Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

As the mercury plummets and the latest weather forecast predicts fresh rounds of <keyword id="10265" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Snow">snow</keyword> across the Indian mountains, a gleeful crowd from home and abroad goes traipsing upon the ethereal <keyword id="918784" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="ski-slopes">ski slopes</keyword>. Heading off to the <keyword id="23693" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Swiss-Alps">Swiss Alps</keyword> or <keyword id="2005582" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Val-dIsre">Val d’Isère</keyword> in <keyword id="6354785" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="France">France</keyword> might be the classic choice of many, but <keyword id="2005583" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Powder-skiing">powder skiing</keyword> in the <keyword id="52569" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="himalayas">Himalayas</keyword> is getting increasingly popular among local and <keyword id="1704954" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="global-tourists">global tourists</keyword> in love with <keyword id="1614562" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="winter-sports">winter sports</keyword>. India is now home to a dozen or so <keyword id="2005584" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ski-areas">ski areas</keyword> and plans are afoot to build several international standard <keyword id="78303" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ski-resorts">ski resorts</keyword>. 
 <keyword id="90842" type="SPORT" weightage="100" keywordseo="skiing">Skiing</keyword> took off in the country during the days of the <keyword id="81273" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="British-Raj">British Raj</keyword> when two army officers first started the <keyword id="2005578" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ski-Club-of-India">Ski Club of India</keyword> in <keyword id="108228" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gulmarg">Gulmarg</keyword> back in 1927. Fast-forward to 2014 and you will find improved facilities, along with the eternally breathtaking <keyword id="6439698" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="mountain">mountain</keyword> views, the best <keyword id="2005590" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Powder-snow">powder snow</keyword> and the vast, undulating <keyword id="2005591" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Snowy-tracks">snowy tracks</keyword> – from <keyword id="2005592" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gentle-slopes">gentle slopes</keyword> and <keyword id="2005593" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Groomed-trails">groomed trails</keyword> to <keyword id="2005595" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Steep-bowls">steep bowls</keyword>, <keyword id="2005596" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chutes">chutes</keyword> and <keyword id="2005598" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tree-runs">tree runs</keyword> spilling off the magnificent ridges. Gulmarg in <keyword id="23412" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jammu-Kashmir">Jammu &amp; Kashmir</keyword> and <keyword id="484044" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Auli">Auli</keyword> in <keyword id="44522" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Uttarakhand">Uttarakhand</keyword> are the showpiece destinations, especially Auli, which features the <keyword id="2005599" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Second-largest-slopes-in-Asia">second largest slopes in Asia</keyword>. A research survey by the <keyword id="2005579" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Alpine-Tourism-Promotion-Council">Alpine Tourism Promotion Council</keyword> (ATPC) considers Auli’s slopes to be the best in the world. 
 <keyword id="2005600" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Heli-skiing">Heli-skiing</keyword> in the Himalays is another fabulous experience as the chopper flies one to spectacular heights and the <keyword id="105846" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Skier">skier</keyword> rides down the unexplored slopes – the perfect setting for this great <keyword id="6739232" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Adventure-sport">adventure sport</keyword>. The thrill-hunters can also go <keyword id="2005604" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Yak-skiing">yak skiing</keyword> in <keyword id="6363190" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Manali">Manali</keyword> – an <keyword id="2005608" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Extreme-snow-sport">extreme snow sport</keyword> only meant for the brave hearts. Those looking for <keyword id="2005609" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Off-season-skiing">off-season skiing</keyword> would not be disappointed either. There is <keyword id="2005611" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Grass-skiing-in-summer">grass skiing in summer</keyword>, held on a 120 meter-long grassy slope in <keyword id="569617" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Solang-Valley">Solang Valley</keyword> where one can use special <keyword id="2005612" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Skis-fitted-with-wheels">skis fitted with wheels</keyword>. If you are already feeling excited and want to chill out among the snow, slopes and the wild <keyword id="383218" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="slides">slides</keyword> and <keyword id="95340" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tumbles">tumbles</keyword>, here is a look at India’s 7 <keyword id="2005614" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Best-skiing-destinations">best skiing destinations</keyword>. 
 
