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Past Rant: (2/9/01)

French Fries and Fake Boobs
by
Derek

So I have had one of those days today that seemed to wipe away memory of the four previous. I have been looking around on the web for ideas, inspiration, whatever: man have I found it! There is so much shit running through my head it is unreal. From the pathetic teen idol sex-kitten rampage, to globalization, to the fucking biased and hypocritical liberal mentality to the corrupt media. So I, in order to form a more perfect letter, have decided to not touch on any of these exclusively. Instead I will do an anthology of on the brain tidbits. The main reason for this is that I am under the impression that all aspects of life, and the "issues" if you will, are all connected in some way as to make a lost and seemingly mundane paradigm exist. And it is this little phenomenon that I would like to write of today most of all......

So, OK, globalization. There are thousands of Multi-National corporations out there operating in the world today, or should I say operating the world today. Chances are some of us work for them now, have worked for them, or will some day. Being that these are the obvious main players in the paradigm of globalization, their influence on the development of countries rich or poor is gargantuan. It is certainly something of which to always be aware. And being that these entities are so large, whatever they originally produced is insignificant because of their present capital reservoir. McDonalds, for example, with its ability to do damn near anything certainly is able to affect the career of TV friendly POP stars and how they are presented to America and the world. Simultaneously setting the moral agenda of young generations in the absence of parental guidance. And to remove that parental aspect from the home, slowly but surely, corporations such as these get in touch with other corporations of a similar manner and raise costs, emphasize through media blitzes the necessity of these increasingly expensive products, making parents work harder...and more. Now it really does not matter to these companies if their plan to maximize capital helps to ruin the family, they will just lobby to have government take that position. This, of course serves two purposes: Convince the Government to pass laws MNC's feel will work, as well as help promote things such as sport, and adventure over drugs...forcing parents to buy more equipment for sport activities.

So, then, comes the music industry. Britney Spears is made popular and everyone that cannot yet think for themselves falls for her music, and everyone else turns into angry mush heads due to the inundation and audio assault we must endure because this industry is intent on giving little boys and old men boners. As well as fill the sad but omnipresent and insatiable need that the little girls have in this country to feel some sort of hollow love from some blonde, effeminate boy that will never fill in for the missing attention that should have been shown by their fathers. So, forgiving my crude and detail lacking examples, can we all come to the conclusion that a pattern exists? Now we cannot really tear too much into this phenomenon of globalization, because we all help make it happen. We buy cars made by these corporations as well as almost every other creature comfort they provide at "low" yet remarkably out of our range price. But we need this stuff, all of us. And if you think you are above the necessity created by these corporations, think about them the next time you board a plane or buy a CD. Yet, our lives are incredibly not that bad compared to other places in the world being ravaged in different ways in the name of economy, and these companies help provide it.

What I guess I am really trying to get at is the fact that every aspect of our lives has to do with every other, so why do we find it so easy to discuss things while disregarding others. We love to discuss violence towards women and how bad men are. But do we get to the idea that violence in the inner city could be cured, if we just work a little harder at it and come up with new ideas instead of just brandishing the guy who reads porn magazines a just a pathetic pervert. And for those of you right now who are wondering what I am reading at night...first off your slipping here and missing the point, second it is a novel by Larry Brown. So please, think about some of these things, as confusing as my presentation might have been, and give me some answers. But please whatever you do, do not tell me that we need to make the punishments greater, or use the death penalty more often, of that it is the parents fault. I assure these are not options that are totally plausible, and they require no great effort of thought to suggest.