Sunday, June 03, 2007
At the end of a two week silence
Been two weeks since my last post, I know. I haven't had the motivation to stick anything up: feels like it just vanishes into the cyber-void. The truth is that I'm discouraged. Yes, I did feel elated and somewhat optimistic that the Demos came into power. But two of the most dynamic members of Congress are busy hustling themselves toward the presidency. Without saying anything substantial. Or hardly anything insubstantial.
And the war grinds out. Casualties mount. "Support our troops" had become the mantra of the pro-war, pro-imperial forces in government, no matter what people say. And that support-our-troops-or-your-a-traitor cant has effectively silenced the elected anti-war people.
Nothing has changed, has it? What did I miss? Did Bush get forced back into Constitutional behavior? Did Gonzales get tossed out on his ass? Any prisoners get released from Guantanamo? New privacy protections come into force? No no no no.
And the war goes on.
Anyhow, here's a rap about a post I got:
What crazies me up about capitalism—”the free market economy”—is that anything is allowed. Sell the product, sell the product, and sell more product. It doesn’t really matter how you sell it, just sell it.
This mini-rant comes to you because some jerk posted what seemed at first like a comment on the blog, but after a dozen or so words, it became a sales pitch. Spam isn’t enough; automated phone calls aren’t enough; junk mail isn’t enough. Jeez. It’s like the people who get conned into selling Kirby Vacuums door to door or Avon or cookware, perfume, laundry soap—they’re encouraged to hit on their friends first. I’ve known several people—if not friends, then acquaintances—who tried their sales pitches out on me. When I wouldn’t buy they became offended.
“But, if I just sell ten of these, then I can become a distributor—”
Those scenes are uncomfortable. It’s hard enough to maintain good solid friendships without buy-and-selling getting in the way.
Fuck off, sales-people!
And the war grinds out. Casualties mount. "Support our troops" had become the mantra of the pro-war, pro-imperial forces in government, no matter what people say. And that support-our-troops-or-your-a-traitor cant has effectively silenced the elected anti-war people.
Nothing has changed, has it? What did I miss? Did Bush get forced back into Constitutional behavior? Did Gonzales get tossed out on his ass? Any prisoners get released from Guantanamo? New privacy protections come into force? No no no no.
And the war goes on.
Anyhow, here's a rap about a post I got:
What crazies me up about capitalism—”the free market economy”—is that anything is allowed. Sell the product, sell the product, and sell more product. It doesn’t really matter how you sell it, just sell it.
This mini-rant comes to you because some jerk posted what seemed at first like a comment on the blog, but after a dozen or so words, it became a sales pitch. Spam isn’t enough; automated phone calls aren’t enough; junk mail isn’t enough. Jeez. It’s like the people who get conned into selling Kirby Vacuums door to door or Avon or cookware, perfume, laundry soap—they’re encouraged to hit on their friends first. I’ve known several people—if not friends, then acquaintances—who tried their sales pitches out on me. When I wouldn’t buy they became offended.
“But, if I just sell ten of these, then I can become a distributor—”
Those scenes are uncomfortable. It’s hard enough to maintain good solid friendships without buy-and-selling getting in the way.
Fuck off, sales-people!
