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Xolo's House of Cynicism, Pt III
Mar. 8th, 2012 11:03 pmI'm sure Dr. Suess is spinning in his grave, now that 'The Lorax' is being used to sell SUVs and disposable diapers. I'm not really a 'green' or 'progressive' sort of person (and won't be until they agree to leave my lightbulbs alone*), but even I am appalled at the blatant cynicism on display here.
* 100 Watt incandescents are still for sale, and actually seem to be reclaiming shelf space from the LEDs and CFLs. Ich freude mich!
*****
I'm bemused by the whole Kony video thing. First, I find it hard to credit that there's any politically involved person anywhere who hasn't heard of Joseph Kony. Making the apolitical aware of an issue does nothing but create a brief and fashionable public sensation.
Secondly, I'm not quite grasping how everybody watching a celebrity video is supposed to get this guy killed. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned or something. I was aware of Khaddafi for many years, but I don't think that eventually resulted in him being beaten to death by his beloved subjects.
Thirdly, does it seem weird to anyone else that almost immediately after the video is released, pretty much every major news organization pops up with a cookie-cutter reaction piece from some African reporter about how terrible it is that westerners don't think Africans can fix their own problems? If I were conspiracy-minded, I'd suspect a hidden hand at work here, but I don't think you're going to get that many media liberals working together without someone spilling the beans because their goals were marginalized, they weren't given proper credit, etc. I'll have to ascribe it to groupthink.
* 100 Watt incandescents are still for sale, and actually seem to be reclaiming shelf space from the LEDs and CFLs. Ich freude mich!
*****
I'm bemused by the whole Kony video thing. First, I find it hard to credit that there's any politically involved person anywhere who hasn't heard of Joseph Kony. Making the apolitical aware of an issue does nothing but create a brief and fashionable public sensation.
Secondly, I'm not quite grasping how everybody watching a celebrity video is supposed to get this guy killed. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned or something. I was aware of Khaddafi for many years, but I don't think that eventually resulted in him being beaten to death by his beloved subjects.
Thirdly, does it seem weird to anyone else that almost immediately after the video is released, pretty much every major news organization pops up with a cookie-cutter reaction piece from some African reporter about how terrible it is that westerners don't think Africans can fix their own problems? If I were conspiracy-minded, I'd suspect a hidden hand at work here, but I don't think you're going to get that many media liberals working together without someone spilling the beans because their goals were marginalized, they weren't given proper credit, etc. I'll have to ascribe it to groupthink.
