Consumerism, evangelism, scepticism

[Russell Turpin]

Jeff Bone writes:
>You guys have some confused ideas of what religion means. What's the 
>unobservable, unknowable, supernatural force behind consumerism for which a 
>totally unfounded and unprovable leap of faith is required?

When a new commercial comes on TV, and it opens with scenes
of natural beauty, or a vignette to convince the viewer
that the viewer is (or can be) one with the world, and that
all is right, but not showing the product until the end,
and sometimes then only the brand, it is nine times out of
ten an ad for a car. As you know, I'm a sceptic. A car is
a piece of metal with four wheels and an engine, to get you
from point A to point B. And whatever brand you buy, you're
still going to get stuck in traffic, still must hassle with
insurance and registration, still must perform maintenance,
etc. All I ask is: How reliable is it? And what is the cost
to own it?

But other people Believe. And there is an entire industry
dedicated to fostering and maintaining that Belief.

Well. I'm posting on a list with participants who believe
that advancing the state of application communication over
the Web is something revolutionary, rather than just a way
to make some money. There are companies, doing quite mundane
things, that have official Evangelists. I wonder if the
fellow who brought tubeless tires to market thought he was a revolutionary? 
I better stop now, before I raise the ire of
the ummah. Maybe if I go to work for another company, I should
take the position of Revolutionary. Evangelists are old hat.
Hee, hee.

Russell

"Rarely does advertising tell you about the product being
sold. That's the least of it. Advertising's primary function
is to compensate for frustrations and feed fantasies. Whom do
you wish to become by buying this aftershave?"
  -- Eduardo Galeano


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