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ngdawg · 03-31-2006, 12:37 PM

Yes, we are sheep, at least those who don't make the conscious effort to not fall into traps.
We are a country totally pre-occupied with labelling. You're goth, you're yuppie, you're this or that. And commercialism preys on that. You're not hip if you're not wearing this or driving that. We have Jenny Craig, Curves, Bally Fitness, LA Fitness, Nutrisystems and carb fear, yet we're the fattest nation on earth. We have Aeropastale, Hollisters, Eddie Bauer, American Eagle and Abercrombie labels across our chests and over our ass cheeks, yet we bitch about money. Housing developments are nicknamed 'McMansions' and we go broke trying to buy a new beige house with the two-story foyer. There's only one thing these things have in common: a label that states 'status'.
Being someone who has all her life been called 'different' has its advantages-the main one being that my kids aren't falling into the trap of label-status. My daughter is just as rebellious against that as I am; other kids call her 'goth', but she's unique, definitely not the media-controlled version of it and gets mad over the labels.
I believe it was in this thread, I asked Artelevision why did he buy the truck he bought when there are cheaper ones: the simple reply: aesthetics. This should be our sole reason to purchase anything we need; its utilitarian and personally aesthetic reason. But sheep don't do that-they'd rather go into debt buying the BMW or fully loaded minivan, the beige-sided house and the latest style in sneakers and bitch about their money woes(there's a really good commercial about that, btw, just can't recall what it's for) than make the conscious decision to NOT follow the herd and be even more selfish by doing for themselves and their contentment while staying within their means.

03-31-2006, 12:37 PM	#532 (permalink)
ngdawg peekaboo Location: on the back, bitch	Yes, we are sheep, at least those who don't make the conscious effort to not fall into traps. We are a country totally pre-occupied with labelling. You're goth, you're yuppie, you're this or that. And commercialism preys on that. You're not hip if you're not wearing this or driving that. We have Jenny Craig, Curves, Bally Fitness, LA Fitness, Nutrisystems and carb fear, yet we're the fattest nation on earth. We have Aeropastale, Hollisters, Eddie Bauer, American Eagle and Abercrombie labels across our chests and over our ass cheeks, yet we bitch about money. Housing developments are nicknamed 'McMansions' and we go broke trying to buy a new beige house with the two-story foyer. There's only one thing these things have in common: a label that states 'status'. Being someone who has all her life been called 'different' has its advantages-the main one being that my kids aren't falling into the trap of label-status. My daughter is just as rebellious against that as I am; other kids call her 'goth', but she's unique, definitely not the media-controlled version of it and gets mad over the labels. I believe it was in this thread, I asked Artelevision why did he buy the truck he bought when there are cheaper ones: the simple reply: aesthetics. This should be our sole reason to purchase anything we need; its utilitarian and personally aesthetic reason. But sheep don't do that-they'd rather go into debt buying the BMW or fully loaded minivan, the beige-sided house and the latest style in sneakers and bitch about their money woes(there's a really good commercial about that, btw, just can't recall what it's for) than make the conscious decision to NOT follow the herd and be even more selfish by doing for themselves and their contentment while staying within their means. __________________ Don't blame me. I didn't vote for either of'em.