1.Advertising, my dear friend advertising. I had always seen various ads and seen the stupidity in them, but I had never realized the sneaky, conniving work and thinking that went into making the ads. I had also never really thought about what may of these ads are doing to the human psyche. Advertising turns people into products. We value people less if we are surrounded by objective images of them, which occurs in advertisements across the board. Ads cloak human and environmental destruction behind images of beautiful people. In addition, they often make beautiful and desirable the using up of resources. Furthermore, one of the main goals of advertising is to create conflict in a person in order to make them consume. This is just gross, and not okay. All people are beautiful and fine how they are, don’t tell them they’re not okay, and imply that they are lesser just to make them want to buy your shit.
2.Personality Diagnostic checklist for Corporation= Psychopath.
So true. Corporations are not people, and if they were they would be psychopaths. As was stated in the film The Corporation, they have callous unconcern for the harm of others, the incapacity to maintain enduring relationships, reckless disregard for the safety of others, deceitfulness/repeated lying and coning of others for profit, the incapacity to experience guilt, and the failure to convert to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors. Yet they are considered people? Then can someone please tell me why on earth they aren’t being aren’t they being put in jail or put through some sort of intensive therapy then? I’m a little confused, I mean last I checked, people who were diagnosed, as psychopaths weren’t allowed to go running around trying to control the government. I don’t, maybe I’m mistaken, but it just seems a little backwards to me that corporations can go around being able to claim person status, yet they don’t have to suffer any of the same consequences. And just to get a little more controversial, how can people be okay with calling a corporation a person, but then some people have a hard time seeing an embryo before thirteen weeks as a person. In my mind, a thirteen-week-old embryo, no wait, a five-day-old blastula has more potential for personhood than any corporation anywhere, but that’s just me.
3. Monsanto, (cringe) nuff said.
4. Corporations can patent anything that’s alive except a full birth human. Really? Really?! Is this at all necessary? Pretty soon they’ll own the idea of a human. Companies are now able to patent genes. Before you know it, they will own the genes that make up the evolution of our species. The idea of a human can be owned. It just doesn’t make sense. No one, no company will ever own me, or the idea of me, I don’t care what any patent or legal papers say. Nope, not gonna happen.
5. Fanta was created for Nazi Germany so coke could keep making money in Germany… while people died…What?!?! If people only knew some of the things corporations have done to make a little extra green. And, IBM punch card system used in Nazi concentration camps. My goodness. And to make matters worse, all of the machines to print these cards were leased out and had to have on site maintenance done once a month. They can’t say they had no idea anything was going on. Not okay. Perhaps some of these corporations should have been tried for some form of war crimes. I don’t know, just a thought.
6. US media is over sanitized. People say war is tasteless. Well, yeah, it is. Its also vile, cruel, deadly, unnecessary, unintelligent, barbaric, merciless, malicious, hateful, despicable, abominable, violent, and bloody. That doesn’t mean we should keep doing it but not show it on the news because that makes it less bad. The United States does not see the true face of war. We don’t see the gory pictures, the photos of death affecting the people. We only see the gray heat seeking videos with targets. We don’t see the people behind the target, the people with tears leaving streaks down their dirt and blood covered faces, the people screaming while carrying limp children who don’t even understand the meaning of war. We don’t see that, and thus we tend to be ambivalent to the whole concept of war. It’s a problem.
7. Toxic Sludge. To be honest, I think I knew it existed, but I didn’t know the extent or any of the issues surrounding toxic sludge. But now that I’m more aware of some of these issues…whoa…like whoa!! And bio solids? Ya, that’s crap. Changing the name doesn’t change physical properties. I’m pretty sure if I legally changed my name to Flying Unicorn I wouldn’t sprout wings, hooves, or horns, or start having weird hay cravings. .
8. Dissent built this country, I had never really thought about it that way before. But I suppose it’s true. And the idea that rage is good when it is used constructively to create social change, I like it. But society has sort of morphed to tell us that rage and the like is bad, and we should suppress and accept. But this is just not okay. That is the kind of thinking that leads to dictatorships. And last I checked, we are supposed to be living in some form of democracy. Further more, we should not let our creativity and imaginations be sold to us. Those are the kinds of things that need to come from the people, not the companies. Creativity and imagination are things that should come from with in the individual not bought from the corporations and their idea of what they want us to like, and see as cool, etc…
9. And I had no idea about all of the PR that’s present in our media. Where did real journalism go? Wherever it’s hiding, it can come out now. Its presence would be greatly appreciated.
10. Also, culture jamming, not gonna lie, I’m a fan. I really like the idea of people, individuals doing what they can to kind of stick it to the corporations and let them know that what they are doing isn’t welcomed. It’s kind of a way for the people to take back what is rightfully theirs. I have done some small culture jamming activities, and I plan to continue, and expand. Next on the list, sending an much needed letter to the Brats company. Its going to take all of my editing skills to not end up sending them what could turn out to be a novel length letter describing all their violations to humankind.
Questions:
1. Fill in the blank. It has to reach _____level for the majority of people to start realizing that the amount of media in our lives today has started to reach unhealthy levels and that people as a group need to take back their creativity, imagination, and partially media free lives.
2. There are so many people who are in charge of corporations. Why have none of them realized the harm being done by them, and made any steps to fix the problems the corporations are creating?
3. Why don’t companies actually go green, like for real, instead of dancing around the idea and saying they are when everybody knows they aren’t. It would end up saving them money anyway? Which, if I understand correctly, is pretty much all corporations care about anyway.
PS, your class was absolutely amazing. I learned more in this class than any other class I've had to take. I sort of ended up in this class through a series of unfortunate events, but those events resulted in me taking one of the best classes I've ever taken. Thank you so much for an amazing semester! You were an amazing, wonderful, (insert positive adjective here) professor. I loved every assignment, especially the media art project and the go out in the woods assignment, and the PSA, and just everything! I couldn't wait for tuesday to come to your class. That is how learning should be. You nailed it! I'm sad the class is over, but I'm thankful that what I have learned can, and will carry over throughout my life. You are an amazing professor and person in general. Thank you so much!!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
PSA Reflection
Creating the PSA was actually really fun. We worked really well together. We created the storyboard the day the project was assigned. We had one central idea, which was something to do with the interaction between cosmetics and the environment and cosmetics and the people’s view of themselves and how the three concepts connected to each other. We then worked through and bounced ideas back and forth to create the concept that we carried through to the end. That weekend we figured out which editing program we were going to use and how to use it. We played around with the effects and figured out what we would like to use. We also made the signs we held up in the video. Around this time we also did some research to figure out the facts we were going to include in the video. We also recorded Torie’s voice in the beginning around this time. We then filmed the whole PSA about a week later and then edited it that weekend. We wanted to get it done really early because we weren’t sure how long it was actually going to take to edit it. Turns out, not that long. We had a few people watch it in all different age groups ranging from forties to fourteen and everyone understood the message we were trying to get across without us telling them. We took this as a very good sign. I think our PSA does a pretty good job of educating our audience about our environment/media theme. I think our choice of music really works to draw people in and sort of make them want to see what’s happening next. I also think our alternating between the pictures and fast paced videos works to break the video up and keep people interested and watching to see what is going to pop up next. There was some question as to whether we should keep the black screen with the voice over or change it from just blackness. In the end we decided to keep the black screen because we felt it sort of works to let the words being spoken have more of an impact. There is less to focus on so you really here what is being said. Also, it’s kind of like a calm before the storm sort of effect. I’m really happy with how our PSA turned out. I do think it is a good tool for environmental activism as well as addressing the issue of universal beauty without the use cosmetics. I feel as though our PSA addresses several issues and works on several levels but all in order to get a more central point across.
ps, the name of the youtube video has been changed from envs 195 to cosmetics/environment... sort of in an effort to maybe reach more people ( ??)
ps, the name of the youtube video has been changed from envs 195 to cosmetics/environment... sort of in an effort to maybe reach more people ( ??)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Is Clorox Greenwashing perhaps??
Advertisement:
So, in this advertisement from Clorox, you see their product, Clorox wipes, in a woodland field surrounded by innocent white flowers with some dreamlike sunbeams emanating from some light source in the background. The advertisement uses the whole green, happy environment surrounding the designated product. As for persuasive techniques used, they utilized symbols and warm fuzzies. The symbols would be the green environment and the pure white flowers that represent just all around eco-goodness. And the healthy environment surrounding the product is meant to just bring some kind of warm fuzzy to the consumer and make them feel like by buying this product everything will be green and good, and no one will have to worry. And, what I find interesting about this is that they tell you its 99% natural and biodegradable and Clorox will gladly put all of the ingredients on their green works products, but not on their regular products. Also, the Clorox logo is prominently displayed on the green works product. I believe Clorox is trying to get people to associate their name with environmentally friendly even if it’s not really. And the advertisement says that its still has the cleaning power of Clorox. So, why don’t they change all of their products to work like green works if they aren’t losing any efficiency? If it’s better for the environment and works just as good, what is keeping them from switching all of their products over to this formula that apparently the world needs? I mean, good for Clorox, making a step in the right direction, but if its as good as they say it is, why not go all the way?
http://tinyurl.com/y827euy
Activist Websites:
To start, I looked through all of the websites, and I was slightly disappointed. They were more flashy and more over the top than I expected. I was a little put off by the amount of ads on some of them and the big Facebook and Twitter logos everywhere. Also, some of the sites seemed so left wing that they made me a little skeptical about the actual content of the site. How do I know these articles weren’t put on by some other form of PR? I was also a little put off by all of the big logos and unprofessional nature of the sites. I feel that if these sites want to reach a larger audience, they might benefit from toning it down a little bit without losing the value of their content. Also, Yes Magazine, which said they were ad-free definitely had the Facebook and Twitter logos on their site which technically is some form of advertising for those two sites. In addition, they certainly didn’t skimp on ads for the magazine or the site.
