books and chewing gum

"This will never be a civilized country until we expend more money for books than we do for chewing gum." - Elbert Hubbard

I couldn't find stats on how much Americans spend on chewing gum, or, for that matter, how much we spend on books. I know, I'm a dork. I actually tried to find this out. Although this sentiment might not be statistically true, it sure feels psychologically true. My lament is not that we don't read, but that we don't read enough good, thoughtful writers.

I spend a lot of time, too much time, in thrift stores and at yard sales. I'm always hunting for books. Sadly, the majority of what I find is utter garbage. Okay, okay, I hear you already. So people are reading. That should be enough. The fact that what they're reading is soulless, pointless, trivial BS shouldn't matter. I can't help but agree with Mark Twain when he wrote, "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."