Corporate consumerism doesn't define America

TO THE EDITOR:

Pro-cultural does not mean anti-American. And American culture should not be synonymous with Coca-Cola, overpaid athletes, television shows and fast food.

That some people (Anti-American sentiments in column were hollow" Feb. 19) do not distinguish between corporate-sponsored consumerism and American culture is sad and scary. Of the things listed by Chaney Adams as the essence of American culture" Coca-Cola is the only one that has existed for more than 60 years. That is roughly a quarter of the age of our country. Calling corporate advertising campaigns and grossly excessive consumption the hallmarks of a capitalist society reveals an alarmingly short historical memory.

The United States was founded on the principles of open commerce, freedom of ideas, and cultural integration and exchange. Big Macs have no place in the original capitalist culture.

As for the supposed benefits of this gleeful consumerism: highest standard of living may have been true for much of our history, but that myth is unraveling as we see our nation's socioeconomic gaps widen and Americans fall behind in education and innovation. Americans who value Big Macs and Peyton Manning as much as Chaney Adams are taking any vestiges of a real American culture out of existence. Maybe revitalizing the diversity within our rightfully heralded melting pot"" culture is just the tonic for the cultural disease of corporate America.



Andrew Crosson
Senior
History" Political Science