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Here Comes the Waste
By anitamckay on 2010-08-18 20:18:05
I had intended to leave the topic of the Clinton Royal Wedding alone, but it pursued me. Even those of us who tried to stick
our heads far in the sand and avoid the uber tacky Clinton wedding did not seem to be able to get away from it. I was
ambushed when I was reading an online newspaper from the former SSR, Georgia. There was a brief piece about it. The
names of the designers for Hillary and Chelsea's dresses were mentioned. Rumors of the total cost abounded, but however
many millions it was it was, it was too much. Then there was the People cover story, unavoidable in the supermarket line.
The title was something about Chelsea's dream wedding. My thoughts turned to those who dream of a day without violence,
dream of a meal, a roof over their heads. Are the Clintons even aware of the state of the economy? The unemployment
level? How a lavish wedding might look? How better the money might be spent? (Yes, I know there will be those who will
wax rhapsodical about those employed in the wedding industry and the good fortune of the convenience store owners in
Rhinebeck. My concern is for sustainable jobs which actually produce something of value.) What does the current US
wedding mania cost? Surveys vary, but the average seems to be between $25,000 and $30,000 per wedding. With over 2.3
million weddings last year, that puts the industry in the $45-50 billion dollar range. I know, you can't even get a decent war
with that kind of money, but imagine what it could do if even the couple used their wedding money more wisely. They could
make a large enough down payment on a house to have a better chance to avoid foreclosure down the road. They could pay
for a year or two of college for one of the kids. Tide themselves over in a rough period. They could even save the money
toward legal fees in case they wind up in the wrong marriage statistical column. In the meantime, nearly 20,000 children a
day die from hunger. Another 4,000 a day die because they do not have access to clean water. An estimated 10 million
children under five die each year from preventable causes. A party or a life? Which is a better use of money? In the United
States, we have lived as if our resources are unlimited. We are beginning to see the truth: that unlimited expansion is always
at someone else's expense. We need to spend our resources more wisely, both for the sake of our country and of the world's.
