How America has been Ruined

Journal Trolling4Dollars's Journal: How America has been Ruined 18

Journal by Trolling4Dollars on Sunday September 19, 2004 @12:33PM

This morning, while reading a comment in the Firefox hits 1,000,000 downloads thread, I was frustrated by the fact that the poster seemed to laud the concept of marketing as a tool for Firefox's success. Now I won't say that marketing doesn't play a part in moving product on a day to day basis, but marketing abuse is enormously distressing to me. From my perspective, marketing has been abused for a long time and it continues to get more and more onerous in it's approaches. With that said, I think marketing as an important business tool is wortheless to the consumer.

If Mozilla is to become majorly successful with the Firefox project, then it needs to do so by kicking IEs ass AND supporting multiple platforms with the same level of quality on each one. This is where the Mozilla project will succeed. The only reason to engage in some marketing is that most Americans in the 18-50 age group have been well programmed to respond to marketing. They are told, "You NEED this. If you don't have one already, you are a complete loser". Or... "You must buy this now. If you don't, you don't really love your loved ones and are a failure as a parent or spouse". Or... "If you are a good American, you will prove it by buying this item. Because only true patriots support American business by buying everything we tell you to". Whatever happened to the fire and gumption of older American consumers who asked the person trying to sell them something, "Why? Convince me I need your product and I'll think about it. For a LONG time."? Whatever happened to the days when a product was "moved" simply by making it the best and not resorting to dirty tricks?

Yesterday my wife and I were talking sbout how much it disgusts us that so many people (even some of the smarter ones we know who should know better) seem to fall victim to this lemming-like rush to make sure they aren't even the slightest bit different from other people. There is an ad on TV for some brand of automobile. It shows a young couple who buys a brand new car. It's in their driveway with a big bow on top. They look at it with adoring eyes and smile at each other over their wondrous new purchase. Then a stork drops a baby in a basket in front of them. They look at each other and seem confused. Then they go back to the dealer with resolve and... "upgrade" to an SUV. When my wife and I saw that, we hit the roof. To us it was a gross display of that "you MUST be like everyone else or you are a failure" brand of marketing, combined with the "if you REALLY love your child, you'll buy a big gas hogging pollutionmobile or else you have failed as a parent" brand of marketing.

We are about to become first time parents ourselves both in our late 30s. We do everything OUR WAY. Against the wishes of anyone else, we've done everything in non-traditional fashion, from our dating for nearly 8 years before getting married to the way in which we got married and celebrated with family which was non-traditional as well. We intend to do the same with the way we raise our child. There is no reason we need a bigger vehicle for a newborn baby!!! Contrary to what that ridiculous ad implies, an average sized baby will fit just fine in a child seat stuffed into the back of my 98 Nissan Sentra. Chances are that by the time my car kicks the bucket, the kid will still be small enough to fit in the back seat of yet another econo-box. There will be no need to buy some ridiculously big vehicle even though the automaker's marketing goons want us to think that we don't care about our kid unless we have one. But, many people tell us, "Oh... you'll see. You'll see how things will be different and then you'll need to get at least a minivan". Bullshit. My wife and I grew up in the 70s with small and midsized four door vehicles and we turned out just fine. We love our parents and don't feel abused because we weren't abe to watch DVDs in the backseat of a living room on wheels. These same types of people have tod us all our lives, "You'll see..." and we're still waiting.

Before we got married, people told us, "You'll see who things will be different after you get married. Everything will change". ... ... We're still waiting for that change. Hell, we still go out on dates. We've had sex throughout the pregnancy. We're still hot for each other after 12 years of being together. This mythical "change" has not happened and it's not going to because we were committed to each other long before we got married. A marriage chnages nothing about true love. It's just a fucking stupid ceremony to prove to everyone else who is not intelligent enough to percieve the love that, YES it IS REAL. When I was in highschool, I despised it so much that I dressed up in a rather silly and insulting way for my senior photo. This was to illustrate how little regard I had for my school and my classmates. I was told that I would regret that later in life. ... ... I'm still waiting for that feeling of regret to settle in. Let's see, it's 2004 and I graduated in 1988. Not bad, sixteen years and not one regret yet.