The site I chose to focus on was Grist. I thought it seemed to be slightly better than some of the others. Although it did have a rather large logo and some advertisements, I found the content of the site to be more uplifting and a little more hopeful than some of the other websites. Also, even though it’s labeled as an advertisement, the site provides you with a way, on first glance of the website to be active and sign a petition to prevent the bringing back of commercial whaling. There was also something about how to talk to a global warming skeptic. So instead of telling people they are wrong and the world is going to heat up and explode, you can use educated conversation to reason with them. There is also a neat feature that I haven’t noticed on many other sites where you can click on the authors name and find out sort of who they are and what they stand for. I feel as though this provides a little more comfort when reading things because you know it was written by for example a man who has been an investigative journalist for 25 years, versus some PR idiot. And the advertisements that is does contain are positive ones about clean canteens and conflict free diamonds. And the page is not littered with them like many other sites. It is embracing the media without over doing it, which I feel is important. The media exists; advertisements exist. Sometimes they can be helpful, as annoying as they usually seem. So claiming something is ad free, even though that particular site was not, is just not reasonable. I do think this organization fulfills its mission to social and environmental change. It is not as crazy left wing and I feel that this makes it easier to reach a wider audience. I do believe that online activism sometimes works. I think it’s a useful tool that should be supplemented with other non-online activities. I once signed an online petition to get Trader Joes to remove red-listed sea-food from their shelves, and work towards more sustainable sea-food policies, and it worked. They removed the red-listed fish and are actually trying to make improvements. So in this instance, online activism did work and was quite effective. It’s different for different issues, but I do believe it has some value. A lot of people can be reached very quickly (which could be considered good or bad depending on what light its seen in.) Participation in this form only feels really meaningful when you see definite results, although I do feel some brief hint of possible accomplishment when I sign online petitions etc... because there is always that possibility that it will amount to something and be effective in its intentions.
PSA:
Straight up done… We’ve had a few people watch it, and so far so good. I’m really excited to watch everyone’s!!
So, in this advertisement from Clorox, you see their product, Clorox wipes, in a woodland field surrounded by innocent white flowers with some dreamlike sunbeams emanating from some light source in the background. The advertisement uses the whole green, happy environment surrounding the designated product. As for persuasive techniques used, they utilized symbols and warm fuzzies. The symbols would be the green environment and the pure white flowers that represent just all around eco-goodness. And the healthy environment surrounding the product is meant to just bring some kind of warm fuzzy to the consumer and make them feel like by buying this product everything will be green and good, and no one will have to worry. And, what I find interesting about this is that they tell you its 99% natural and biodegradable and Clorox will gladly put all of the ingredients on their green works products, but not on their regular products. Also, the Clorox logo is prominently displayed on the green works product. I believe Clorox is trying to get people to associate their name with environmentally friendly even if it’s not really. And the advertisement says that its still has the cleaning power of Clorox. So, why don’t they change all of their products to work like green works if they aren’t losing any efficiency? If it’s better for the environment and works just as good, what is keeping them from switching all of their products over to this formula that apparently the world needs? I mean, good for Clorox, making a step in the right direction, but if its as good as they say it is, why not go all the way?
http://tinyurl.com/y827euy
Activist Websites:
To start, I looked through all of the websites, and I was slightly disappointed. They were more flashy and more over the top than I expected. I was a little put off by the amount of ads on some of them and the big Facebook and Twitter logos everywhere. Also, some of the sites seemed so left wing that they made me a little skeptical about the actual content of the site. How do I know these articles weren’t put on by some other form of PR? I was also a little put off by all of the big logos and unprofessional nature of the sites. I feel that if these sites want to reach a larger audience, they might benefit from toning it down a little bit without losing the value of their content. Also, Yes Magazine, which said they were ad-free definitely had the Facebook and Twitter logos on their site which technically is some form of advertising for those two sites. In addition, they certainly didn’t skimp on ads for the magazine or the site.
The site I chose to focus on was Grist. I thought it seemed to be slightly better than some of the others. Although it did have a rather large logo and some advertisements, I found the content of the site to be more uplifting and a little more hopeful than some of the other websites. Also, even though it’s labeled as an advertisement, the site provides you with a way, on first glance of the website to be active and sign a petition to prevent the bringing back of commercial whaling. There was also something about how to talk to a global warming skeptic. So instead of telling people they are wrong and the world is going to heat up and explode, you can use educated conversation to reason with them. There is also a neat feature that I haven’t noticed on many other sites where you can click on the authors name and find out sort of who they are and what they stand for. I feel as though this provides a little more comfort when reading things because you know it was written by for example a man who has been an investigative journalist for 25 years, versus some PR idiot. And the advertisements that is does contain are positive ones about clean canteens and conflict free diamonds. And the page is not littered with them like many other sites. It is embracing the media without over doing it, which I feel is important. The media exists; advertisements exist. Sometimes they can be helpful, as annoying as they usually seem. So claiming something is ad free, even though that particular site was not, is just not reasonable. I do think this organization fulfills its mission to social and environmental change. It is not as crazy left wing and I feel that this makes it easier to reach a wider audience. I do believe that online activism sometimes works. I think it’s a useful tool that should be supplemented with other non-online activities. I once signed an online petition to get Trader Joes to remove red-listed sea-food from their shelves, and work towards more sustainable sea-food policies, and it worked. They removed the red-listed fish and are actually trying to make improvements. So in this instance, online activism did work and was quite effective. It’s different for different issues, but I do believe it has some value. A lot of people can be reached very quickly (which could be considered good or bad depending on what light its seen in.) Participation in this form only feels really meaningful when you see definite results, although I do feel some brief hint of possible accomplishment when I sign online petitions etc... because there is always that possibility that it will amount to something and be effective in its intentions.
PSA:
Straight up done… We’ve had a few people watch it, and so far so good. I’m really excited to watch everyone’s!!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
In a battle between Mother Nature and the Television, I predict Mother Nature opening a can'o whop-ass on the TV...straight up...without a doubt...
The Lovely Woods:
We walked along the paved path that would lead us to the woods. The sun was out and the wind was running silently around us. We talked about all of the things we had to do, and did this past week. We had just had a lab practical exam that we had both done really well on. Unfortunately that small triumph was easily masked by the realization that in the coming weeks until school ends, practically every week is full of exams, not to mention finals…Our minds raced out loud. Cars passed. The hum of society could still be heard in the open air, and in our thoughts.
Finally we reached the point where the paved path continues on and a path created by the treading of many feet veered off to the right. Right at the opening of the path was a large mud puddle. I suppose I could have made my way around it. That was my first thought…But the little kid in me won, I took off my shoes, rolled up my jeans and casually strolled through the warm muddy water…I have to admit, it was great. I kept my shoes off as we walked further down the path. Barefoot is so much more interesting than wearing shoes. It’s like adding a sixth sense to your repertoire of physical sensation and observation. Every new texture on the ground is a change of scenery for an alternative aspect of your body other than your eyes. As we progressed down the path, our conversation slowed, as did our thoughts. The mud was cool in the shade and warm in the sun. I started to notice the birds more and more and the cars less and less. I could hear the wind more clearly instead of just feeling it. My lungs were wide-awake. My sickness that I had felt earlier seemed to be leaving me with each step.