Image: Wikipedia

Time To Celebrate The Snow: Check Out These 7 Ski Destinations
In India

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oscars-2024-nominations-winners-list-2024-1">The 96th annual Academy Awards</a> are on Sunday.</li><li>From Best Picture to Best Actress, gamblers will be placing bets on movie category winners.</li></ul>The stars won't be the only people with something on the line at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oscars-cost-red-carpet-outfits-2023-3">96th annual Academy Awards</a> on Sunday.With <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sports-betting-industry-predictions-top-execs-2023-12">betting more accessible</a> — and legal — than ever before, movie fans and living-room gamblers will be trying their luck.There are seven states where you can legally put money on the various trophies this year — and in Ontario, you can go even further and place bets on everything from Jimmy Kimmel's monologue to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/all-the-movie-margot-robbie-has-been-in-ranked-2020-2">Margot Robbie's</a> red carpet look. Then, there are the thousands of more casual Oscars pools among friends and colleagues.While the exact amount of money that bettors are expected to place isn't publicly available, it'll likely be closer to the sum wagered on a regular season NBA game than on the Super Bowl, which the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.americangaming.org/new/record-68-million-americans-to-wager-23-1b-on-super-bowl-lviii/">American Gambling Association</a> estimated was $23.1 billion, Bill Speros, a senior betting analyst for <a target="_blank" href="http://Bookies.com">Bookies.com</a>, told Business Insider.That said, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oscars-2024-best-picture-nominees-ranked-2024-1">this year's Oscars are expected</a> to attract more speculators than recently thanks to box office hits "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer.""Since Oscar betting became legal, this year is really the first time you have two movies that a lot of people have seen," Speros said. He added that "Oppenheimer" is the favorite to win the night's top prize, with 62% of all the money bet on best picture on DraftKings placed on the film.Still, the Academy Awards can be harder to game than sports, which have a bevy of statistics for people to pore over. The winners are chosen by the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thewrap.com/how-many-oscars-voters-2023/">9,797 voting members</a> of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences."With Oscar betting, there's really no data to break down because you are betting on someone's opinion," Speros said. "There have been <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oscars-2024-biggest-nominations-snubs-2024-1">upsets at the Oscars</a>."The little data available — like who won the SAG Awards and BAFTAs — is taken into account by experts on GoldDerby, a website dedicated to predicting the results of Hollywood's award shows, to form their predictions. Last year, the group was right on all but four categories: best actor (they thought Austin Butler would get the golden statue for "Elvis," but it went to Brendan Fraser for "The Whale"), best costume design, best makeup and hairstyling, and best production design.Below is GoldDerby's take on who will win in 2024 — and the odds — as of March 7.Just remember: Place any wager at your own risk."This is gambling," Speros said. "There's no such thing as a sure thing."<h3>Best picture</h3>Winner: "Oppenheimer" Odds: 6/1 Nominees: "American Fiction" "Anatomy of a Fall" "Barbie" "The Holdovers" "Killers of the Flower Moon" "Maestro" "Oppenheimer" "Past Lives" "Poor Things" "The Zone of Interest"<div type="image" title="Lily Gladstone attends the 2024 Golden Globes." height="1500" width="2000" msid="108327268" hostid="261"></div><h3>Best actress in a leading role</h3>Winner: Lily Gladstone, "Killers of the Flower Moon" Odds: 10/3 Nominees: Annette Bening, "Nyad" Lily Gladstone, "Killers of the Flower Moon" Sandra Hüller, "Anatomy of a Fall" Carey Mulligan, "Maestro" Emma Stone, "Poor Things"<h3>Best actor in a leading role</h3>Winner: Cillian Murphy, "Oppenheimer" Odds: 10/3 Nominees: Bradley Cooper, "Maestro" Colman Domingo, "Rustin" Paul Giamatti, "The Holdovers" Cillian Murphy, "Oppenheimer" Jeffrey Wright, "American Fiction"<h3>Best director</h3>Winner: Christopher Nolan, "Oppenheimer" Odds: 16/5 Nominees: Justine Triet, "Anatomy of a Fall" Martin Scorsese, "Killers of the Flower Moon" Christopher Nolan, "Oppenheimer" Yorgos Lanthimos, "Poor Things" Jonathan Glazer, "The Zone of Interest"<div type="image" title="Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Mary Lamb in &quot;The Holdovers.