Letters to the Editor
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CAN Buy Me Love
Personally, I think you pet people are crazy . . . which is fine, if you can afford it. If you get more joy out of a dog or cat than a widescreen TV or a trip to Paris, who am I to criticize? But pet owners who attack other pet owners for not treating their pets to the very best that money can buy, or who demand that everyone else recognize that they’re somehow better people because they waste good money on their pets, need to back down. As I argue in my blog, The Dawgs Are A’ight http://www.furniturestyle.com/Departments/EtcPage/tabid/80/Default.aspx?ContentID=6751&AuthorID=9 , this attitude is nothing more than the monetization of emotion. As Americans we tend to turn to the marketplace to solve our problems, including our emotional ones. Money spent—often on things that dogs and cats, being inhuman and therefore free of human vanities, could really care less about—becomes a measure of our capacity to love.
I also recommend the following NPR story, about how this country has an easier time passing laws protecting cats and dogs abroad than helping oppressed workers.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17358785