We came to a spot on the path that crossed a stream. We then proceeded to step off the path and head a little ways away down closer to the stream and farther from the path. I felt like a little kid again. I stepped out onto a rock in the stream, and gingerly proceeded to step into the icy water. The water, although very cold, and quite a shock to the system, was smooth and easily passed around the obstruction my legs had caused in its predetermined path to who knows where. I crossed the stream just for the sake of it. Three bugs on the other side of the stream were playing some form of tag as I arrived on the other side. They didn’t notice my presence and kept on with their daily activities. I stood for a while and then traversed back to the other side of the stream. Once on the other side, I spotted a tree that had made its final resting place lying across the stream. I climbed up onto the tree and out over the river, the water just out of reach of my hands when I let my arms hang. I placed all my trust in this tree. Without it, I’d be bathing in some mighty cold water. I laid there perfectly still and just listened. The sun poked though the branches and small buds on the trees and danced playfully on those leaves laid to rest on the forest floor. A small pine tree sprouted up from a dead looking mass of trees and sticks that had laid claim to one corner of the stream. I first noticed the dead mass of branches. Then I noticed the small pine tree. I then noticed how the lively little pine tree made the whole structure look more alive and less dead. Life gives life to death…if that makes any sense. Then I realized that no matter how dead the mass of branches were, it would still always appear more alive than any man made product, regardless of what it was. A thin silky string of spider’s web connected the small pine tree to another tree outside the stream. I followed the web with my eyes. The web led to the tree. I followed the tree up to one of the branches and noticed a small birds nest. The branch continued out over the stream. There were about three leaves on the branch that had not fallen off. They looked quite out of place amongst the small buds. A strong gust of wind blew causing me to hold on to the tree I was laying on just a little tighter. The wind knocked one of the leaves off. It then fell silently into the river. I stared at the water and followed the leaf until it passed around to where I could no longer see the stream. I noticed that the roots of the tree that let go of the leaf extended out into the water. It was a complete cycle of interconnectedness. I continued to stare at the water. The sun transformed into a cascade of diamonds when as it hit the moving stream. It was mesmerizing. My mind had stopped racing. Thoughts would come into my head, linger for a while and then casually leave to allow contemplative space for the next thought. I felt very at peace in an awake and oddly alert sort of way. It was nice. I closed my eyes for a little while and just listened. Its quite amazing what you can hear when you close your eyes and concentrate. Birds, water, wind, leaves, some other small and unidentifiable creature, your own quiet and rhythmic breathing. My head was resting on my arms, which were crossed and resting on the tree beneath me. I could feel the pulse in my wrist against the tree. I wondered if the tree could feel it too. There was some moss growing on the underside of the tree. I felt it with my hand and noticed the nice contrast where the soft moss met the rough tree bark. I focused my eyes on the whole scene before me and enjoyed it. I looked inward to my thoughts and tried to distinguish between the thoughts, colors, and feelings in my head. The air smelled crisp and clean. I filled my starving lungs with it.
The time came for us to return back and complete the television portion of the assignment. I climbed unwillingly off the tree and back onto the mixture of leaves and moss beside the water. I felt an unusual sense of accomplishment and motivation even though I had just spent half an hour lying on a tree branch. We walked back down the same path, my feet giggled at the feeling of the mixture of warm and cool mud. When we reached the end of the path I walked straight into the mud puddle and stood there for a little while. The mud was now very warm, almost bathtub like, as it had been sitting in the sun observing life and collecting heat for the past half hour. I then walked slowly out of the mud puddle and onto the course pavement. I walked a little ways and looked back to notice my fading footprints coming from the muddy path. I felt good, and alive, and not sick anymore. We walked back. I still noticed the birds, and then wind, and the sun, but the sound of cars passing was unfortunately added in to the natural soundtrack of the surrounding world. We walked up to our dorm, and I couldn’t help but notice how dead the building looked compared to the trees, and grass and sticks.
The Boob-Tube:
We sat down and prepared ourselves for an unfortunate uninterrupted thirty minutes of TV watching. The power button on the clicker was pressed and as that tell tale ping of the TV-turning-on-noise entered my ears I thought about how silly the concept of the clicker was. Its not like we are twenty feet away and half to walk a long distance to turn it on. And that was the last thought that entered my head for the next thirty minutes.
We watched a half our of the show America’s Best Dance Crew. Man, was it pointless. On top of watching more commercials in the thirty minutes than actual show, I literally gained nothing from watching it. One could argue that it actually made me dumber. My mind was frighteningly blank. It was like my thoughts had run and hid as soon as the lights of the TV had appeared on the screen. No matter how I tried, I could not entice them out of hiding. My mind would not have it. My eyes didn’t want to blink and my mind didn’t want to think. I was in a weird pseudo-coma like state with my eyes open and my body functioning internally, but I was just not there. I sat there and watched a bunch of people be active and in shape and perform all types of crazy dance moves and flips as I sat there, sedentary…mind and body. It sucked. In and amongst all of the really lame and stupidity-inducing commercials was one for a run to support clean water for the world. It started by telling you how many hospital beds are full due to diseases stemming from a lack of clean water. It then proceeded to tell you about the run taking place to confront this problem and encouraging you, the tv wacher to take part. Then, in the last scene of the commercial the man’s voice said sponsored by Dow. And in very light gray font, the kind that is weirdly thin and thus difficult to read, underneath the logo for the run for clean water, were the words” Sponsored by the Dow Chemical Company.”….Really now? The Dow chemical company is sponsoring a run for clean water…that they are making dirty anyway? Does this make any sense? I think not…You see the commercial and its like, oh well there is a glimmer of hope somewhere. People want to clean up the water for the world that all these companies are destroying. Then the end of the commercial arrives and you see that one of those same companies that is dirt-ifying the world is sponsoring this whole “clean water” movement. Well, way to make the whole thing completely illegitimate and all for not. Dow is going to keep doing what its doing under the guise of “oh we’re environmental, we supported the run for clean water, and gave a menial amount of money that literally wont make a dent in the overall issue, but we’re going to claim we’re saving the environment anyway and people are going to give us a good environmental reputation and believe us because we have some really great PR that is top notch when it comes to blatant lying.” Great. That’s just perfect…Way to go Dow, way to go. But other than that commercial, nothing I watched elicited any kind of emotion out of me other than inescapable, ball and chain, boredom. I kept checking the time to see how much longer I had to sit there and slowly waste away. When I do watch TV, I don’t really sit there and dedicate all of my attention to it. I’m doing other things, getting my laundry, answering email, organizing whatever. I never really dedicate myself to the television. To be honest, it was hard. I didn’t like it. And after we turned it off, I didn’t feel like I wanted to do anything. I just wanted to sit and literally do nothing. My stuffy nose was back and I kind of felt a little agitated for no reason, and just plain lazy. It was not pleasant. Conclusion: I much prefer the woods, hands down, no questions asked, any day of the week, any moment in time, just say the word, I’m there.
Toxic Sludge Is Good For You: Chapter 12
I really love the opening quote. Its so true, unfortunate, but true. It should be that this centuries three great politically important developments are the growth of pure democracy, the return of power to the people and the growth of a richer culture and better society as a result of this power shift. The quote on page 202-203 (“He defines propaganda…any conclusion but one.”) is also great. At this present moment, our system of democracy needs a hell of a lot more education than propaganda. This whole PR propaganda thing is completely going against the very fibers of democracy. Whatever happened to of the people, by the people, for the people? When did this whole of the corporation, by the corporation, for the profit crap become okay? In the ideal world, democracy is the system of government where those people being governed and affected by the system are the ones doing the governing. The people are the driving force for all actions, not the profit. And when I say people I mean the fleshy, multi-cellular, eukaryotic organisms who have opposable thumbs and mammary glands and fall under the category of homo sapiens. Not the corporations.
Democracy should have values that stem from the ideas of the individuals. Ideas should not be prepackaged and fed to the individuals. None of this top-down crap. People should “..take an active role in shaping their futures and running their government instead of letting it run them.” I have learned that there is some good PR. But the good PR does not even come close to the canceling out the bad PR and its effects. Media and PR, although they can be used for good, seem to have crossed the line in certain places. Media and PR should never become so influential and engrained in our society that our values and culture start being defined by it. And all this business of “…managers are legally obliged to ignore community welfare…if those needs interfere with profitability” is just very backwards and not okay. The people come first, not the prospect of profit. And until companies learn the value of the real human life, they should not be allowed to operate. As concerned citizens, we must exercise those rights we have as defined by our much previous definition of democracy. We must not stand for any PR/Media bogus that is thrown at us. We must speak the truth and call out the companies in their times of wrong and demand that the correct action be taken. Also, the citizens must somehow find a way to take back what is rightfully theirs in regards to democratic rights, powers, ideals, and values. All of this will take time, but I do believe it is a fight worth fighting. The hope for all of this lies in the hearts of the people not satisfied with just accepting what is sneakily spoon-fed to them. It lies with those people who are shorted by this system and can accurately see the flaws it has. It is up to the people to bring to light for all of society the injustices and issues that surround this whole phenomenon. I have not really discovered my role in making this a reality, but I will continue to search for where I fit in this whole thing. For the moment I will continue to act on the opportunities that arise, such as writing letters to companies and activities of the like. (PS. Neither American Eagle or Abercrombie and Fitch has replied to me yet. I have sent American Eagle my letter eleven times, from different emails and modes of communication, and still nothing. I feel like I might be on their list of people to just straight up avoid. ☺ )
PSA Blog Post:
I feel really good about my groups progress. We have actually finished all of the filming and pretty much all of the editing. All we really have left to do is put it onto a DVD thing and have someone else watch it, and then make any changes are needed after that. Our group has worked very well together. Our concept seems to have stayed pretty on the mark with regards to any changes since the initial brainstorming. Each team member…so Torie and I…have each been responsible for every aspect of the project. We have both filmed, acted, produced, and whatever else there is that goes into making a movie. Hopefully be next class we will have put our PSA onto a DVD and had someone else watch it. That way we have plenty of time to make any needed changes. I feel pretty good about the whole thing. I’m excited to watch everybody’s!!
