On the side of highway 347 leading away from Maricopa City a billboard reads ‘Pack Out Your Trigger Trash’. If not for being an avid consumer of newspapers and other local media, I don’t know that the term trigger trash would make a lot of sense to me. The term refers to the spent cartridges and other paraphernalia that are a result of people shooting off firearms in the desert. I have no problem with this and I also have no experience with this outside of AZ. I say this to reflect the basic truth that AZ is different from other parts of the states I’ve been. It feels like a state trying to be the south but trying to be LA at the same time. This is all to raise the point that the concept of America as a singular unit seems extremely dated, especially in light of the increased social interconnectivity brought to us through the internet. If, especially in the net age, we seem far more distant and diversified across the 50 states, perhaps we should go back to seeing America as a conglomeration of cultures all driven by a single goal (read: security through capitalism) as opposed to one nation and one voice.
This isn’t just about trigger trash. Today a student ‘slipped up’ in his presentation and complained that minorities shouldn’t receive any greater benefits than, and I am quoting here, “regular Americans.” That ‘I am a white male’ American default remains extremely problematic, especially given the shrinkage of the caucasian population percentage as compared to the American whole. Yet, many hold on to this vision as a fundamental part of their understanding of the American dream not to mention their push to come to America.
Some Thoughts:
- The KFC popcorn chicken commercial that has kids complaining about their old chicken once tasting KFC is the best possible divertissement for not eating KFC.