The Materialism Challenge

In a recent discussion with The Czar, we finally decided who is to blame for our nation's screwed up priorities. You hear a lot about it: How many schools could be built with the money used to wage war in Iraq for a day; How many meals for how many poor children could be purchased with what it cost to rebuild the Superdome.
Yeah, we thought, we really suck if war and football is what we, as a nation, are spending our money on.
But it's too easy to blame the government for this. And you know what? You elected those assclowns. Yes, you! You need to take responsibility for what your representatives do. But raising the voter participation rate is not why I write this.
I write because instead of bitching, the Czar and I have decided to turn the problem on its head. You are the problem here. Every frivolous purchase of meaningless shit that you buy should be another reminder that it's YOUR screwed up priorities that need fixing.
So how's this?

This is a Customizable Minnesota Vikings football jersey. It costs $314.99. The capacity of the Vikings' stadium is 64,035. If that many Vikings fans simply did not buy their precious Vikings jersey, and used that money for something IMPORTANT, like textbooks for their local elemetary schools, or health care for poor people, there would be $20,170,385 that wouldn't have to be worried about come tax time.
$20 milion can go pretty damn far, compared to what usually gets spent on health care for poor people. So, Vikings fans, stop being so damn selfish. Or don't you want poor people to be healthy?
Do you want to complain about the lack of policemen on the beat? Sick of living in a city with a murder rate twice that of New York? May I direct you to aisle four...

This is a Minnesota Twins hat. It costs $19.99. Assuming that one in five people in the Twin Cities areas is a Twins fan (a conservative estimate, mind you) who would want to buy this hat, that's 593,800 people who should go to their police department and plunk down a $20 bill their damn selves and shut the hell up. The resulting total of more than $11 million could put a few more squad cars on the streets.

Twins fans, which would you rather have? A baseball hat, or a low murder rate?

Basically, you need to shut up and stop living in some John Lennon Imaginary world where the Air Force has to have a bake sale, and start changing priorities one person at a time. Look in the mirror the next time you wonder what's wrong with the world. It's you, buddy. It's all you. And you could stand to lose some weight.