We walked along the paved path that would lead us to the woods. The sun was out and the wind was running silently around us. We talked about all of the things we had to do, and did this past week. We had just had a lab practical exam that we had both done really well on. Unfortunately that small triumph was easily masked by the realization that in the coming weeks until school ends, practically every week is full of exams, not to mention finals…Our minds raced out loud. Cars passed. The hum of society could still be heard in the open air, and in our thoughts.
Finally we reached the point where the paved path continues on and a path created by the treading of many feet veered off to the right. Right at the opening of the path was a large mud puddle. I suppose I could have made my way around it. That was my first thought…But the little kid in me won, I took off my shoes, rolled up my jeans and casually strolled through the warm muddy water…I have to admit, it was great. I kept my shoes off as we walked further down the path. Barefoot is so much more interesting than wearing shoes. It’s like adding a sixth sense to your repertoire of physical sensation and observation. Every new texture on the ground is a change of scenery for an alternative aspect of your body other than your eyes. As we progressed down the path, our conversation slowed, as did our thoughts. The mud was cool in the shade and warm in the sun. I started to notice the birds more and more and the cars less and less. I could hear the wind more clearly instead of just feeling it. My lungs were wide-awake. My sickness that I had felt earlier seemed to be leaving me with each step.
We came to a spot on the path that crossed a stream. We then proceeded to step off the path and head a little ways away down closer to the stream and farther from the path. I felt like a little kid again. I stepped out onto a rock in the stream, and gingerly proceeded to step into the icy water. The water, although very cold, and quite a shock to the system, was smooth and easily passed around the obstruction my legs had caused in its predetermined path to who knows where. I crossed the stream just for the sake of it. Three bugs on the other side of the stream were playing some form of tag as I arrived on the other side. They didn’t notice my presence and kept on with their daily activities. I stood for a while and then traversed back to the other side of the stream. Once on the other side, I spotted a tree that had made its final resting place lying across the stream. I climbed up onto the tree and out over the river, the water just out of reach of my hands when I let my arms hang. I placed all my trust in this tree. Without it, I’d be bathing in some mighty cold water. I laid there perfectly still and just listened. The sun poked though the branches and small buds on the trees and danced playfully on those leaves laid to rest on the forest floor. A small pine tree sprouted up from a dead looking mass of trees and sticks that had laid claim to one corner of the stream. I first noticed the dead mass of branches. Then I noticed the small pine tree. I then noticed how the lively little pine tree made the whole structure look more alive and less dead. Life gives life to death…if that makes any sense. Then I realized that no matter how dead the mass of branches were, it would still always appear more alive than any man made product, regardless of what it was. A thin silky string of spider’s web connected the small pine tree to another tree outside the stream. I followed the web with my eyes. The web led to the tree. I followed the tree up to one of the branches and noticed a small birds nest. The branch continued out over the stream. There were about three leaves on the branch that had not fallen off. They looked quite out of place amongst the small buds. A strong gust of wind blew causing me to hold on to the tree I was laying on just a little tighter. The wind knocked one of the leaves off. It then fell silently into the river. I stared at the water and followed the leaf until it passed around to where I could no longer see the stream. I noticed that the roots of the tree that let go of the leaf extended out into the water. It was a complete cycle of interconnectedness. I continued to stare at the water. The sun transformed into a cascade of diamonds when as it hit the moving stream. It was mesmerizing. My mind had stopped racing. Thoughts would come into my head, linger for a while and then casually leave to allow contemplative space for the next thought. I felt very at peace in an awake and oddly alert sort of way. It was nice. I closed my eyes for a little while and just listened. Its quite amazing what you can hear when you close your eyes and concentrate. Birds, water, wind, leaves, some other small and unidentifiable creature, your own quiet and rhythmic breathing. My head was resting on my arms, which were crossed and resting on the tree beneath me. I could feel the pulse in my wrist against the tree. I wondered if the tree could feel it too. There was some moss growing on the underside of the tree. I felt it with my hand and noticed the nice contrast where the soft moss met the rough tree bark. I focused my eyes on the whole scene before me and enjoyed it. I looked inward to my thoughts and tried to distinguish between the thoughts, colors, and feelings in my head. The air smelled crisp and clean. I filled my starving lungs with it.
The time came for us to return back and complete the television portion of the assignment. I climbed unwillingly off the tree and back onto the mixture of leaves and moss beside the water. I felt an unusual sense of accomplishment and motivation even though I had just spent half an hour lying on a tree branch. We walked back down the same path, my feet giggled at the feeling of the mixture of warm and cool mud. When we reached the end of the path I walked straight into the mud puddle and stood there for a little while. The mud was now very warm, almost bathtub like, as it had been sitting in the sun observing life and collecting heat for the past half hour. I then walked slowly out of the mud puddle and onto the course pavement. I walked a little ways and looked back to notice my fading footprints coming from the muddy path. I felt good, and alive, and not sick anymore. We walked back. I still noticed the birds, and then wind, and the sun, but the sound of cars passing was unfortunately added in to the natural soundtrack of the surrounding world. We walked up to our dorm, and I couldn’t help but notice how dead the building looked compared to the trees, and grass and sticks.
The Boob-Tube:
We sat down and prepared ourselves for an unfortunate uninterrupted thirty minutes of TV watching. The power button on the clicker was pressed and as that tell tale ping of the TV-turning-on-noise entered my ears I thought about how silly the concept of the clicker was. Its not like we are twenty feet away and half to walk a long distance to turn it on. And that was the last thought that entered my head for the next thirty minutes.
We watched a half our of the show America’s Best Dance Crew. Man, was it pointless. On top of watching more commercials in the thirty minutes than actual show, I literally gained nothing from watching it. One could argue that it actually made me dumber. My mind was frighteningly blank. It was like my thoughts had run and hid as soon as the lights of the TV had appeared on the screen. No matter how I tried, I could not entice them out of hiding. My mind would not have it. My eyes didn’t want to blink and my mind didn’t want to think. I was in a weird pseudo-coma like state with my eyes open and my body functioning internally, but I was just not there. I sat there and watched a bunch of people be active and in shape and perform all types of crazy dance moves and flips as I sat there, sedentary…mind and body. It sucked. In and amongst all of the really lame and stupidity-inducing commercials was one for a run to support clean water for the world. It started by telling you how many hospital beds are full due to diseases stemming from a lack of clean water. It then proceeded to tell you about the run taking place to confront this problem and encouraging you, the tv wacher to take part. Then, in the last scene of the commercial the man’s voice said sponsored by Dow. And in very light gray font, the kind that is weirdly thin and thus difficult to read, underneath the logo for the run for clean water, were the words” Sponsored by the Dow Chemical Company.”….Really now? The Dow chemical company is sponsoring a run for clean water…that they are making dirty anyway? Does this make any sense? I think not…You see the commercial and its like, oh well there is a glimmer of hope somewhere. People want to clean up the water for the world that all these companies are destroying. Then the end of the commercial arrives and you see that one of those same companies that is dirt-ifying the world is sponsoring this whole “clean water” movement. Well, way to make the whole thing completely illegitimate and all for not. Dow is going to keep doing what its doing under the guise of “oh we’re environmental, we supported the run for clean water, and gave a menial amount of money that literally wont make a dent in the overall issue, but we’re going to claim we’re saving the environment anyway and people are going to give us a good environmental reputation and believe us because we have some really great PR that is top notch when it comes to blatant lying.” Great. That’s just perfect…Way to go Dow, way to go. But other than that commercial, nothing I watched elicited any kind of emotion out of me other than inescapable, ball and chain, boredom. I kept checking the time to see how much longer I had to sit there and slowly waste away. When I do watch TV, I don’t really sit there and dedicate all of my attention to it. I’m doing other things, getting my laundry, answering email, organizing whatever. I never really dedicate myself to the television. To be honest, it was hard. I didn’t like it. And after we turned it off, I didn’t feel like I wanted to do anything. I just wanted to sit and literally do nothing. My stuffy nose was back and I kind of felt a little agitated for no reason, and just plain lazy. It was not pleasant. Conclusion: I much prefer the woods, hands down, no questions asked, any day of the week, any moment in time, just say the word, I’m there.
