What to thank America for...

Sp!ked has an interesting lists of what to thank America for this thanksgiving. It includes the second amendment), Microsoft, mass production and mass consumption, and fast food. In thanking America for its love of stuff, Daniel Ben-Ami writes:

Stuff is good, but choices are even better. America has led the world in the creation of a mass consumer society. Many of the goods that we now take for granted - the washing machine, the fridge, the vacuum cleaner and, most importantly, the car - became mass consumer items in America in the 1920s. Europe did not begin to catch up until after the Second World War.

Such items, and many others of more recent origin, have played a key role in improving the quality of our lives. Where would we be without them? Imagine if we had to clean all our clothes by hand or travel everywhere on foot or by public transport. And what about more recent consumer items such as the personal computer and the mobile phone? And where would we be without the internet? We could still live and function without such things, but our lives would be impoverished.

Even more important than mass consumption is our ability to mass produce - indeed, the former depends on the latter. The fact that Europe, following America’s lead, has become so productive gives us many more real choices in our lives. The time we have to spend doing gruelling physical work or mundane domestic chores has been dramatically reduced. This leaves us with more free time and more energy to do more rewarding things, such as engaging in art or culture, participating in sport, or taking part in debates.

Well, that just shows that there are so many things to love about America. I will thank America this thanksgiving for two things, the first is its resilient optimism, and the second is its belief in impossible dreams. Those in these times of gloom and doom ate not only refreshing, but indispensable.

Comments

[Craig]

I think I disagree with this chap.

1) Fordism is all good and all, but I think the rest of the world would have gotten all those lovely time-saving devices (washing machine, dryer, fridge etc.) regardless of America.

2) The car is perhaps the most pernicious invention in recent years. If we invested as much in public transport as we did in cars, we wouldn't need nearly as many cars anyway. Cars have made us hopelessly dependent on a natural resource from dodgy places (Russia, Venezuela, the Mideast) and the greenhouse gazes they produce threatens to completely destroy our planet's meteorological balance. Thanks indeed!

I am hoping the age of the car, and specifically the large car, is coming to an end so we can all either zip along in small hybrid vehicles or, better yet, use the train and the bus. (I would also like to believe that America's leading the way in hyperconsumerism, obscene luxury and war-making need not also co-exist with desperate poverty, but alas, one cannot hope for too much)