No matter how often we remind ourselves, “You can’t judge a book by its cover,” and regardless of how many times we’ve told children, “It’s what’s on the inside that counts,” one thing is unfortunately true: image is everything. We know it shouldn’t be, and we enjoy ridiculing the Paris Hiltons of the world whose shallowness rivals a pitre dish, but we nevertheless consider outward appearances tremendously important. We use clothes, cars, hairstyles, and homes to define who we are. Yet our image-conscious culture has relied on a healthy economy, a part of life that has now been lost; and as our politicians use our tax money to bail out fiscally irresponsible companies, We the People—the normal folks who don’t fly private jets or depend on Hollywood heavyweights to get us elected—have had to reign back our spending and become—gasp and egad!—frugal. We have also developed a certain fondness for environmentally friendly lifestyles. Now, in direct rebellion to the conspicuous consumption that characterized the last twenty years, trendsetters have decided the best image is that of financial responsibility and being “green”; after all, green is the color of both money and plant life (unless, of course, those plants are dead).
The word “frugality” suffers from unfortunate connotations. People associate it with scraping for pennies, shopping at garage sales, darning the holes in one’s socks, and shunning steak in favor of red beans. Such opinions are untrue, but our culture has regarded frugality as a disease to be avoided, like polio or smallpox. Ever since our national recession didn’t officially begin—then it did—the old maxim “a penny saved is a penny earned” has seemed uncommonly wise. For decades, a penny was simply an object for scraping gum off one’s shoe. American citizens are pulling out their dictionaries to remind themselves how to spell and define “budget,” and calculators haven’t seen this much use since people tried to figure out Dolly Parton’s new measurements. Being budget-conscious has become fashionable. Times have officially changed.
But saving money is nothing compared to the popularity of saving Mother Earth. Once deemed only for hemp-happy hippies, environmental responsibility is now recognized as a necessity for future survival. It’s also one of the best ways to gain recognition. After losing the presidency, Al Gore elevated sensationalism to Oscar-winning material with his movie “An Inconvenient Truth”; meanwhile, real scientists have been debating various environmental issues. However, people should not use yellow journalism and scientific disputes as excuses to disregard the importance of good stewardship. Anyone who lives in south Louisiana has seen the results of faulty man-made engineering; we wouldn’t be losing our coastline if past politicians hadn’t redirected the Mississippi River, effectively dumping all the shore-building river sediments into the Gulf of Mexico. Coastal erosion is just one of the reasons the green movement has become popular, and people flaunt their environmental friendliness like they’re raising the stakes in a poker game: I see your recycle bin and raise you two solar panels and a Prius. Celebrities also rely on this image-building cause to help fix a ruined reputation. Who cares how many DWIs Lindsay Lohan gets as long as she saves a whale somewhere?
Image may be everything in the public spotlight, but one important factor separates the new image from the old. The unnecessary clothes, sportscars, and vacations of the past were shallow, meaningless exercises in frivolity. The only purpose was to collect more toys than one’s friends. The new emphases on frugality, which encourages thoughtful spending, and on environmental responsibility, which will leave long-lasting impacts on future generations, require us to look beyond ourselves and to others. For that reason alone, following the latest trendy image has suddenly become a good thing.
© Timothy Samaha
First published in PoV Magazine
