The Failure of Isms
A lot of people middle-aged and under seem to consider themselves activists of some kind. Environmentalism, feminism, anti-racism, et cetera ad nauseum all seem to hook people into a web of do-gooding. Acquaintenances of mine are as suburban as anything, living in a tract home where they water their lawn like everyone else on the block. Yet they insist they are living the "alternative" lifestyle, "out of the mainstream". They attend a couple of fundraisers a year, they vote Democrat or Green every four years and recycle their trash. But for all their talk, they are really doing nothing else.
To defeat the great Evils of the world, one must look at the roots of evil itself. Is liberalism really defining trash culture "As Seen on TV"? Do Corporations sprout from nothing and inflict grave danger on the environment by themselves? Do men really hate women? We attack our various strawmen by avoiding obvious truths. We have trash tv because we buy it, we demand it. We have flashing tickers on our 24-hour news stations because we like to be scared, we feign awareness with it. Despite the limitations of our salaries/wages, we insist on having whatever we are told to want. But to do so, we demand the lowest prices. We demand the superstores, the Big Boxes to deliver us the goods at a price everyone can afford.
For the time being, we ignore the fact that our smaller stores are put out of business. "Well, their prices were higher, I couldn't shop there anymore. I can't afford to support their mark ups." Have you ever questioned the fact that you may not NEED all those doodads? You might not NEED to buy all those deli items? You might not NEED different shoes for every day of the week? You might not NEED so many plastic shelves or closet savers if you didn't have so many cheap outfits to fill them?
Industries are inter-connected. Entertainment is linked to fashion, which is linked to credit. Your favorite celebrity may be screaming "empowerment" or whatnot, but they are really your link to enslavement to Wall Street, Indebtedness.
So, how much good are you doing when you buy that eco-friendly t-shirt (made in China)? How alert are you to niche-marketing? Will you admit to being mainstream?
To defeat the great Evils of the world, one must look at the roots of evil itself. Is liberalism really defining trash culture "As Seen on TV"? Do Corporations sprout from nothing and inflict grave danger on the environment by themselves? Do men really hate women? We attack our various strawmen by avoiding obvious truths. We have trash tv because we buy it, we demand it. We have flashing tickers on our 24-hour news stations because we like to be scared, we feign awareness with it. Despite the limitations of our salaries/wages, we insist on having whatever we are told to want. But to do so, we demand the lowest prices. We demand the superstores, the Big Boxes to deliver us the goods at a price everyone can afford.
For the time being, we ignore the fact that our smaller stores are put out of business. "Well, their prices were higher, I couldn't shop there anymore. I can't afford to support their mark ups." Have you ever questioned the fact that you may not NEED all those doodads? You might not NEED to buy all those deli items? You might not NEED different shoes for every day of the week? You might not NEED so many plastic shelves or closet savers if you didn't have so many cheap outfits to fill them?
Industries are inter-connected. Entertainment is linked to fashion, which is linked to credit. Your favorite celebrity may be screaming "empowerment" or whatnot, but they are really your link to enslavement to Wall Street, Indebtedness.
So, how much good are you doing when you buy that eco-friendly t-shirt (made in China)? How alert are you to niche-marketing? Will you admit to being mainstream?
posted by HortenseDagle | 1:12 PM
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