If I were a right-wing conservative, I'd be writhing every time Pat
Robertson opened his mouth, whereas the Left can use his statements as
ammunition to say, "See? See? We're the sane side."
So as a liberal, I get irritated when it's my side that's behaving
irresponsibly.
In my weekly paper, I read an article (originally published in Mother
Jones) titled "Average American: Charitable of Chintzy?"
It's a Harper's Index-style snapshot of the giving and spending habits
of Americans. From the article:
In 2002, Americans deducted $654 million for cars they donated to charity--7 times what the cars were actually worth.
The average American family throws away 14 percent of its food. 1 in 9 families are never sure they'll have enough to eat.
A typical American child receives 70 new toys a year, most of them at Christmas.
52 percent of individual giving goes to religious institutions. Schools get 7 percent.
Campus Crusade for Christ raised $380 million last year--more than PBS, the Boy Scouts, and Easter Seals combined.
8 in 10 dog owners buy their pets holiday gifts.
Each fact, taken alone, gives a discrete snippet of info about
Americans. The collection of these facts in a single article,
however, seems to be designed to show that Americans are a grasping,
self-indulgent, benighted people.
The article tells us that, "A Minnesota company has made $758,000
selling "His Essence"--a candle that smells the way the Bible says
Jesus will upon His return (myrrh, aloe, and cassia.) The
implication is clear that this is $758,000 that would be better donated
to charity. Did Clara Jeffery, the article's author, consider
that the money spent for cups of organic, fair-trade coffee she drank
while compiling this list of facts might have been better spent on
worthy causes? Why not point out that
"lifestyles
of health and sustainability" which includes things like
energy-efficient appliances, organic foods, eco-tourism, and solar
panels is a $230 Billion dollar industry? Because in this age of consumerism-as-activism, these purchases are acceptable, whereas a His Essence candle is not.*
Another fact from the article:
US donations made thus far per victim of 9/11, Katrina, and the tsunami, respectively: $736,771, $2,827, $1,173.
By showing the per victim amount of donations, the initial impression
is that Americans donated little to the aid of hurricane or tsunami
victims, which, of course, is inaccurate.
The article is sprinkled with facts about our current political
climate, which, though edifying, have nothing to do with the giving
habits of the average American. Example:
Last January, RNC chair Ken Mehlman asked each supporter for at least
$25 to help get Bush's message "past the liberal media filter."
I suppose my point is twofold: 1.) I wish journalists could
resist the urge to slant their articles. The practice has turned
me into such a cynic, that I don't believe anything I read
anymore. 2.) Attempting to characterize a nation of over 300
million people, with a mini collection of facts is absurd. I'm
sure that anyone with a search engine could pre-select an image of
Americans and compile a list of facts to make Americans fit that
profile.
*I researched the His Essence candle. One candle costs $21 which
means approximately 37,900 Americans have purchased them (assuming that
each American purchased one candle, and that all the buyers were
Americans.) I would venture that 38,000 people, in a nation of
well over 300 million, does not provide evidence that typical Americans
are spending fistfuls of cash in order to make their homes smell like
Jesus. And even if they were, whose business is it?
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