&quot;" height="2000" width="3000" msid="108327270" hostid="261"></div><h3>Best actress in a supporting role</h3>Winner: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "The Holdovers" Odds: 16/5 Nominees: Emily Blunt, "Oppenheimer" Danielle Brooks, "The Color Purple" America Ferrera, "Barbie" Jodie Foster, "Nyad" Da'Vine Joy Randolph, "The Holdovers"<h3>Best actor in a supporting role</h3>Winner: Robert Downey Jr., "Oppenheimer" Odds: 16/5 Nominees: Sterling K. Brown, "American Fiction" Robert De Niro, "Killers of the Flower Moon" Robert Downey Jr., "Oppenheimer" Ryan Gosling, "Barbie" Mark Ruffalo, "Poor Things"<h3>Best adapted screenplay</h3>Winner: "American Fiction" Odds: 69/20 Nominees: "American Fiction" "Barbie" "Oppenheimer" "Poor Things" "The Zone of Interest"<h3>Best original screenplay</h3>Winner: "Anatomy of a Fall" Odds: 82/25 Nominees: "Anatomy of a Fall" "The Holdovers" "Maestro" "May December" "Past Lives"<h3>Best cinematography</h3>Winner: "Oppenheimer" Odds: 16/5 Nominees: "El Conde" "Killers of the Flower Moon" "Maestro" "Oppenheimer" "Poor Things"<h3>Best production design</h3>Winner: "Barbie" Odds: 71/20 Nominees: "Barbie" "Killers of the Flower Moon" "Napoleon" "Oppenheimer" "Poor Things"<h3>Best sound</h3>Winner: "Oppenheimer" Odds: 10/3 Nominees: "The Creator" "Maestro" "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" "Oppenheimer" "The Zone of Interest"<h3>Best film editing</h3>Winner: "Oppenheimer" Odds: 16/5 Nominees: "Anatomy of a Fall" "The Holdovers" "Killers of the Flower Moon" "Oppenheimer" "Poor Things"<h3>Best costume design</h3>Winner: "Barbie" Odds: 69/20 Nominees: "Barbie" "Killers of the Flower Moon" "Napoleon" "Oppenheimer" "Poor Things"<div type="image" title="Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein holding a cigarette" height="1246" width="2070" msid="108327273" hostid="261"></div><h3>Best makeup and hairstyling</h3>Winner: "Maestro" Odds: 82/25 Nominees: "Golda" "Maestro" "Oppenheimer" "Poor Things" "Society of the Snow"<h3>Best visual effects</h3>Winner: "Godzilla Minus One" Odds: 10/3 Nominees: "The Creator" "Godzilla Minus One" "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" "Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One" "Napoleon"<h3>Best international feature film</h3>Winner: "The Zone of Interest" (United Kingdom) Odds: 16/5 Nominees: "Io Capitano" (Italy) "Perfect Days" (Japan) "Society of the Snow" (Spain) "The Teachers' Lounge" (Germany) "The Zone of Interest" (United Kingdom)<h3>Best animated feature film</h3>Winner: "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" Odds: 10/3 Nominees: "The Boys and the Heron" "Elemental" "Nimona" "Robot Dreams" "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"<h3>Best live-action short film</h3>Winner: "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" Odds: 82/25 Nominees: "The After" "Invincible" "Knight of Fortune" "Red, White, and Blue" "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar"<h3>Best animated short film</h3>Winner: "War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko" Odds: 69/20 Nominees: "Letter to a Pig" "Ninety-Five Senses" "Our Uniform" "Pachyderm" "War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko"<h3>Best documentary feature film</h3>Winner: "20 Days in Mariupol" Odds: 16/5 Nominees: "Bobi Wine: The People's President" "The Eternal Memory" "Four Daughters" "To Kill a Tiger" "20 Days in Mariupol"<h3>Best documentary short film</h3>Winner: "The ABCs of Book Banning" Odds: 17/5 Nominees: "The ABCs of Book Banning" "The Barber of Little Rock" "Island in Between" "The Last Repair Shop" "Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó"<h3>Best original score</h3>Winner: "Oppenheimer" Odds: 16/5 Nominees: "American Fiction" "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" "Killers of the Flower Moon" "Oppenheimer" "Poor Things"<h3>Best original song</h3>Winner: "What Was I Made For?" — Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell ("Barbie") Odds: 82/25 Nominees: "The Fire Inside" — Diane Warren ("Flamin' Hot") "I'm Just Ken" — Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt ("Barbie") "It Never Went Away" — Jon Batiste ("American Symphony") "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)" — Scott George ("Killers of the Flower Moon") "What Was I Made For?" — Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell ("Barbie")

