2008 Woodie Awards
Advocating justice for all: What I am thankful for
M. E. Osborne
Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: Editorial/Opinion
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11/15/07 - Every year, when Thanksgiving rolls around, we remind ourselves of all we have to be thankful for.
Most Americans are known for a standard of living that is unparalleled by any other people in history, save for other contemporary First World nations. Though a lot of Americans still suffer from the material trappings of poverty, most of us have it alright. This is especially true for the students at the University of Rhode Island.
Anyone from Rhode Island who wants to, and is capable, can attend the university and gain an education. That is a wonderful thing. If someone were born into a "non-white" working class world a few hundred years ago, college would not have been option. They would not have had penicillin, indoor plumbing, household appliances or the Internet. We have those things.
The holiday was originally intended to celebrate the second harvest of the year. As the story goes, the first year that the pilgrims were in the "New World," they suffered a terrible winter and many of them died.
The Native Americans taught the pilgrims how to cultivate corn and how to hunt and fish in the new land. In return, when the pilgrims had a plentiful harvest, they planned a huge feast and invited the Native Americans.
The harvest season carries very small meaning to a largely urban population. Personally, I don't harvest anything but I eat just like everybody else. I imagine that if I spent my time producing my own food, I'd have very little time to spend writing columns.
For that, I am thankful.
With all of these things to be grateful for, why is it that everyone seems to want more? The common psychology is one based on an assumption of misery, that one must work hard to pull oneself from an unhappy condition. A major contributor to this ideology is advertising.
In order get people to buy what they do not need and may not initially want, advertisers use human psychology to manipulate people. They tell people that there is an insurmountable barrier - the "miserable" human condition - and that they have a means, a very secret, very mystical means by which to overcome this barrier - Product X. Buying Product X cannot solve the problem because the insurmountable barrier cannot be overcome. The barrier, they tell you, is you.
Most Americans are known for a standard of living that is unparalleled by any other people in history, save for other contemporary First World nations. Though a lot of Americans still suffer from the material trappings of poverty, most of us have it alright. This is especially true for the students at the University of Rhode Island.
Anyone from Rhode Island who wants to, and is capable, can attend the university and gain an education. That is a wonderful thing. If someone were born into a "non-white" working class world a few hundred years ago, college would not have been option. They would not have had penicillin, indoor plumbing, household appliances or the Internet. We have those things.
The holiday was originally intended to celebrate the second harvest of the year. As the story goes, the first year that the pilgrims were in the "New World," they suffered a terrible winter and many of them died.
The Native Americans taught the pilgrims how to cultivate corn and how to hunt and fish in the new land. In return, when the pilgrims had a plentiful harvest, they planned a huge feast and invited the Native Americans.
The harvest season carries very small meaning to a largely urban population. Personally, I don't harvest anything but I eat just like everybody else. I imagine that if I spent my time producing my own food, I'd have very little time to spend writing columns.
For that, I am thankful.
With all of these things to be grateful for, why is it that everyone seems to want more? The common psychology is one based on an assumption of misery, that one must work hard to pull oneself from an unhappy condition. A major contributor to this ideology is advertising.
In order get people to buy what they do not need and may not initially want, advertisers use human psychology to manipulate people. They tell people that there is an insurmountable barrier - the "miserable" human condition - and that they have a means, a very secret, very mystical means by which to overcome this barrier - Product X. Buying Product X cannot solve the problem because the insurmountable barrier cannot be overcome. The barrier, they tell you, is you.