Freedom's just another word

I was reading an article the other day by James Pinkerton of Newsday about the differences between The West and Islam. Seems the latter relishes spirituality while The West puts emphasis on freedom.

I disagree. The West (and that's the U.S.) does not worship freedom above all else. The West worships money above all else, and freedom can often offer the best means to make that money. And, of course, you can act freely within the boundaries of making money. As long as you have money.

Now, I'm not addressing this from the spiritual view point. No one is free when they are tied to material objects. But I'm thinking about this from a practical point of view:

My wife called me from the store last week because I asked her to pick up toothpaste. "What kind?" she asked.

"Just toothpaste," I replied.

"Do you want the whitening kind? The tartar control kind? The germ-fighting kind? The kind with breath-freshening built in? The kind with sparkles? The kind that plays 1970's pop tunes while you brush?"

"I just want toothpaste," I whimpered.

So, I guess that's freedom, but, you see, it's the type of freedom I don't need. It's the illusion of freedom tied to consumerism and, therefore, money. Without money, I wouldn't have the choices of toothpaste to begin with.

I guess that's why we invade countries, put people in jail, torture them, bomb them, burn them, harass them, scar them and belittle ourselves and tear ourselves apart. It's about choosing something from the toothpaste aisle at Meijer.

Thought: I got the breath-freshening mint kind.