The best Oscars bets: Who is expected to win at this year's Academy Awards

<ul class="summary-list"><li>As the <keyword id="195495" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="USPS">USPS</keyword> becomes the latest target of the Trump administration, with disastrous implications for this November's <keyword id="6359191" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="election">election</keyword>, a campaign to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/usps-crop-top-save-us-postal-service-online-store-funding-2020-7">buy postal merch</a> in order to save the institution from economic hardship has spread like wildfire on social media.</li><li>Trump has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-voting-absentee-2020-after-baseless-attacks-mail-in-voting-2020-7">repeatedly challenged mail-in voting</a>, which is set to be crucial given the dangers of voting in person during the coronavirus pandemic, and his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pelosi-postmaster-general-no-intention-replacing-machines-mailboxes-2020-8">postmaster general has removed</a> sorting machines and blue mailboxes and declined to approve overtime — all measures that could leave votes uncounted.</li><li>Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/512742-mcenany-wont-say-if-trump-would-accept-election-result-if-he-loses">said this week</a> that Trump may not accept the results of the election, regardless of which votes get counted.</li><li>The youth of the country don't seem to know what else to do except buy merchandise in <keyword id="6359715" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="protest">protest</keyword>.</li></ul>Things are bleak in America. How bleak, you ask? Things have gotten so bad that youthful rebellion these days consists of buying up USPS hoodies to save the 2020 presidential election. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/usps-crop-top-save-us-postal-service-online-store-funding-2020-7">Business Insider's Alanis King</a> reported in late July that a fashionable white, envelope-covered crop top had just hit the USPS online store and was a perfect way to support the beleaguered institution.By early August, the crop top was sold out and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/style/usps-store.html">The New York Times</a> was calling USPS "the hottest new label." <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/urban-outfitters-removes-usps-themed-apparel-from-website-2020-8">Business Insider's Bethany Biron reported</a> that Urban Outfitters even tried to get in on the act but faced backlash when consumers realized none of the money was going to the institution — the latest in a long line of questionable fashions from the retailer, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/insiders-what-it-was-really-like-working-at-urbn-2020-8">as reported by Biron and Hillary Hoffower</a>.<div type="image" title="usps crop top" height="1264" width="1890" msid="77660091" hostid="261"></div>This would all be great if it weren't for the fact that, heading into a pivotal election with a <a href="https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2020/0415-usps-tops-list-again-as-americans-favorite-government-agency.htm">beloved federal institution</a> being <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/08/18/we-all-know-trump-wants-to-use-the-usps-to-rig-the-election-heres-how-hell-do-it/">weaponized to potentially imperil votes</a>, the best response the youth of America has is: let's buy more stuff.The solution to democracy in danger, it seems, is online shopping.<h2>The post office has always been a political hot potato</h2>Founding father Thomas Jefferson was the first to weaponize the post office, turning it into a den of political patronage that lasted for decades. Although he once wrote to James Madison that he feared post roads becoming a "source of boundless patronage to the executive," Jefferson nevertheless removed members of another political party from the agency and "brought political patronage to a new level of both sophistication and scope," <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/political-patronage">per Encyclopedia.com</a>.As post office historian Winifred Gallagher told <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-importance-of-the-post-office-to-american-democracy">The New Yorker's Isaac Chotiner</a>, the post office, which is literally written into the Constitution, was something like the internet of its day, connecting Americans to information on a level unknown anywhere else in the world.Since email took off in the last few decades, and because of <a href="https://theweek.com/articles/767184/how-george-bush-broke-post-office">an onerous law passed in 2006</a>, the post office has also been an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/post-office-nears-historic-default-on-5b-payment-2012-7">unprofitable millstone</a> around the neck of the federal government. Privatizing it has been a popular cause on the right wing since the days of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Firing-William-Buckley-about-Office/dp/B01BW3AWF6?dchild=1">William F. Buckley</a> — all the way back in the late '60s and '70s. But even with this long history of political interference and economic woes, the USPS now faces an unprecedented threat. President Trump's postmaster general Louis DeJoy, until <a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/pelosi-dejoy-mailboxes-sorting-usps">being called in front of congress</a> this week, was taking measures ahead of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/19/did-kayleigh-mcenany-really-just-say-that-white-house/">this November's election</a> (billed as an "overhaul") that could leave many mailed-in votes uncounted.Even after congress grilled DeJoy over these plans, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called him for further clarification, and reported that he had "no plans" to take the necessary action to make sure every vote is counted. Of course, mail-in voting is particularly important during a global pandemic when it's dangerous to vote in person. The integrity of the 2020 election is therefore very much in danger.