Brand USA surprises and disappoints

More than the fact that it is the richest and most powerful country in the world, the USA has been the dream destination of the world because of its great values and the fact that it brings out the best from the people of diverse backgrounds that have gathered there to make it their home. Not surprising that with the best and the brightest it has become what it is today. Folks who are failures at home blossom and succeed in America because of its systems. They fail at home because their paternalistic governmental systems pull them down; they succeed in the US because its systems encourage questioning, individualism and success. I suspect that’s what Brand America stands for. Sometimes of course there are aberrations. The Gulf war and the prison abuse look like serious departures from its basic brand values, and similarly its reluctance to acknowledge the harm that plastic bags are doing to the world’s environment. One trillion plastic bags get thrown away every year, most of them in the US. About 100,000 whales, seals, turtles and other marine animals are killed by plastic bags each year worldwide. On this front, others lead the world. Ireland was the first to introduce a tax on plastic bags. Usage dropped 90% the first year. Now Scotland is doing it, while South Africa and Taiwan and Bangladesh have already done so. Australia has taken the voluntary route and a very large number of retailers have signed agreements with the government to reduce usage. While claims vary between a reduction of 7% and 50%, some communities have gone completely plastic bag free (read some of the other blogs here). But the US hasn’t yet caught on. A recent story from an Indiana daily showed that while the statistical awareness exists, it hasn’t translated into knowledge or realization yet. Perhaps you’ll also want to read this http://badlani.com/bags/branding.htm