America's Obsession with Stuff

Everywhere I turn around in the Midwest I see downtown America crumbling buildings. Once were bakeries, hardware, and several departmental stores now houses inexpensive start up business venues like "Staff ME" or "Katie Ann Cow Bells". Many companies like Montgomery Wards, and Woolworth's long since jumped on a one way train out.

America decided sometime in the 1970s that she would rather buy junk goods instead of quality goods because even if one figured they would still scrap more of the junk during production, it still would be cheaper to sift through the junk to find a good item than make all items good to begin with, an abusive relationship built on the backs of third world nations.

But we need not to simply look toward Walmart, Target, Macy's or the rest of RetailUSA to point the finger. In this nation not only do we expect to have everything when we want it, the way we want it; we also want for the cheapest dollar price. We allow companies to pay poverty wages in and outside the United States while CEOs make ghastly high earnings. The distribution of wealth has become wickedly twisted compared to days long ago. Top Executives earning increase at 40% rate while everyone else is stuck at 2%! I'll save the oil and banking industry for another time.

If we only changed the way we thought about material things, if maybe we put some effort into reusing instead of purchasing, we could change it. If people came to understand that there is also a social price that is paid with each and every transaction we make, they would see things in a different light. Social Justice requires us to change ourselves first, and then the world.

Susan L.