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9/11 Merchandising

I honestly wonder how much money has been garnered by people attempting to take advantage of the 9/11 attacks by making a few bucks off it.

Directly following the attacks, yes, there was a sense of unity and patriotism for a while, which resulted in citizens purchasing things to illustrate this level of "patriotism". However, this is a capitalist society. Do you really believe these people's intentions were really that pure or were they also attempting to take advantage of American's fears and vulnerabilities to make some money? As is typical, I'm guessing the answer resides somewhere in the middle.

This seems to have been especially prevalent this year, as it's the 10-year anniversary of the attacks. 9/11 Champagne? Check. 9/11 Wine? Check. 9/11 Gold? Check. 9/11 Hats? Check. 9/11 Shirts, Pants, Boots, Jock Straps, Footballs, Coloring Books, Swimsuits, Condoms, CDs, Books, DVDS, etc.? Check, check and check some more.

It feels very immoral to me for people to use these horrendous and traumatic attacks as a means to make a profit. Countless dollars were lost that day, as 3,000 people were killed. No sum will be able to match their value to their friends, family and loved ones. To make a quick buck off the tragedy and the victims, to me, is a despicable act. How about we use that very money to donate to 9/11 families, charities, causes, those at ground zero fighting cancer, etc.? To me, that'd be much more patriotic than wearing a pin on the shirt that reads "Remembering 9/11". No one will remember 9/11 more than the families of the victims and those whom were at ground zero attempting to save some of those very victims. Let's remember them by patriotically donating money to them and their causes as opposed to making ourselves appear more "patriotic" by buying objects sold by people attempting to take advantage of us giving into that very temptation due to the emotional, mental and psychological distress 9/11 caused us.

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