An Open Letter to "Reverend" Billy Talen

Dear Rev. Billy Talen,

You are clearly a man who means well. You clearly have a problem with our consumerist culture. I love to see a man who is passionate about something. However, you, in spite of how well-meaning you are, have two flaws. You are a jerk and you know nothing about economics.

First of all, good sir, I don't get why you simply cannot just shut your mouth. People want to buy things and they willingly trade their money to do so because they value the objects they seek over their hard-earned dollar. The way you talk it seems as if these consumers are victims of the evil corporations, but this simply false. These people know what they want and corporations are giving it to them. Perhaps you are so blinded by your radical ideology that capitalism is an evil, oppressive system to see the inherent voluntarism that takes place within it, but these people are not oppressed. You are just a loudmouth and you need to shut up and let people live their lives.

Second of all, you don't understand economics. People work for these companies that produce these consumeristic products you hate. Now it is true that consumerism got way out of hand in recent years and people began buying things they could not afford, and it screwed up our economy in the process, however this does not mean consumerism is evil. People just want certain things to make their lifestyles better. By buying things the economy moves along and gives people jobs and money. Even though too much consumerism hurt the economy, too little is just as bad. Did you ever wonder why the government's solution to the mess caused by consumerism is to give "stimulus" to the economy. Not because they want us in the same mess again, but because they see the balance that is needed and how people must spend in order for the economy to be good. And people want to spend. If people can afford it they want nice things. This is why poor people in poor countries want to be like Americans. Sometimes the anti-globalization and anti-consumerist movement complains that the corporate media is trying to "destroy native cultures" but in the end who can blame anyone for wanting the lifestyle we have. It is harsh and paternalistic to suggest that people in China, India, and Africa don't want America's consumer choices and that they shouldn't have them.

The bottom line is that you are a radical man who is ungrateful for everything this country has given you. You have never lived in any country where there are no corporations, capitalism, or consumer goods so you don't know about what it is like to lack those things. You just take everything for granted and then turn around and call it evil. I just wish you would stop and be thankful for this conucopia we have in this country. This is a country where a poor man can be fat and have a color television, and to me that is a good thing.

This does not mean that everything you say is wrong. You do raise a lot of good points about how the corporate media tries to sell ideas that are not true. If it were not for the corporate media we would have never gone to the Iraq War, which was based on lies. I think that you are right to demand more accountability from corporations to how they deal with consumers and to demand that consumers know what corporations are trying to sell them. I think you are right to demand reform, but the name of your "Church," the "Church of Stop Shopping" suggests something else entirely. I would encourage you to take some time to reflect on all we have, to study economics, and to quit harping on people for buying things you don't want them to buy. Thankyou.

Sincerely, A.

P.S. I do not own a corporation and am not a servant of the corporate elites.