Reflection 11—

So yesterday I was watching this comedy skit by John Oliver, who is Jon Stewart’s senior correspondent on “The Daily Show.” Oliver is British, so his material is mostly concerned with how ludicrous people in America are, and how ridiculous our government is. At one point in the routine he tells a story about when he was watching TV one day he saw an advertisement for an inflatable barbeque. The idea of this marvelous invention is that you can cook while you swim. Oliver pointed out that only in America would you find this toy. He talked about how the Chinese could certainly make it and for cheap, but no Chinese family could ever “pull off” an inflatable barbeque.

This joke taken lightly is hilarious, but when one really considers the fact that American companies are investing even a cent in the production of inflatable barbeques you have to be a little worried. As we go into the next couple weeks discussing poverty, the disgusting material whorishness of Americans should certainly be on our minds. This last week we talked about an income gap in America. The global income gap and rift in standard of living is far more pronounced and far direr. It may be worth exploring alternatives to inflatable barbeques in the interest of promoting some semblance of balance across the globe.