Section 8

The smoke and mirrors part of the narrative or, Same smoke, larger mirrors

   The snake oil salesmen, (Madison Avenue), convince us of our need for a product by preying on our primitive need to belong and our primitive fears of not belonging. Ten year olds already know that if they don’t have the right clothes or latest gadgets they won’t get any, they don’t know what it is that they won’t get, but they damn sure know they won’t get it without the proper attire!
   
   Sex and death are their main tools; witness the medicinal ads, (death), and the ads aimed at forcing you to attain someone else’s idea of beauty, (sex).
   The elderly, who through natural design have a decreased sexual appetite due to decreased hormone production now have numerous products to cure the non-disease of sexual dysfunction, (an embarrassing predicament no doubt for the octogenarians among us), and it’s good for 36 hours, women now have their version of ED called FSD, (erectile dysfunction and female sexual dysfunction for those living in caves, you lucky devils), so they can sell drugs to both sexes. Buy their products or you won’t get any either.
   We’re told what we want, (latest edition of anything), when we want it, (within the allotted 36 hours), what to wear, (as little as possible for women), how to wear it, (revealingly), what to say, (political correctness), when to say it, (on cue), what to do, (as you’re told), when to do it, etc…

   We are made to feel uncomfortable with who we are, and the finish line of social acceptance is always kept just out of reach. Television and magazines are the preferred media for informing us of who we are supposed to emulate at any given time, and this “Adonis/Athena” image changes with respect to the products that need to be moved. Fashion is merely recycled from generation to generation, and each season brings back the fashionable items of the previous generation, that you just have to have, (at least if you expect to get any).

   Women dress for other women, not men, the oggs wouldn’t know Versace from Burlap, and actually prefer a birthday suit to designer fashions. It becomes a game of who has the latest “this or that” and our status in society is determined by our apparel and our gadgetry.
   Men mostly dress as they always have, in whatever is conveniently at hand, (and relatively clean), but that is slowly changing as the marketers start targeting them more and more, ( lets face it men need to save their money so they can spend it on the fashionably dressed, and broke, women)

   We pay 100’s of dollars for the latest footwear, touted by the latest sports hero/actor/rock star/spokesperson, made in the latest third world country, by the latest “near slaves” who are paid pennies a day for the privilege of keeping us fashionable.

   Television is the primary tool of the marketplace, (as are all forms of media really), and any entertainment you receive from it is purely coincidental. TV shows are written to bring the viewer to a heightened sense of anticipation just in time for the commercial, (approximately every 10 minutes on prime time and 5 minutes on late night). You can even tell who the expected audience is for any given show by the commercials, (yes, we are that predictable). Billions of dollars are spent each year on advertisement, and the latest technological and psychological, (and subliminal), techniques are used to guarantee the successful marketing to the intended audience. There’s nothing wrong with this, just business as usual, but we need to be aware of the techniques used to trick us into believing we can’t live without something, even at the expense of massive debt.
   Buy what you really need for survival, and when you can afford it, an occasional eye popping, envy inducing, friend impressing, hours of amusement, guaranteed, warranteed, batteries not included, toy.

Television does have its good points; you can learn things from time to time, for example;

Things we learned from TV:

1)- All bombs have flashing lights for easy detection,

2)- All bombs have digital timers so we know how much time we have to cut the (color dependent upon movie), wire, (I on the other hand prefer the cut and run method).

3)- Hand guns are more effective than machine guns, “IF” you’re the good guy (look for white hat),

4)- Getting shot only stings for a little bit, allowing you to continue with your quest of saving the world. (This only applies to the good guy; if you’re a bad guy it hurts like hell and, is often fatal)

5)- Good guys always win, though of late we tend to cast the villain as the hero (probably just to muddy our perception of reality),

6)- Reality TV is way better than say,,, Reality.

7)- If you really must have an opinion TV will give it to you, your opinion will depend upon news channel you prefer.

8)- If you are showing no symptoms you probably have DVT, or FU2, or some other acronymic disease.

9)- Erectile Dysfunction is a world crisis, like really, seriously Dude!

10)- 20 minutes a week on our exercise machine will give you the body of, (insert favorite supermodel here), or you can just take this pill……

11) Etc, etc, ad nauseum


For a little commercialism of my own Cafepress.com/acesand8ths
Buybuybuybuybuybuybuybuybuybuybuybuybuybuybuybuybuybuy(the subliminal part)
33% of all proceeds will be donated to the IRS

Remember little oggs: In a world of “tit for tat”, keep plenty of tats on hand.

(No! dammit! I’m not done yet, but thanks for asking)