That is my inspiration for this note, I always shake my head in disbelief when people are eating Debonairs and actually believe its the best pizza there is...sh!t doesn't even taste like pizza..reaally..but its been branded and marketed as the next best thing and we simply feed into it..real southern fried chicken beats the commercial alternative KFC any day..BUT we line up for an hour just to get that wise 2...
For years now it has been nearly impossible to control industrial pollution on many levels, noise pollution, air pollution,water pollution, etc.. all have been justified by the end product and economic gains, so we chose to be ignorant. In came commercialism,as I have heard before that small amounts of waste can be absorbed and recycled naturally by nature, so can small amounts of commercialism.. but today that is not the case. We are polluted by excessive amounts of commercialism that have turned what was once "human" beings, "neighbours" "family" etc. into simple consumers whose lives are events dictated by the media
Our mere existence is turned into an event, our culture is distorted to a point were everything is an event, a reason to consume... we celebrate Christmas as a red fat dude who gives presents...you must now fork out a truckload of cash just for the family to enjoy the"event". what happened to the death of Christ?
We buy insurance for everything...yes even things you damn right know nothing will happen, we have insurance for that.. why cos they tell us "IT MIGHT HAPPEN"
You got that comedian guy Dube selling you "hospital cover" from clientele life ON TOP of your existing medical aid cover..and yes I bet most of yall fell for it cos he "justifies" it quite well.
All this commercialism is perpetuating stereotypes of our people and rather than move away from such blatant forms of slavery we gravitate towards it like a herd of antelopes leaping into a lake full of crocodiles.. All of a Sunday the new "elite" black is called a black diamond and ALREADY a criteria of goods and services have been selected for him/her, you know the hennesy drinker, the BMW driver, the polo shirt and armani suit wearer etc. oh I know a bunch of them..living above affordability standards, deep in debt.
There is a saying
"You work in a job you hate, to buy stuff that you don't need, to impress people that you don't like."
Unfortunately we are sucked into this like moths to a flame and never sit back for a second to actually discover what we really need.. Often people think I'm weird or "bourgeois" in the South African context adopting idle customs of the "newly rich". this unfortunately arises from the distorted imposed commercial class that we must all fit into this or that...
I question it all.. what if people had a choice to make up their own minds about everything? Would we listen to the same music? would we eat the same food? conform to the same standards that increasingly make the corporate filthy rich while polluting the environment and leaving the poor poorer?
Would we wear the same clothes? Would brands be of such significance?
You probably know more brands than you do the the veges and weeds growing in your backyard.. what happened to the power of choice? the only true power we have as human beings is the power to choose, but it seems that has been stripped from us as well.. Half of what we think is...really isn't. We are gladly living in a society here our culture has become one sided,where intercultural understanding and cooperation cannot flourish.. and we consume what we are fed instead of listening to US..
what would we really choose if all this miseducation was erased from our heads and we had a choice of starting afresh?
For one I think most pop music sucks period.
Debonairs is not pizza
Cadbury chocolate is not chocolate
I pay over 2grand a month for medical cover I have only used for my flu
The Value of a person is not defined by how much money and material things they have.
OMO,SURF,SUNLIGHT..all the same thing..you lying if you can "see" the difference in you washing
Colgate,Aquafresh..same thing and NO it cannot whiten your teeth..lies..
Yes breakfast is the most important meal,cos you are breaking a fast from sleep and none activity, but 3 meals a day at those prescribed times?? who came up with that?
Formal education is great but overrated
NO you dont "NEED" a plasma
Who really came up with the dumb notion that we all have to own a car? (you should see the traffic in Lesotho with the influx of imports,are they really getting anywhere faster?)
YES the finer things in life come with the actualization of self to a higher being or level and we must always strive for the best in everything, so brotherman a bottle of expensive whiskey with coca cola? you are just a consumer boss..and dont defend mediocrity with saying "its my choice"
70% of all the herbs you buy are free in the streets..but you dont know that cos you trust your "Robertsons" so much and the adverts NEVER say..by the way thyme,mint,rosemary are WIDELY freely available if you DONT want to buyour "processed" "packaged" alternative!
NO you are in no way better in you pringle shirt than us "markhams and jet" shirt wearing brothers
YES Commercialism has clear parallels with industrial pollution..think about it..
The more consumerism spreads, the weaker is the incentive to manufacture long-lasting, quality products, and the greater the likelihood that cheaply made products will instead be imported from the lowest-wage, environmentally unregulated overseas manufacturer that mobile capital, ever seeking the highest return, can find. (Remember your parents old HI FI? its still working...20something odd years after your conception and you have changed your stereo several times, your cellphone is probably new...aint it)
NO you are not a black diamond, you are still Thabo or Lerato or Mandla or whoever
There is no BEE.. There are people smart enough to outsmart the rest of us and muddle it all in politics so they can swindle as much of our tax money as possible
THERE ARE NO SOCIALIST MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA.if there are what are their leaders driving?
NO you wont "DIE" without your favorite accessory..be it a cellphone or gucci bag.
How many sources of natural spring water are there? where were they all this time when all of a Sunday every bottled water is "BOTTLED AT SOURCE" b!tch please thats purified tap water
Ricoffy,frisco etc. are not coffee
After all is said and done, Ill probably go home in my brand car,buy brand beer,avoid spilling on my brand shirt and watch my brand "plasma" tv and think what sick sick world we live in...
Lawrence.. aka LAW (a brand name LOL)
