Americans, as a rule, dress for comfort. Some would say they dress like slobs. Go to any amusement park in America and you will see pudgy, mashed potato colored thighs sticking out of unattractive shorts.

They may be wearing a tee shirt with a slogan on the front that says ?I'm with Stupid,? or something equally as idiotic. They may have a ridiculous haircut such as a Mullet or a Mohawk covered by a baseball hat with artificial dog feces on the bill. Many are sporting tattoos of the Zig Zag Man or other cartoon characters on their skin.

Many Americans Dress Like Slobs -- They Call It "Comfortable."

Look at the way the Russian people dress. When they have the means, they dress immaculately. How many Russians do you think want to see their children dress like the Americans I just described?

Much of American pride comes from their accomplishments in producing material goods. There is no doubt that we are king of the hill with regard to consumer goods.

We have surrounded ourselves with camcorders, wide screen projection televisions, Palm Pilots, cellular phones, and surround sound entertainment systems. There is no end to the number of labor saving devices that we own, or should I say, owns us.

We are number one in the world in consumption. We drive around town in our heavy duty, four wheel drive sport utility vehicles, braving the rugged terrain of the shopping mall, transporting groceries from store to home, children from one activity to another, and pets to veterinarians.

We consume forty percent of the world's oil resources in the pursuit of these worthy goals. And to pay for all this consumption, we have both spouses working overtime to pay for mortgages that are the size of small countries? Trade Balances.

We are taking high blood pressure medication and serotonin uptake inhibitors like Prozac and Paxil to deal with all the stress of paying for the leisure products we own.