Put Up and Shut Up

I get about 25 forwarded emails a day. Cute pictures (or, now, YouTube videos) of puppies and kittens, chain emails full of prayers and platitudes, jokes, and sometimes political diatribes. Below is an example of the last:

"This year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is a very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q and A format:
"Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
"A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.
"Q. Where will the government get this money?
"A. From taxpayers.
"Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
"A. No, they are borrowing it from China. Your children are expected to repay the Chinese. "Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
"A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.
"Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China?
"A. Shut up."

Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the US economy by spending your stimulus check wisely: If you spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China . If you spend it on gasoline it will go to Hugo Chavez, the Arabs and Al Queda (sic) If you purchase a computer it will go to Taiwan.... If you purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala (unless you buy organic). ; If you buy a car it will go to Japan and Korea . If you purchase prescription drugs it will go to India If you purchase heroin it will go to the Taliban in Afghanistan If you give it to a charitable cause, it will go to Nigeria. And none of it will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America. You can keep the money in America by spending it at yard sales, going to a baseball game, or spend it on prostitutes, beer (domestic ONLY), or tattoos, since those are the only businesses still in the US."

Anyone who knows me should know not to send this email to me. For whatever reason, I've gotten it three times, now. This email is simplistic, jingoistic and bitchy. The main reason it annoys me, though, is that the people who send it seem to be doing nothing to change anything they are complaining about. Note the parenthetical "unless you buy organic." Do they? I don't think so. Do people buy local? Do they buy old-fashioned, made-in-America toys instead of Chinese junk, even if it's a bit more expensive? Do they avoid Wal-Mart, or do they want the cheapest of everything no matter what? Perhaps most importantly, do they try to take part in the global economy--maybe by training for a better job, or insisting on better education for their kids-- or do they just complain about its effects? If they don't believe globalization is in our interest, do they write or call their representatives, protest, educate themselves on international economics and the effects of globalization, so that they can understand where we fit in the equation? Apparently not. I guess I'm tired of the same old complaints, rooted in the perennial "those were the good old days" mentality that decries modernity and progress in all its forms, including those that inure to the greater good. Spare me the email, and spare me the sentiment. Go DO something about it.