Toxic Sludge Is Good For You: Chapter 12
I really love the opening quote. Its so true, unfortunate, but true. It should be that this centuries three great politically important developments are the growth of pure democracy, the return of power to the people and the growth of a richer culture and better society as a result of this power shift. The quote on page 202-203 (“He defines propaganda…any conclusion but one.”) is also great. At this present moment, our system of democracy needs a hell of a lot more education than propaganda. This whole PR propaganda thing is completely going against the very fibers of democracy. Whatever happened to of the people, by the people, for the people? When did this whole of the corporation, by the corporation, for the profit crap become okay? In the ideal world, democracy is the system of government where those people being governed and affected by the system are the ones doing the governing. The people are the driving force for all actions, not the profit. And when I say people I mean the fleshy, multi-cellular, eukaryotic organisms who have opposable thumbs and mammary glands and fall under the category of homo sapiens. Not the corporations.
Democracy should have values that stem from the ideas of the individuals. Ideas should not be prepackaged and fed to the individuals. None of this top-down crap. People should “..take an active role in shaping their futures and running their government instead of letting it run them.” I have learned that there is some good PR. But the good PR does not even come close to the canceling out the bad PR and its effects. Media and PR, although they can be used for good, seem to have crossed the line in certain places. Media and PR should never become so influential and engrained in our society that our values and culture start being defined by it. And all this business of “…managers are legally obliged to ignore community welfare…if those needs interfere with profitability” is just very backwards and not okay. The people come first, not the prospect of profit. And until companies learn the value of the real human life, they should not be allowed to operate. As concerned citizens, we must exercise those rights we have as defined by our much previous definition of democracy. We must not stand for any PR/Media bogus that is thrown at us. We must speak the truth and call out the companies in their times of wrong and demand that the correct action be taken. Also, the citizens must somehow find a way to take back what is rightfully theirs in regards to democratic rights, powers, ideals, and values. All of this will take time, but I do believe it is a fight worth fighting. The hope for all of this lies in the hearts of the people not satisfied with just accepting what is sneakily spoon-fed to them. It lies with those people who are shorted by this system and can accurately see the flaws it has. It is up to the people to bring to light for all of society the injustices and issues that surround this whole phenomenon. I have not really discovered my role in making this a reality, but I will continue to search for where I fit in this whole thing. For the moment I will continue to act on the opportunities that arise, such as writing letters to companies and activities of the like. (PS. Neither American Eagle or Abercrombie and Fitch has replied to me yet. I have sent American Eagle my letter eleven times, from different emails and modes of communication, and still nothing. I feel like I might be on their list of people to just straight up avoid. ☺ )
PSA Blog Post:
I feel really good about my groups progress. We have actually finished all of the filming and pretty much all of the editing. All we really have left to do is put it onto a DVD thing and have someone else watch it, and then make any changes are needed after that. Our group has worked very well together. Our concept seems to have stayed pretty on the mark with regards to any changes since the initial brainstorming. Each team member…so Torie and I…have each been responsible for every aspect of the project. We have both filmed, acted, produced, and whatever else there is that goes into making a movie. Hopefully be next class we will have put our PSA onto a DVD and had someone else watch it. That way we have plenty of time to make any needed changes. I feel pretty good about the whole thing. I’m excited to watch everybody’s!!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Welcome to the wonderful world of toxic sludge-I mean biosolids-where everything is good for you, nothing smells, and companies are 100% honest....not
Toxic Sludge Is Good For You:
Chapter 8:
1. The treatment of sewage works just like the GDP. “The more advanced the treatment of sewage (the more successful the separation), the more sludge will be produced, and the worse—the more unusable and dangerous—it will be. That is, the ‘better’ the treatment, the greater the range of incompatible materials that will have been concentrated in this highly entropic gray jelly.” It’s sort of the same with the GDP, the worse of an event that happens, the better our GDP does. The idea of progress and better are completely skewed.
2. The methods for getting rid of this toxic sludge include incineration, dumping into landfills, gasification, plant fertilizers, and ocean dumping. None of these ways are any better than the others; they are all horrible. But what amazes me is humans complete and utter disregard for all aspects of the planet. It’s bad enough that we are ruining the part of the planet that we inhabit, but then we have to go and ruin the ocean. I’m not saying that humans own the land, but the ocean is nowhere even close to being ours to ruin. We don’t live in the ocean, the effects of our actions really wont have any real dire impact on us for quite some time. It appalls and scares me to think that our beautiful oceans could become like the fake, toxic waves with the fake sand and fake wind of FEED. The ocean is one of the last untouched fronts on the planet, we should probably leave it that way. We’re like King Midas, except everything we touch turns to sludge, not gold.
3. Also, I love how everyone thinks that by changing an organizations name, they can some how change the chemical compounds of whatever they happen to be promoting or producing. No, juts by calling it biosolids, or humanure, or nutricake or whatever doesn’t mean its going to be any less toxic. You could call it happy rainbow juice, but it would still cause all sorts of diseases and congenital birth defects and all other problems. And then they say that they aren’t trying t hide anything… So why exactly are you changing the name? Oh right, to correct the misconceptions about toxic sludge, sorry biosolids. But let them answer this, have they actually gone and smelled it? If they did, I’m pretty sure there’d be no denying that it stuck to the high heavens. And they say that it’s safe and doesn’t hurt humans, well, I don’t see them having it pop up in their backyards like with the Love Canal incident and have no problem with it. I feel like I say this in almost every blog post but WHER ARE THESE PEOPLE’S MORAL COMPASSES?!?!?!?! This shit is hurting people, and children, and babies, and animals and their great-great grandchildren’s environment!!! How blind can you be?? I mean really? The studies are inconclusive…Yeah right, that’s just another way of saying yeah this stuff is pretty much horrible and will probably kill lots of people but on my short time on this earth I just want to make lots of money, so if some people die in the process of me making bank, oh well, such is life. These people are psychopaths and sociopaths in disguise!! And they are practically running our country!!! AHHH!!
4. Also, that forty-page report put out by the EPA with the ridiculously long title (made that long and unnecessary to deter people from ever wanting to read it in the first place) is sheer crap! “It warns that there is an ‘irrational component’ to the public’s attitude toward sludge, including the widely-held notion that sludge smells bad: ‘It is difficult to say to what extent odors emanating from sludge may be imagined.” Who are they calling irrational?!?!?! My goodness. And I thought EPA stood for Environmental Protection Agency…Protection…Environmental PROtection…Agency… Just making that clear. But apparently the EPA likes to side with the people who have literally no sense of smell and thus cannot smell the ensuing death they are creating.
5. I also find it quite disturbing that Rick Jarman from the NFPA thinks that “consumers don’t need to know whether their food has been grown in sludge.” I beg to differ. What is this, poisoning the people, and then taking away their right to knowledge, to know where their food comes from? How demeaning can we be? It begs the question, if there is nothing wrong with the sludge than why is it such a big deal if people know where their food comes from (sludge field or not) ?
My Question is, why do these companies insist on continuing to destroy people and the environment? The people that work at these companies are people, individuals with what I hope are beating hearts. How can they justify these actions, and things that they are saying? I just don’t understand.
Chapter 9:
1. I find it so frustrating that companies can change their name or have a name that does not represent what the company actually does. For example, the Global Climate Coalition, which you would think would be all for helping the environment…Wrong…The Global Climate Coalition actually “opposes environmental action to prevent global warming.” Who knew? And apparently “in the perverse world of corporate public relations, propagandizing and lobbying against the environmental protection is called environmental, or green PR.” Now that just makes no sense whatsoever. Way to be blatantly sneaky. (side note, PR should stand for professional liar, not public relations…just saying.)
2. “Obviously business leaders are a minority whose opinions run contrary to the mainstream of American thought, but they are able to determine government policy thanks to carefully planned long term strategy.” This just does not seem right. Last I checked, it was majority rules, not minority who happens to have way more money than everybody else. This system is hugely flawed. It makes it so much easier for bad decisions to be made, because they profit the big guys up top more. A lot of things in this country seem to be set up that way. I’m starting to wonder if it was somehow created this way on purpose. The interconnectedness of all this corruption just seems way too commonplace to just be coincidence.
3. It’s also really disturbing to hear about the making of Earth Day a corporate commodity. Companies will stop at nothing to make a quick buck. To put it simply, its gross. And then on top of corporatizing the day designated to preserving the earth (even though you should do that every day) they let any old company be a part even if they are polluting the environment like there is no tomorrow. I’m not blaming the people at all, but its time the vast majority of us stop being such suckers for the words green and eco- whatever. We need to start seeing through the smoke and mirrors to what’s really going on behind the scenes. And we also need to stop letting companies stick their noses into every aspect of life. Earth day a corporate commodity, well apparently the fat lady has sung and pigs are flying because companies have corporatized saving the earth that they are simultaneously destroying. That’s talent…
4. And then the companies have the audacity to pin all the blame on the consumer, as if they had nothing to do with it, oh please. I agree that people can help solve the problem by changing their habits…But in no way it this entirely or mostly the consumers fault. The companies are the ones who are making the products and the pollution etc… etc… and the laundry list of offenses could continue for days. But how can they possibly make such an accusation. Okay, so say everybody changed their habits and started to save the world…Companies would go bananas, their profits would plummet and there would be a lot of business people running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to restore their beloved virtue of blind consumerism into the public eye. It would fare them much better if they changed their companies so people would appreciate the actual real environmental steps they are making (not just changing names) and people wouldn’t have to boycott them and send them down the tubes.
