we have reached the point where we weigh the financial value of a given policy as opposed to effectiveness, and we allow political ads, not debates, to effect our decisions.

Well when it comes to citizenship I look for quality, not salesmanship.  I refuse to be treated like a customer when I have beliefs about religion, civil liberties, and clean government.

–
Let Freedom Ring,

The Coalition for a Democratic America