Why can't people think for themselves anymore???! Is it too much to ask the average American to really put some thought behind a new purchase? Why doesn't the average American ask himself the following:
1."Do I REALLY need this or am I buying it to make up for my feelings of inadequacy"?
2. "Is this purchase happening because I can't live without this item, or am I just trying to avoid being a little different"?
3. "How long will this item last vs. how much I'm paying for it"?
4. "Can I buy this item outright in cash? If not, do I REALLY NEED it"?
I ask myself some of these questions with every purchase except the essentials like a mortgage, groceries and gas for my car. You really should too. There's nothing wrong with this line of thinking.

Are these kinds of thinking about impending purchases lost to the brainwashing campaign of marketing? Are people REALLY that stupid? Or is it laziness? They don't want to think for themselves or be different, so they just fall in with the lemmings headed to their end.

We also hear a lot of parents complaining about all of the activities they have to shuttle their kids off to. My wife asks, "Why are the kids involved in ten different activities at once"? Most of those people reply with the same stupid, "Ohhh... you'll see. It'll be different for your kid. You'll see how important it is for your kid to be involved". To which we think, "Um... unless we get bit by one of you zombies, we think not". Whatever happened to the concept that the parents run the house rules and the kids obey? Have people really become that soft that they let their kids run their lives? When my wife and I were kids, we participated in *MAYBE* one extracircular activity per school season. Most of the time, we were actualy just being kids playing with other kids in our neighborhoods or our siblings/cousins. We didn't have to endure the insane competitive freakshow of parents vs. parents that masquerades as youth sports these days. Perhaps tht's why my wife and I HATE vicious competitiveness as a trait?

We have stated to people that we intend to let sprout indulge in one (yes that's a numeral 1) activity per semester/quarter whatever it is they call it these days. If sprout wants more... tough luck kid. You don't dictate our lives, we dictate yours. And when the time comes, you will get a chance to chart your own course. But for ages 0-18, and as long as you are under our roof, you follow our rules. Now... a lot of people out there might think this sucks. But it doesn't. I was raised in a much stricter way than that and I have great relationship with my parents. (My mom didn't want me to date until I complete a doctorate and was in my 30s, but that's another tale for another day) We figure that if we provide enough of a comfortable, happy and loving household for the kid from age 0-10 or 12, the kid will be fine with one activity. This doesn't mean we will limit them to just music, or art or whatever interests the kid. But whatever the interests, they will be pursued one at a time. We will buck the pressure from other kids, parents and the school to make sure this happens.

Come on people! Get some damned backbone and resist the urge to be like everyone else. There is nothing wrong with it. Trade in the SUV or the minivan and get something more fuel efficient and eco-friendly. DON'T buy that next brand new PC if the current one is working for you just fine. I'm sure the PC industry will survive the loss somehow. And above all, DON'T be made to feel bad by the snake oil men. Just because you can buy all the stuff they try to sell you with credit but can't do it with cash doesn't justify the debt. Resist the urge! Also keep in mind that you are NOT a failure if you haven't jumped on the bandwagon of the minute because you can't honestly afford it. Be truly honest with yourself and consider your purchases, past present and future. Ask yourself, why did I buy X when I clearly didn't really need it or could have gotten by with less?

Of course, I know this rant will fall on many deaf ears. Those people are the people we should mourn. They have been damaged by a world gone wrong. They have lost the ability to appreciate the value of being unique. These people no longer understand the necessity of working hard with their own hands to achive something instead of just buying the cookie cutter simulacra at too high a price compared to the actual value. They've accepted the "fact" that most things are better left to "professionals" for everything, instead of just a few select things. It's sad and it's frustrating, but I try to awaken these people as much as possible. If this message DOES get through to you, please help me to spread the word.

Being a loser is not caused by not owning the right materialist fetish of the day. Being a loser is not caused by being different from everyone else. Being a loser is the result of years of saying "yes" to spending your rightfully acquired money on things you don't need. Being a loser is the result of not being confident enough in your own views and opinions to be able to resist the views and opinions of those around you no matter how pervasive they may be. Sometimes the majority is wrong. For fuck's sake, look at what passes for "music" these days on the ClearChannel! (Just for Twirlip of the Mists: Fuck consensus! When the consensus isn't doing much good for the majority in terms of elevating their intellectual and financial status, it's time for them to start rethinking things.) Being a loser is the direct result of not controlling your own thoughts and opinions. Being a loser is what happens when you fear both being different and those who are different from you.

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