aramis307 for his question:I'm wondering why the icon for Black America is not Chris Gardner.since it so gracefully avoids a whole Horror of questions - like what sort of Product Branding Kultur do we really want to be living in, when people are out there Selling themselves as Products, rather than living as persons....
( cited blog entry )
Hum....
I will defer for the time the grand comedy that we are still dealing with this Fragment the Nation Model that suggest that there should be one set of Icons for White America, and another set for the Others..... Since, gosh, that way could lead into even Deeper Concerns about who is More into Saving our White Christian America from the They Them Those People, than we need in a simple rant about the Horrors of a Nation that can no longer actually produce the goods and services that the world wants.
Don't get me wrong here, I can empathise with Chris Gardner - the central character in the hot new liberal feal good Flick, and wil smith vechile, Pursuit Of Happyness (2006) - since I came to this country with $65 in my pocket, an address of people from the old country, and everything I owned on my back.... So I understand what it means to make a go of it in America...
But does that really mean that america is about transitioning persons into mere Product Branding???
Or that such an approach to life is even Good???
Or the far scarier thought here - that america, having lost it's ability to make the goods and services that the world wants and/or needs - we REALLY need to learn the Dark Side of this Ugly idea - so that we are all about the Product Branding... That we are ready and willing to be totally financialized.... To be totally committed to the fun filled moments of
Oh, and it's a hollow feelin' whenHum....
It comes down to dealin' friends
It never ends
( citing Eagles: Tequilla Sunrise )
Makes me wonder what it would be like for the White Folks to take up Gardner as an Icon....
Or have we already watched those enron/worldcom/WhichEver... and the still bloating fiscal fiasco as CitiBank can plea bargain it's way around to paying a fine, and not having to admit to any form of guilt for the criminal charges....
Oh dear - would Gardner BE THE ICON for our friends in the VOCHAS, who are all excited about someone else taking the bullet for them, so that they can stay safely in the Rear, with the Beer, and the pompous pretention of having been here to prevent the Sinister Satanic Nancy Pelosi Controlled Evil Demonic Voodoo Zombie Dust Bunnies Of Despair....
Hum....
What WOULD america really be like, if they had to actually create the goods and services the global market were willing to exchange goods and services for.... you know, when there is a chance for the usual free flow of information about an open market - without the Distortions of one nation being the Nuclear Power, and willing to drop troops on your door step if you opt out of Dollar Hegomony...
Ah yes, would it be 'all about the branding'.... and the second tier horror of Branding Persons, and not merely product....
What ever will life be like in such a brave new world...