Support the Troops: Buy an iPod - Democracy Means You

Published 2005
Democracy Means You

Support the Troops: Buy an iPod


Do you like your iPod?

If I had one, I am sure I would like mine. Indeed, I’m envious of those with the technical prowess to use an iPod: to download music on it, or transfer tunes from their CD player to the iPod. I’m sure it’s not that big of a deal, but I can’t pretend to know how to competently do those tasks.

Did you know that our troops are fighting for your right to own and listen to your iPod? I didn’t either, but it was an eye-opening statement, made by a Veteran’s Day speaker I happened to observe.

The problem is, the speaker made the epiphanic statement, but took off on a different tangent than I was expecting him to.

He went on to assert the idea that some countries don’t allow people to choose their own music or TV programs, that their freedom of choice is severely restricted. Therefore, the speaker said, U.S. troops are fighting for our right to listen to whatever we want, whenever we want, so we won’t morph into a more restrictive country.

Hm. While it may be true that there are countries with less freedom of choice on the surface, it’s not true that America is the perfect paradigm of freedom.

Are we truly free when we are enslaved to consumerism, to purchasing the next hot item of technology, just because we are indoctrinated into thinking that we absolutely MUST have it?

Are we truly free when our troops invade foreign lands in order to protect our “right” to this compulsive consumerism?

Are we really free when hundreds of thousands of adults and children in primitive, destitute lands are killed, all for our “right” to web-surf, channel-surf, song-surf?

It’s true, then, that our troops our fighting for our “right” to listen to our iPod. They are fighting for our “right” to purchase cheap gas, cheap clothing, cheap shoes, cheap furniture, cheap technology. They are fighting for our “right” to allow the exploitation of children and poor people in foreign lands.

There is nothing inherently wrong with iPods. Hell, I’d like to own one; I love music, and I would love to hone my technical skills.

But it’s not my “right” to own an iPod if it is the byproduct of bloodshed and misery.

Freedom is an existential concept; it resides in the heart and mind. Freedom is not yoked to materialism.

Freedom is not truly free when the pricetag of an iPod is dangling from the corpse of a soldier.