I am never disappointed. From pork-flavored snack crackers, to "Scent Stories" CD's which play fragrance instead of music, to Looney-Tunes embroidered toilet seat covers, China cranks it out while America buys it on credit. Which will soon be owned primarily to Chinese banks. Viva Capitalism!
I thought about these wasteful items, and I was reminded of a movie I saw called Twenty Bucks, which followed a newly minted $20 bill and how it was spent by the various people through whose hands it passed.
It also made me think about how better to spend the money. For an example, I looked up my personal favorite charity, Doctors Without Borders, to see what they had to say:
Your Donation: - What It Can Provide:
$35 - Two high-energy meals a day to 200 children
$50 - Vaccinations for 50 people against meningitis, measles, polio or other deadly epidemics
$70 - Two basic suture kits to repair minor shrapnel wounds
$100 - Infection-fighting antibiotics to treat nearly 40 wounded children
$250 - A sterilization kit for syringes and needles used in mobile vaccination campaigns
$500 - A medical kit containing basic drugs, supplies, equipment, and dressings to treat 1,500 patients for three months
$1000 - Emergency medical supplies to aid 5,000 disaster victims for an entire month
$5500 - An emergency health kit to care for 10,000 displaced people for three months
So it's up to you, people: which would you rather do, feed and vaccinate dying children, or dress your dog as a pimp this Halloween?