<div type="image" title="DeJoy postmaster pelosi congress usps" height="982" width="1310" msid="77660094" hostid="261"></div><h2>What is to be done? <keyword id="159493" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Gen-Z">Gen Z</keyword> and other millennials suggest shopping</h2>Envelope-covered crop tops might be going viral, but they're hardly the only USPS merchandise people are buying en masse.Twenty-year-old gun control activist David Hogg <a href="https://twitter.com/davidhogg111/status/1289182310680559618">tweeted in late July</a> for his 1 million followers to buy stamps and merch from the USPS. Meanwhile, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also told people to check out the postal store, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/style/usps-store.html">according to the New York Times' Jackie Snow</a>.As Lauren Blacksell, a 21-year-old who has been trying to buy the sought-after crop top for weeks, put it, "The USPS needs saving and, as expected, many are sending over petitions — however, buying merch seems to work better." She told Business Insider that there "seems to be no other way right now to help." But as the great Black American poet Audre Lorde <a href="http://s18.middlebury.edu/AMST0325A/Lorde_The_Masters_Tools.pdf">once wrote</a>, the "master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change." In other words, you can't fight fire with fire. Seeking to solve a governmental crisis with a call to commercial action is beside the point.<h2>Fashion and consumerism aren't new forms of protest</h2>Since at least the time of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brooks-brothers-j-crew-black-lives-matter-white-america-uprising-2020-8">sans-culottes</a> in revolutionary France, and likely <a href="https://www.fashionandlacemuseum.brussels/documents/view/lol-some-symbolic-momentspdf?id=210">throughout all of history</a>, what you wear (or don't) has helped to define where you stand on political issues. Clothing as protest was turbo-charged by something that seems eternal but is actually just a century old or so: consumer capitalism. After World War I, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90540293/the-u-s-economy-is-reliant-on-consumer-spending-can-it-survive-a-pandemic?partner=feedburner&amp;utm_source=feedly&amp;utm_medium=webfeeds&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fast+Company%29t+Company%29">as noted by Halina S. Brown for Fast Company</a>, the rise of modern advertising and widespread consumer credit, married with the industrial capacity to mass-produce goods, created the modern consumer economy.Americans have since come up with all sorts of creative ways to express themselves — and to protest — through consumption.<div type="image" title="Black Panther Party members protesting in New York City on April 11, 1969." height="681" width="1024" msid="77660096" hostid="261"></div>At the Democratic convention this week, Michelle Obama made headlines for sporting a <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/8/18/21373666/michelle-obama-vote-necklace-dnc">$430 necklace featuring the word</a> "VOTE." And 100 years ago this week, suffragists <a href="https://www.crfashionbook.com/fashion/a26261899/the-history-of-women-wearing-suffragette-white/">wore white</a> as they protested for women's right to vote. The Black Panther Party of the 1960s' message of "Black Power" and social and economic liberation was clearly advertised by members' <a href="https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/black-panther-party-influence-music-fashion/">all-black attire, accented by a slightly tilted black beret</a>. <div type="image" title="Former first lady Michelle Obama" height="1589" width="2119" msid="77660100" hostid="261"></div>Even early punk rock, which preached a nihilistic political philosophy against the backdrop of economic stagnation in the late 1970s, was defined by the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/photo-essays/2017-08-15/america-s-rebels-all-love-this-leather-jacket">leather jackets</a> of New York's Ramones and the <a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/vivienne-westwood-punk-new-romantic-and-beyond">Vivienne Westwood-clad</a> Sex Pistols of London.