The One with All the Gift Shops

As I walked through the UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico, I couldn’t help but be struck by the interesting dichotomy they presented. On one hand, it was a thorough, researched series of displays obviously constructed by people with a real passion for their experiences. On the other, the typos, warehouse style architecture, and ties to popular culture (such as the “X-Files” posters featured between displays on crop circles and historical references to the extraterrestrial) suggested a clapboard museum pieced together by amateurs.

It was the gift shop that made me think though. As I exited the displays and entered the shop to my right, I was confronted by shelves of little green men featured on postcards, bumper stickers, t-shirts, key chains, and everything you could possibly imagine. This museum had just spent the last hour trying to convince me that the focus there was serious and that the accounts of abduction were not to be taken lightly, and now they fully intended to make as much money off of those ideals as possible, by any means necessary.

I was turned off, both by the museum’s absurdity and by the overt capitalism that made it even harder to respect them. But as the day wore on and the jokes of UFO’s and tin-foil hats kept going strong, I couldn’t help but think back to our time in El Paso, TX the day before. We spent the day with Lounell, a relative of one of my best friends, who works for a defense contractor. She took us on a tour of Fort Bliss, introduced many of the group to their first Mercado, and treated us to a great meal at a Tex/Mex restaurant (Thanks Aunt Lounell!)

As we walked around the grounds of Fort Bliss, passing retired Cobras, Ajaxs, and Patriot Missiles (both active and retired) we heard a lot about the strength and efficiency of the Armed Forces and the values of America that they serve to defend: Freedom, Honor, Liberty, Justice….Patriotic values we hold to close to our hearts in this country. Patriotism so devout that other countries struggle to understand our fervor, even as they might envy the values we enjoy….all accompanied by a gift shop, of course. The “God Bless America” flags, pins, lapels, and marmalades featured in the Fort Bliss museum shop all seemed to say “We’re the land of the free, the home of the brave and we now we fully intend to make as much money as possible…by any means necessary.

As the saying goes, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.”

We’re a capitalist society, and we’re pretty good at it. I can’t fault either the UFO museum or Fort Bliss for trying to make a buck off of their passions and interests. To be American is to be capitalist, really. It’s just hard to stomach the clear and unabashed love of money that comes with such economic ideals when we’re standing next to $900,000 homes built by retired government contractors, watching the sunset over Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Seeing the sharp contrast in the houses, the roads, and the culture separated only by a glorified creek bed, it’s hard not to wonder what the people of Juarez think it means to be an American. It’s hard not to wonder if we’re right to make as much money as possible by any means necessary. It’s hard not to wonder if I’m that much different from the people I judged to be absurd at the UFO museum.

I understand that being American is more than just capitalist ideals. I also understand that even being able to write this without fear of more than a lecture from my parents and some dissenting views in the comments is a right I wouldn’t have in some countries (including a few non-capitalist societies). And I certainly don’t mean this as a critique of the ideals Fort Bliss protects and serves. I just wonder where we should draw the line and say, “These values are too important to be sullied by one more little green man (or one more bald eagle holding a flag) on a vinyl cling.” I wonder if the love of money in this country gets in the way of being able to really respect what we hold to be most important.

Or maybe I just don’t like gift shops.