Sunday, February 06, 2011

Sunday Potpourri: Eating Babies, Pat Tillman And UND Zephyrs


In case you hadn't noticed I've got some problems with capitalism.  Somewhere buried in the dearth of hockey observation, analysis and purposeful optimism on this blog I've mention this guy named Edward Bernays.  Eddie is considered the father of the public relations industry but he's so much more than that.  He is the one person who had more to do with why America is like it is than any other single person.  He made this joint.  Just about every preeminent aspect of culture you witness today owes it's existence to Eddie's theories put into practice by modern marketers.

If you spend 66 minutes watching the film above you'll get a seriously good look at the full extent to which people are willing to go to in order to profit.  It's quite sick really.  You may "know" these things this film documents but I think it does a great job of really tying all the ways in which these bastards are manipulating your children.

And plus you should watch it cos there's a dude talking in it that looks like Brett Hull.  Really though, this shit would be pretty easy to put an end to.  Oh I know ... telling marketers that they can no longer imprint their products on our children's minds would be against the "free market".  So the US Constitution guarantees that business should be allowed to psychologically manipulate an extremely vulnerable segment of the population?  I missed that part I guess.

Let's face something here, kids aren't smart.  They're kids.  You convinced the little buggers that Santa Claus was real at one point in their lives.  Of course they're going to think Kraft's SpongeBob Macaroni and Cheese tasted better than Kraft's regular Macaroni and Cheese.  Giving advertisers free reign to do this shows just how stupid we as a society are.  

And oh yeah ... before you offer your counter-arguments about how parents are responsible for what their kids watch etc ... watch the film. 

Freedom and capitalism are not mutually inclusive concepts.  One exists without the other.  Freedom is possible under any economic system and anyone that tries to tell you anything different is selling something.

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Don't watch this CSPAN video above.  It's 3 hours and 34 minutes of top U.S. Generals and Donald Rumsfeld fucking straight up lying about when and what they knew about Pat Tillman's death and the subsequent efforts to turn him into a recruiting poster.  82 times those corrupted and failed human's testified under oath that they "couldn't recall".

Instead, I recommend you go here to Amazon.com and cough up $3.99 to learn why Pat Tillman's mother is a true American hero.

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Yay, it's UND week.  "Yay" is sarcastic.  See, um ... UND fans don't dig me and well ... I've got no love for them.  Suffice to say though, there'll be no bullshit here from them this week.  I'll be deleting any and all comments from UND fans that don't further useful conversation or add to any existing discussion in some way.

Does that mean I won't incite the mob?  I dunno yet.  Depends.  Don't underestimate the pleasure I get from deleting comments.  There is a surprising level of satisfaction in doing so.  I still think Zephyrs is a great replacement name.  

Hopefully, this is the last series we'll ever have to play against them while they wear a decapitated indigenous person's head as a logo on the front of their sweaters.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Nanooks got swept at home, by unranked Ferris State no less. The series between UAA and Ua_ should be a good one.

Cwoofy said...

Interesting video Donald. Makes you realize how different kids are today than when most of us were growing up. :-/

It also reminded of those 13 & 14 year olds that compete in the annual 'world texting competition'... or the parents you see on tv who brag about how many text messages their kid sends every day (as if it were some huge achievement)

I hadn't thought about the connection between kids that are continuously in front of the tv, computer, Xbox, and other electronic devices and games who become bored to tears with teachers, desks, and books.. but it makes sense.

Aside from all the technology... the advertising for "must-have toys, sweet cereal, theme park vacations, etc".. is so true.

I lived with only one parent when I was a kid and felt lucky when my mom could afford brand-X sweet, crappy cereal once in a blue moon.

Damn. Some of the kids they showed in that video are spoiled rotten.. :p

Dirty said...

I like you though Donald. Maybe you'd like me if you got to know me!

Your nickname suggestion will never work. I don't particularly care for it but that isn't the real problem. Instead of being a cookie cutter nickname like Eagles, Wildcats or Bulldogs, it has personality. Therefore it will make someone somewhere upset for some reason and can't be used.

Donald Dunlop said...

I do like you Dirty. What makes you think I don't?

Dirty said...

It was a take off of a quote from The Simpsons. I quote The Simpsons entirely too often thus going over people's heads who aren't completely obsessed with it.

Donald Dunlop said...

"Trust me on this Mr. Simpson, that motorhome is the finest motorhome you'll ever own."

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