<h2>But will buying USPS-branded apparel actually help save the democracy? </h2><a href="https://www.emmamcclendon.com/about">Emma McClendon</a>, a <keyword id="6" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="fashion">fashion</keyword> historian and former associate curator of costume at The Museum at FIT, told Business Insider that in recent years, people have become increasingly conscious of the meaning behind the clothes they wear. There has been a massive pivot toward <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fashion-powerhouses-discuss-future-of-industry-amid-pandemic-sustainability-2020-4">sustainability</a>, as more and more consumers align themselves with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fair-harbor-sustainable-swimsuit-line-recycled-plastic-bottles-2020-06">founders and brands</a> with similar ideologies and missions. There are the <a href="https://www.pussyhatproject.com/our-story">pink-knitted hats</a> made famous from the Women's March shortly after Trump's election, and the rise in support for <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Business/black-owned-businesses-outpouring-support-amid-george-floyd/story?id=71332640">Black-owned businesses</a> after the death of George Floyd. USPS fits into this trend, McClendon said. "Buying these garments and wearing them openly is about showing support for this cause, not just with your mind and ideologically, but also with your wallet," she said. <div type="image" title="usps" height="683" width="911" msid="77660104" hostid="261"></div>On the business side, the Trump years have demonstrated clearly that "wokeness" is good for business, especially <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retail-courts-gen-z-spending-power-over-140-billion-2020-1">as the target retail demographic</a> has become much younger and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-gen-z-feels-about-george-floyd-protests-2020-6">much more progressive</a> than the median voter. Now, brands are transforming on the fly to incorporate an activist message into a profitable business <keyword id="6363690" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Strategy">strategy</keyword>. Perhaps the most famous recent example was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/sports/nike-colin-kaepernick.html">Nike's embrace of Colin Kaepernick</a>. But there have been many others, such as the high-end cashmere brand Lingua Franca, which sells sweaters embroidered with "<a href="https://linguafranca.nyc/collections/food-bank-for-nyc">We The People</a>," and donates proceeds from its sales to the Food Bank for NYC. <div type="image" title="Nike Kaepernick" height="716" width="955" msid="77660106" hostid="261"></div>Consumer capitalism has accomplished great things, no doubt. The thirst for <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2016/03/26/the-meaning-of-blue-jeans">American blue jeans</a> behind the Iron Curtain was a crucial cultural weapon in the US ultimately <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/who-won-cold-war">winning the Cold War</a>. And even now, in the depths of this coronavirus-led recession, the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-19/wall-street-underestimates-u-s-consumers-and-their-wallets?sref=BLKWHazc">relentless appetite</a> of the American consumer has surprised economists and experts of all stripes, fueling the possibility of <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/us-economy-j-shaped-recovery-q3-asset-manager-says-2020-8-1029474175#">something approaching the V-shaped recovery</a> that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/economic-outlook-us-ends-v-recovery-enters-healing-phase-bofa-2020-7">looked lost</a> when the country's reported coronavirus infections spiked in late June.The shortcomings of Americans buying things as a dominant cultural philosophy has also undeniably led to some perverse outcomes. For one, the monetization of social media, supported by ads, enabled the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/instagram-changes-moderation-policy-for-coronavirus-hoaxes-2020-3">profusion of fake online news</a> in that election cycle and contributed directly to the election of Trump in 2016, and today's post office being in peril. (That also happens to be bad news for all of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/business/media/buzzfeed-digital-media-wrong.html">digital media</a>, including this website, and for an informed citizenry.)That leads back to the matter of the post office, an institution that survives from America's pre-consumerist, pre-modern past. Can the 21st-century consumer save this election, or this institution, by purchasing a crop top?Former President Barack Obama doesn't seem to think so, <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/2020-elections/2020/08/barack-obama-dnc-speech-joe-biden-trump/">saying last night</a> at the Democratic convention that "democracy was never meant to be transactional" and that "it requires an active and informed citizenry." Until the real issues that have put the post office in danger are faced and fixed, USPS crop tops and tote bags are going to have to do — even if this brand of consumer activism is just a band-aid over a bullet hole.

People are gobbling up USPS merch, hoping capitalism will help save the democracy. Spoiler alert: It won't.

A famous poet's advice for college graduates in this 177-year-old commencement speech is still surprisingly relevant 

You Searched For "Eternal snow line" and got 4 results

Time To Celebrate The Snow: Check Out These 7 Ski Destinations In India

Sanghamitra Mandal

The best Oscars bets: Who is expected to win at this year's Academy Awards

Madeline Berg

People are gobbling up USPS merch, hoping capitalism will help save the democracy. Spoiler alert: It won't.

Dominic-Madori Davis,Nick Lic…

A famous poet's advice for college graduates in this 177-year-old commencement speech is still surprisingly relevant

Abby Jackson

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides