The unbearable whiteness of being
The author of "Stuff White People Like" skewers the sacred cows of
lefty Caucasian culture, from the Prius to David Sedaris.
By Katharine Mieszkowski
Yet a lot of the stuff you write that white people like, obviously many
other people like, too.
When you create a site called Stuff White People Like, it's easy for people
to make an assumption that it's actually about stuff only white people like.
It's not meant to be exclusionary but rather a focus on the things that, well,
white people like.
Let's talk about some of them. What is the significance of bottles of
water?
It's all about ranking. It's essentially a contest. It used to be that
bottled water was a status symbol. You drink Evian, or you drink Fiji, or what
is the most expensive water.
But advanced-level white people, the higher-ranking white people, realized
that they were creating a
lot of waste, and so they switched over to the Nalgene bottle. That
also reminded them of going camping. So then they could take a stance of
superiority over the people who were drinking bottled water. And then, that whole
story came out about Nalgenes leaching I don't know what the exact toxin is
[Bisphenol A]. So then super-advanced white people went even further and got
those metal Sigg bottles,
and now you have this really solid hierarchy and ranking of white people of
commercial bottled water, Nalgene bottle and either the glass or metal,
twist-top bottles.
What's the significance of an eco product, like the Toyota
Prius, the carbon
offset or the reusable
shopping bag?
That again is another way to claim superiority over regular-level, or
subpar, white people. You're saving the environment, you're making a
difference. It helps remind you and others that your lifestyle is making things
better.
"WASPish Whiteness" is a state of mind. You don't have to play if you don't want to play. Life is not about getting more "stuff". A few years ago, there started to circulate a video, "The Story of Stuff," which can be seen at: https://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/120907E.shtml#
If you're a chronic consumer, go see it. Reduce your footprint.