Entry 20:

Yo Doug,

We're coming to the end of the road, my friend. Maybe this is a good place to stop.

You wrote:

The net result, I think, is that we end up relying less on political systems and community interactions to resolve such tensions. Instead, we "act out" through consuming. Interestingly, the social movements that attack these issues--the Greens, Act Up, anti-free traders, simple livers--increasingly voice their politics through consumption (e.g., the "jamming" of Nike's customized shoe design feature on their Web site, as reported in the Village Voice a few months ago).

OK, now is there any chance that this acting out of differences via consumption may make the world a teenie bit better, a bit safer, maybe even more fair?

The Wall Street Journal reported on its front page a year ago that the Swedes, who keep up on this kind of data, say that the world seems, and is, relatively peaceful. One reason is that robust economies have given prospective foot soldiers something better to do--namely, go shopping. Russell Belk has even coined a term for this version of pax Americana: pax McDonald's.

Doesn't sound very tasty, but I'd rather have somebody after my French fries than after my soul.

Now not everyone would agree. In A Nation of Salesmen, Earl Shorris, a reformed ad man who writes for Harper's, bemoans the fact that we are resolving problems via consumption. Here's what he says: "It may be a lack of imagination on my part but I cannot conceive of a great host of people trudging across all of Europe, willing to fight and die in a crusade on behalf of the videocassette player. Nor does it seem likely to me that anyone would be willing to die on the cross for the suits of Giorgio Armani or the scents of Chanel."

Yet when you think of the role politics and religion have played in building a deep and loving relationship between peoples, perhaps mindless consumption doesn't seem so bad. I know the market has nasty side effects--those wicked externalities--but so does a little high-altitude bombing and racial cleansing. I'm not saying it's either/or, but only that the commercialization of transactions may have a sunny side.

You get the last word. Take it.

Best wishes, and prancing with you has been fun.

Jim