5. “We feel that whenever any environmental group tells lies that have an economic harm against anybody, that is a civil tort, and under US law they should be vigorously prosecuted in civil court.” Oh yeah, but when some company tells lies that have an environmental harm, they can’t do the same? Instead the companies will pull some strings, dish out a few bucks here and there and the prosecution will get nowhere. How do they not see the disconnect here? Do they think people are going to hear the things they are saying and nod their heads in newfound agreement?? Yeah, not so much. The whole system just baffles me.
My question is what will generations to come think of today’s situation? What will they think as they learn about all of this in history class? Will all of this be skewed in the textbooks by the company writing them? Will anything ever be truth if companies are allowed to just lie and lie and lie and suffer no serious repercussions? How will history judge us??
Group Blog Post 1:
Group Members: Torie Sanders
Concept: Our PSA will be centered around the idea of body image and the environment and how the two are inversely related. As people improve their body image through the use of cosmetics, the environment suffers due to all the plastics that end up in landfills and chemicals used to make the products. But the reality of it is that people are beautiful before cosmetics…and so is the environment.
Chapter 8:
1. The treatment of sewage works just like the GDP. “The more advanced the treatment of sewage (the more successful the separation), the more sludge will be produced, and the worse—the more unusable and dangerous—it will be. That is, the ‘better’ the treatment, the greater the range of incompatible materials that will have been concentrated in this highly entropic gray jelly.” It’s sort of the same with the GDP, the worse of an event that happens, the better our GDP does. The idea of progress and better are completely skewed.
2. The methods for getting rid of this toxic sludge include incineration, dumping into landfills, gasification, plant fertilizers, and ocean dumping. None of these ways are any better than the others; they are all horrible. But what amazes me is humans complete and utter disregard for all aspects of the planet. It’s bad enough that we are ruining the part of the planet that we inhabit, but then we have to go and ruin the ocean. I’m not saying that humans own the land, but the ocean is nowhere even close to being ours to ruin. We don’t live in the ocean, the effects of our actions really wont have any real dire impact on us for quite some time. It appalls and scares me to think that our beautiful oceans could become like the fake, toxic waves with the fake sand and fake wind of FEED. The ocean is one of the last untouched fronts on the planet, we should probably leave it that way. We’re like King Midas, except everything we touch turns to sludge, not gold.
3. Also, I love how everyone thinks that by changing an organizations name, they can some how change the chemical compounds of whatever they happen to be promoting or producing. No, juts by calling it biosolids, or humanure, or nutricake or whatever doesn’t mean its going to be any less toxic. You could call it happy rainbow juice, but it would still cause all sorts of diseases and congenital birth defects and all other problems. And then they say that they aren’t trying t hide anything… So why exactly are you changing the name? Oh right, to correct the misconceptions about toxic sludge, sorry biosolids. But let them answer this, have they actually gone and smelled it? If they did, I’m pretty sure there’d be no denying that it stuck to the high heavens. And they say that it’s safe and doesn’t hurt humans, well, I don’t see them having it pop up in their backyards like with the Love Canal incident and have no problem with it. I feel like I say this in almost every blog post but WHER ARE THESE PEOPLE’S MORAL COMPASSES?!?!?!?! This shit is hurting people, and children, and babies, and animals and their great-great grandchildren’s environment!!! How blind can you be?? I mean really? The studies are inconclusive…Yeah right, that’s just another way of saying yeah this stuff is pretty much horrible and will probably kill lots of people but on my short time on this earth I just want to make lots of money, so if some people die in the process of me making bank, oh well, such is life. These people are psychopaths and sociopaths in disguise!! And they are practically running our country!!! AHHH!!
4. Also, that forty-page report put out by the EPA with the ridiculously long title (made that long and unnecessary to deter people from ever wanting to read it in the first place) is sheer crap! “It warns that there is an ‘irrational component’ to the public’s attitude toward sludge, including the widely-held notion that sludge smells bad: ‘It is difficult to say to what extent odors emanating from sludge may be imagined.” Who are they calling irrational?!?!?! My goodness. And I thought EPA stood for Environmental Protection Agency…Protection…Environmental PROtection…Agency… Just making that clear. But apparently the EPA likes to side with the people who have literally no sense of smell and thus cannot smell the ensuing death they are creating.
5. I also find it quite disturbing that Rick Jarman from the NFPA thinks that “consumers don’t need to know whether their food has been grown in sludge.” I beg to differ. What is this, poisoning the people, and then taking away their right to knowledge, to know where their food comes from? How demeaning can we be? It begs the question, if there is nothing wrong with the sludge than why is it such a big deal if people know where their food comes from (sludge field or not) ?
My Question is, why do these companies insist on continuing to destroy people and the environment? The people that work at these companies are people, individuals with what I hope are beating hearts. How can they justify these actions, and things that they are saying? I just don’t understand.
Chapter 9:
1. I find it so frustrating that companies can change their name or have a name that does not represent what the company actually does. For example, the Global Climate Coalition, which you would think would be all for helping the environment…Wrong…The Global Climate Coalition actually “opposes environmental action to prevent global warming.” Who knew? And apparently “in the perverse world of corporate public relations, propagandizing and lobbying against the environmental protection is called environmental, or green PR.” Now that just makes no sense whatsoever. Way to be blatantly sneaky. (side note, PR should stand for professional liar, not public relations…just saying.)
2. “Obviously business leaders are a minority whose opinions run contrary to the mainstream of American thought, but they are able to determine government policy thanks to carefully planned long term strategy.” This just does not seem right. Last I checked, it was majority rules, not minority who happens to have way more money than everybody else. This system is hugely flawed. It makes it so much easier for bad decisions to be made, because they profit the big guys up top more. A lot of things in this country seem to be set up that way. I’m starting to wonder if it was somehow created this way on purpose. The interconnectedness of all this corruption just seems way too commonplace to just be coincidence.
3. It’s also really disturbing to hear about the making of Earth Day a corporate commodity. Companies will stop at nothing to make a quick buck. To put it simply, its gross. And then on top of corporatizing the day designated to preserving the earth (even though you should do that every day) they let any old company be a part even if they are polluting the environment like there is no tomorrow. I’m not blaming the people at all, but its time the vast majority of us stop being such suckers for the words green and eco- whatever. We need to start seeing through the smoke and mirrors to what’s really going on behind the scenes. And we also need to stop letting companies stick their noses into every aspect of life. Earth day a corporate commodity, well apparently the fat lady has sung and pigs are flying because companies have corporatized saving the earth that they are simultaneously destroying. That’s talent…
4. And then the companies have the audacity to pin all the blame on the consumer, as if they had nothing to do with it, oh please. I agree that people can help solve the problem by changing their habits…But in no way it this entirely or mostly the consumers fault. The companies are the ones who are making the products and the pollution etc… etc… and the laundry list of offenses could continue for days. But how can they possibly make such an accusation. Okay, so say everybody changed their habits and started to save the world…Companies would go bananas, their profits would plummet and there would be a lot of business people running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to restore their beloved virtue of blind consumerism into the public eye. It would fare them much better if they changed their companies so people would appreciate the actual real environmental steps they are making (not just changing names) and people wouldn’t have to boycott them and send them down the tubes.
5. “We feel that whenever any environmental group tells lies that have an economic harm against anybody, that is a civil tort, and under US law they should be vigorously prosecuted in civil court.” Oh yeah, but when some company tells lies that have an environmental harm, they can’t do the same? Instead the companies will pull some strings, dish out a few bucks here and there and the prosecution will get nowhere. How do they not see the disconnect here? Do they think people are going to hear the things they are saying and nod their heads in newfound agreement?? Yeah, not so much. The whole system just baffles me.
My question is what will generations to come think of today’s situation? What will they think as they learn about all of this in history class? Will all of this be skewed in the textbooks by the company writing them? Will anything ever be truth if companies are allowed to just lie and lie and lie and suffer no serious repercussions? How will history judge us??
Group Blog Post 1:
Group Members: Torie Sanders
Concept: Our PSA will be centered around the idea of body image and the environment and how the two are inversely related. As people improve their body image through the use of cosmetics, the environment suffers due to all the plastics that end up in landfills and chemicals used to make the products. But the reality of it is that people are beautiful before cosmetics…and so is the environment.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Dear Abercrombie and Fitch, you suck.. big time..... and response to the Corporation film
Dear Abercrombie and Fitch,
How is the company? We are relatively unacquainted as far as corporations and citizens go, so I will tell A&F that I am a college student at a University, and I would just like to point out some interesting things I have noticed. Abercrombie and Fitch may find them interesting as well.
