Even more culture exported
Rod Dreher on his Crunchy Con blog has a category called "Decline and Fall." For him it covers topics that he sees as a sign of the deterioration of American culture.
I thought of this, actually, the other week, when I was in a cab in Beijing and we were stopped in traffic in front of an American Apparel.
This is what we are exporting to China and to the world, American Apparel. I know we should be happy that clothing manufactured in a non-sweatshop setting inside the U.S. has begun to sell into China. From that part of its business model, it's a fantastic export. However, when that famously uptight Puritan Woody Allen describes the company as having a "sleazy image," with ads he describes as "sexually gross in a witless and infantile way," it is pretty safe to say they are beyond the pale.
I know the usual arguments, like if you don't like it don't shop there, blah blah blah. But this is much more than personal preference. I just can't believe this is the best of American retail. This is the American image we want other countries to consume?
I thought of this, actually, the other week, when I was in a cab in Beijing and we were stopped in traffic in front of an American Apparel.
This is what we are exporting to China and to the world, American Apparel. I know we should be happy that clothing manufactured in a non-sweatshop setting inside the U.S. has begun to sell into China. From that part of its business model, it's a fantastic export. However, when that famously uptight Puritan Woody Allen describes the company as having a "sleazy image," with ads he describes as "sexually gross in a witless and infantile way," it is pretty safe to say they are beyond the pale.
I know the usual arguments, like if you don't like it don't shop there, blah blah blah. But this is much more than personal preference. I just can't believe this is the best of American retail. This is the American image we want other countries to consume?
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