To start, Abercrombie and Fitch is a clothing store, correct? So, why is it that when one walks into an Abercrombie store or views an advertisement for Abercrombie clothing, more often than not one sees what appears to be naked, in the process of becoming naked, or partially clothed people? Is there a reason the models don’t want to wear the clothing? Is it itchy or uncomfortable? Does it smell funny? It makes me think I shouldn’t want to wear the clothing either if the models can’t even stand it long enough to have a photo taken. I’ve never really understood the concept of advertising clothing with people who are clearly not wearing the clothing in the advertisement. Maybe Abercrombie and Fitch could clear up a little of this confusion for me.
To continue, I was also wondering why on the application to be an A&F model, there is a place to fill out your weight. I’m not sure if A&F is aware, but people carry their weight differently, and weight is not a correct measure of an adipose to muscle tissue ratio. If you received an application from someone who was a number of pounds over the companies weight range for models, but he/she appeared to be a healthy individual, would you turn them down? Last I checked, A&F had more than one size of clothing in the store available for purchase. It would be nice to see more than one size advertised, you know, when clothing is actually used in the advertisements to start with. I recently read a book called Culture Jam, and learned that “Nine out of ten North American women feel bad about some aspect of their bodies, and men are not far behind.” I feel as though this could be due to the advertisements such as the ones put out by A&F and other companies that only show one type of person (and unfortunately all the companies seem to have latched onto this same body type) as the beautiful and desirable body. Maybe its time to show people that there is more than one type of beautiful in the world, and A&F embraces all beauty. Vary it up, you know? Open your minds, see the beauty in every body, and show that in your advertisements, and stop asking for people’s weight in your application. It just sounds shallow.
While I’m on the topic of clothing models, I would also just like to point out the long standing complaint many people have with A&F regarding the lack of diversity present in every aspect of the store. Not only is there a lack of diversity among the models, but also among the clothing and the employees. I have noticed that pretty much all of the tee-shirts sold by A&F have a giant A&F logo on them, usually followed by some random sport or obscure year, or the words athletic department. What is so significant about the years on the shirts? And does A&F actually have an athletic department? It might be a good idea. A&F could start an athletic department, and have sports teams that actually back up the ones on the shirts. It would promote a healthier America as well as getting up and getting outside. Just a suggestion.
I have also heard incidences of A&F stores firing or not hiring various employees or applicants because they do not fit the A&F “look.” This is much less than satisfactory. I would have expected more from a store than advertises all around cool casual-ness. Just so all parties involved in this letter are aware; the word casual is defined as free and easy, natural, unplanned, and marked by blithe unconcern. Trying to stuff all employees into a mold that fits the “look” of A&F doesn’t seem, to me, to be following along with the casual outlook of the company. Seems to be a lot more stuck-up and pompous in a silver-spoon-up-the-ass kind of way. A better way to accomplish this would be to just accept everybody for who they are and not hire only those who fit the mold, or can be made to fit. I’m not quite sure I understand this obsession A&F has with fitting everything into a specific and previously defined band of human.
Also, I was just wondering why there was a need for clothing that promotes the objectification of women and drinking. I would not call myself a feminist, but I am definitely all for equality. I mean, if A&F is going to make shirts that objectify women, why not objectify men too? There is a shirt for guys in on the A&F website that has a picture of a women’s lower body wearing underwear that says “I love College.” I have some ideas on what this shirt is trying to say, but I was just wondering what A&F was thinking the message of this shirt was. Why can’t A&F have a female equivalent to the shirt with a picture of a guy’s lower half in boxer briefs with “I Love College” written on his butt. Last I checked, both guys and girls “Love College.” Correct me if I‘m wrong, but I believe A&F’s target consumer is between the ages of 18 and 22. So, why is it that you have shirts for both genders promoting drinking, when the majority of the target audience is below the legal drinking age? Just doesn’t seem quite right. Why not promote activities the target age group can actually legally engage in? Just seems more practical.
Lastly, I would like to congratulate Abercrombie and Fitch on its induction into the 2010 Sweatshop Hall of Fame by the International Labor Rights Forum. I would just like to make it publically known that I strongly disagree with A&F’s activities at the Alta Mode Factory in the Philippines. Is there a legitimate reason for putting 100 of the union members on forced leave, other than the fact that they were exercising their right to unionize? Also, it would prove to be much better, especially for the workers and their families if A&F did not switch its production around from factory to factory so much. Stop being so afraid of commitment ad form some relationships with your workers. Without them, A&F is really nothing more than a false sense of casual and a severely misplaced moose logo. I was also wondering what the production quota was for this factory is. Supposedly it is set beyond human capacity, but I really wanted to hear both sides of the story, so I figured I’d give A&F a chance to weigh in on the matter. Also mentioned in Culture Jam was this idea of corporations as legal people. Personally, I do not recognize corporations as people, but if A&F wants to be seen as a legal person, maybe it should find its moral compass, and realize the wrong its doing and has been doing in places like the Alta Mode Factory, and stop.
That’s all. I look forward to hearing back from Abercrombie and Fitch. And please be rest assured, if I do not receive a reply, A&F will be receiving this email for the next 70 some odd years until a legitimate response is received. Thanks so much for your time.
Sarah Schipelliti
The Corporation:
One thing that surprised me from the film was the ability to patent all non-human forms of life. This is insane. A one-man company now has the ability to own a form of life. Way to make corporations able to play God. Soon, everything from batteries to the idea of a human will be patented, and the only thing left to patent will be the actual human itself. What happens when a company patents a disease, and then you unfortunately get that disease? Are you going to have to pay the company that owns your disease? Because if by some horrible chance I get a disease that’s patented by a company, I am sure as hell not paying them a single penny. If anything, they should be responsible for it and have to pay my hospital bills. People cannot own life. The only life you own should be, well your own. In all honesty, I don’t even think house pets are really owned. Yeah, you are paying for their food and providing them with shelter, but if my dog ran away, that’s his choice. I’d be sad, and miss him. But I don’t own his life. Nobody should be able to own any other life than their own. That’s my take on the whole situation.
One thing that really agitated me from the film was Monsanto’s control over the story on Milk that was trying to be aired by Fox journalists. Monsanto got involved only to cover up the true detriment that milk, especially milk with RBGH in it (so Monsanto’s milk), can cause. If there was nothing wrong with RBGH, then they wouldn’t have stepped in. I can’t believe that only a 90 day study on 30 rats, with most likely misreported findings (thank you Monsanto) is being used to justify the use of RBGH in milk for humans of all ages for all lengths of time. And I can’t believe the Fox producer guy just folded right under pressure from Monsanto and agreed to do anything for Monsanto. What really got me was when he said that “…the news is what we say it it…” Wow, way to make me loose faith in all news. No, wrong, its not what you say it is. I don’t care what law says that falsifying news is not against the law. Its against every moral law. Get a back bone, stick up for what’s right. Just because it’s a law doesn’t mean you should do it. As a news station, they have a responsibility to report honest and upfront news to the population. And as a company that presides over essentially all the food for America, Monsanto has a responsibility not to kill its consumers with its chemicals and “food” and hormones. It really bothers me that Sodexho is run by Monsanto. I want nothing to do with this corrupt company.
On significant item of new learning I had from this film was learning about the appalling involvement of American companies in Nazi Gemrany during the war. One such involvement was the creation of Fanta Orange. Fanta Orange was created by Coke so it could still make profits in Nazi Germany during the war…while people died. An IBM system was used by the Nazis in every concentration camp and railroad system used to get prisoners to the camps. It was punch card system where the cards needed to be printed out. And to print the punch cards out,the Nazis used machines that were leased out to them by IBM. Then the machines needed on site maintance done once a month. So IBM can’t say they didn’t know…They did. They even collected profits from it after the war. Its just atrocious and appalling and if I had no respect for Coke before, I don’t know what you would call my lack of respect for them now. It’s a shame they have exclusive pouring rights at UVM. Boycotting beverages sold at UVM? I think so…
One question I had during the second half of the film was is there any way to get Monsanto and Coke off of the UVM campus or is that impossible in the eyes of the administration?
I found the second half of the second half of the film to be more hopeful than the first 3/4ths. Even though I found the majority of the film to be, not depressing, but frustrating (not the film itself but the content), I really liked it. It made me want to go out and fix things and “jam” the corporate world so to speak. Actually, after last class, before this assignment was posted, I sent a letter to American Eagle about their new advertisement that says “What hot people wear” and “Hot people wear shorts” and how dumb it was and how I disagreed, except with much more polite and eloquent language. I’m waiting to hear back. If not, they too will be receiving emails from me for an indefinite amount of time. But then this assignment was posted and I have to admit I was quite excited about the excuse to write to another company and give them a piece of my mind. But the video opened my eyes to quite a few things that I had never known or heard of before, and I’m glad it did. As a side note, I thought that was amazing when Michael Moore brought the smokers to sing Christmas carols to the cigarette company.
How is the company? We are relatively unacquainted as far as corporations and citizens go, so I will tell A&F that I am a college student at a University, and I would just like to point out some interesting things I have noticed. Abercrombie and Fitch may find them interesting as well.
To start, Abercrombie and Fitch is a clothing store, correct? So, why is it that when one walks into an Abercrombie store or views an advertisement for Abercrombie clothing, more often than not one sees what appears to be naked, in the process of becoming naked, or partially clothed people? Is there a reason the models don’t want to wear the clothing? Is it itchy or uncomfortable? Does it smell funny? It makes me think I shouldn’t want to wear the clothing either if the models can’t even stand it long enough to have a photo taken. I’ve never really understood the concept of advertising clothing with people who are clearly not wearing the clothing in the advertisement. Maybe Abercrombie and Fitch could clear up a little of this confusion for me.
To continue, I was also wondering why on the application to be an A&F model, there is a place to fill out your weight. I’m not sure if A&F is aware, but people carry their weight differently, and weight is not a correct measure of an adipose to muscle tissue ratio. If you received an application from someone who was a number of pounds over the companies weight range for models, but he/she appeared to be a healthy individual, would you turn them down? Last I checked, A&F had more than one size of clothing in the store available for purchase. It would be nice to see more than one size advertised, you know, when clothing is actually used in the advertisements to start with. I recently read a book called Culture Jam, and learned that “Nine out of ten North American women feel bad about some aspect of their bodies, and men are not far behind.” I feel as though this could be due to the advertisements such as the ones put out by A&F and other companies that only show one type of person (and unfortunately all the companies seem to have latched onto this same body type) as the beautiful and desirable body. Maybe its time to show people that there is more than one type of beautiful in the world, and A&F embraces all beauty. Vary it up, you know? Open your minds, see the beauty in every body, and show that in your advertisements, and stop asking for people’s weight in your application. It just sounds shallow.
While I’m on the topic of clothing models, I would also just like to point out the long standing complaint many people have with A&F regarding the lack of diversity present in every aspect of the store. Not only is there a lack of diversity among the models, but also among the clothing and the employees. I have noticed that pretty much all of the tee-shirts sold by A&F have a giant A&F logo on them, usually followed by some random sport or obscure year, or the words athletic department. What is so significant about the years on the shirts? And does A&F actually have an athletic department? It might be a good idea. A&F could start an athletic department, and have sports teams that actually back up the ones on the shirts. It would promote a healthier America as well as getting up and getting outside. Just a suggestion.
I have also heard incidences of A&F stores firing or not hiring various employees or applicants because they do not fit the A&F “look.” This is much less than satisfactory. I would have expected more from a store than advertises all around cool casual-ness. Just so all parties involved in this letter are aware; the word casual is defined as free and easy, natural, unplanned, and marked by blithe unconcern. Trying to stuff all employees into a mold that fits the “look” of A&F doesn’t seem, to me, to be following along with the casual outlook of the company. Seems to be a lot more stuck-up and pompous in a silver-spoon-up-the-ass kind of way. A better way to accomplish this would be to just accept everybody for who they are and not hire only those who fit the mold, or can be made to fit. I’m not quite sure I understand this obsession A&F has with fitting everything into a specific and previously defined band of human.
Also, I was just wondering why there was a need for clothing that promotes the objectification of women and drinking. I would not call myself a feminist, but I am definitely all for equality. I mean, if A&F is going to make shirts that objectify women, why not objectify men too? There is a shirt for guys in on the A&F website that has a picture of a women’s lower body wearing underwear that says “I love College.” I have some ideas on what this shirt is trying to say, but I was just wondering what A&F was thinking the message of this shirt was. Why can’t A&F have a female equivalent to the shirt with a picture of a guy’s lower half in boxer briefs with “I Love College” written on his butt. Last I checked, both guys and girls “Love College.” Correct me if I‘m wrong, but I believe A&F’s target consumer is between the ages of 18 and 22. So, why is it that you have shirts for both genders promoting drinking, when the majority of the target audience is below the legal drinking age? Just doesn’t seem quite right. Why not promote activities the target age group can actually legally engage in? Just seems more practical.
Lastly, I would like to congratulate Abercrombie and Fitch on its induction into the 2010 Sweatshop Hall of Fame by the International Labor Rights Forum. I would just like to make it publically known that I strongly disagree with A&F’s activities at the Alta Mode Factory in the Philippines. Is there a legitimate reason for putting 100 of the union members on forced leave, other than the fact that they were exercising their right to unionize? Also, it would prove to be much better, especially for the workers and their families if A&F did not switch its production around from factory to factory so much. Stop being so afraid of commitment ad form some relationships with your workers. Without them, A&F is really nothing more than a false sense of casual and a severely misplaced moose logo. I was also wondering what the production quota was for this factory is. Supposedly it is set beyond human capacity, but I really wanted to hear both sides of the story, so I figured I’d give A&F a chance to weigh in on the matter. Also mentioned in Culture Jam was this idea of corporations as legal people. Personally, I do not recognize corporations as people, but if A&F wants to be seen as a legal person, maybe it should find its moral compass, and realize the wrong its doing and has been doing in places like the Alta Mode Factory, and stop.
That’s all. I look forward to hearing back from Abercrombie and Fitch. And please be rest assured, if I do not receive a reply, A&F will be receiving this email for the next 70 some odd years until a legitimate response is received. Thanks so much for your time.
Sarah Schipelliti
The Corporation:
One thing that surprised me from the film was the ability to patent all non-human forms of life. This is insane. A one-man company now has the ability to own a form of life. Way to make corporations able to play God. Soon, everything from batteries to the idea of a human will be patented, and the only thing left to patent will be the actual human itself. What happens when a company patents a disease, and then you unfortunately get that disease? Are you going to have to pay the company that owns your disease? Because if by some horrible chance I get a disease that’s patented by a company, I am sure as hell not paying them a single penny. If anything, they should be responsible for it and have to pay my hospital bills. People cannot own life. The only life you own should be, well your own. In all honesty, I don’t even think house pets are really owned. Yeah, you are paying for their food and providing them with shelter, but if my dog ran away, that’s his choice. I’d be sad, and miss him. But I don’t own his life. Nobody should be able to own any other life than their own. That’s my take on the whole situation.
One thing that really agitated me from the film was Monsanto’s control over the story on Milk that was trying to be aired by Fox journalists. Monsanto got involved only to cover up the true detriment that milk, especially milk with RBGH in it (so Monsanto’s milk), can cause. If there was nothing wrong with RBGH, then they wouldn’t have stepped in. I can’t believe that only a 90 day study on 30 rats, with most likely misreported findings (thank you Monsanto) is being used to justify the use of RBGH in milk for humans of all ages for all lengths of time. And I can’t believe the Fox producer guy just folded right under pressure from Monsanto and agreed to do anything for Monsanto. What really got me was when he said that “…the news is what we say it it…” Wow, way to make me loose faith in all news. No, wrong, its not what you say it is. I don’t care what law says that falsifying news is not against the law. Its against every moral law. Get a back bone, stick up for what’s right. Just because it’s a law doesn’t mean you should do it. As a news station, they have a responsibility to report honest and upfront news to the population. And as a company that presides over essentially all the food for America, Monsanto has a responsibility not to kill its consumers with its chemicals and “food” and hormones. It really bothers me that Sodexho is run by Monsanto. I want nothing to do with this corrupt company.
On significant item of new learning I had from this film was learning about the appalling involvement of American companies in Nazi Gemrany during the war. One such involvement was the creation of Fanta Orange. Fanta Orange was created by Coke so it could still make profits in Nazi Germany during the war…while people died. An IBM system was used by the Nazis in every concentration camp and railroad system used to get prisoners to the camps. It was punch card system where the cards needed to be printed out. And to print the punch cards out,the Nazis used machines that were leased out to them by IBM. Then the machines needed on site maintance done once a month. So IBM can’t say they didn’t know…They did. They even collected profits from it after the war. Its just atrocious and appalling and if I had no respect for Coke before, I don’t know what you would call my lack of respect for them now. It’s a shame they have exclusive pouring rights at UVM. Boycotting beverages sold at UVM? I think so…
One question I had during the second half of the film was is there any way to get Monsanto and Coke off of the UVM campus or is that impossible in the eyes of the administration?
I found the second half of the second half of the film to be more hopeful than the first 3/4ths. Even though I found the majority of the film to be, not depressing, but frustrating (not the film itself but the content), I really liked it. It made me want to go out and fix things and “jam” the corporate world so to speak. Actually, after last class, before this assignment was posted, I sent a letter to American Eagle about their new advertisement that says “What hot people wear” and “Hot people wear shorts” and how dumb it was and how I disagreed, except with much more polite and eloquent language. I’m waiting to hear back. If not, they too will be receiving emails from me for an indefinite amount of time. But then this assignment was posted and I have to admit I was quite excited about the excuse to write to another company and give them a piece of my mind. But the video opened my eyes to quite a few things that I had never known or heard of before, and I’m glad it did. As a side note, I thought that was amazing when Michael Moore brought the smokers to sing Christmas carols to the cigarette company.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Interesting...
article on facebook and privacy...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/technology/17privacy.html?src=me&ref=technology
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/technology/17privacy.html?src=me&ref=technology
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