Something we all agree on...
Y'know, it's a bit presumptuous when commercials and PSAs say "[insert issue] is something we all agree on." Dreadful grammar aside (sentence ending in preposition), who says we all agree on anything?
Case in point:
"Supporting our troops is something we all agree on."
A nice positive sentiment and for the most part true, but still, it's a bit of a sweep isn't it? Personally, I'd say I support almost all of the troops. The guys from poor families who had no other options but to join? Absolutely. The patriots who consider war a last resort but feel that it is a necessity in this case (arguable, but I wouldn't question their integrity)? Sure. The soldiers who are under the naive impression that they're defending freedom, and have yet to realize that they are actually defending the wealth, power and unenlightening self interests of the Neo-Cons? Yes, even them. The gung-ho guys who have wanted to be soldiers since they were kids for no other reason than being able to shoot people (You remember these assholes from high school, doncha?), and who let out an involuntary "Woo hoo" at the thought of killin' some'a them raghead sand niggers? Nah, I don't support those guys. In fact, take the kevlar off those those guys and give it to somebody else who isn't a complete prick.
Now I realize that most of the time there is no malign intent when an ad makes the assumption that we all agree on something. For example, the troop support thing I heard on an ad for the USO, a good organization that performs an important service. It is however a dangerous territory of thought. Despite the dystopian reality of the USA right now (and really throughout its history--slavery, Indian killing, oppression of women, consumerism, Dollywood), I really do appreciate what the US stands for on paper. William Burroughs called America "The last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams" and I agree. You could say with American ideals, I love the album cover, even though the music kinda sucks. One of the great ideals that this country was supposedly based on is dissent. The idea that we don't all have to, nor should we all, agree. We are strong because we have a variety of opinions. Or, more to the point, we SHOULD BE strong because we SHOULD have a variety of opinions. Don't get me wrong. There are far worse things than assuming we all agree, but I bring up the issue because I've never heard it discussed before. I'm admittedly splitting a semantic hair, but I think it should be split at least once. We don't all agree on anything and that's one of the last great things about this fading republic.
Case in point:
"Supporting our troops is something we all agree on."
A nice positive sentiment and for the most part true, but still, it's a bit of a sweep isn't it? Personally, I'd say I support almost all of the troops. The guys from poor families who had no other options but to join? Absolutely. The patriots who consider war a last resort but feel that it is a necessity in this case (arguable, but I wouldn't question their integrity)? Sure. The soldiers who are under the naive impression that they're defending freedom, and have yet to realize that they are actually defending the wealth, power and unenlightening self interests of the Neo-Cons? Yes, even them. The gung-ho guys who have wanted to be soldiers since they were kids for no other reason than being able to shoot people (You remember these assholes from high school, doncha?), and who let out an involuntary "Woo hoo" at the thought of killin' some'a them raghead sand niggers? Nah, I don't support those guys. In fact, take the kevlar off those those guys and give it to somebody else who isn't a complete prick.
Now I realize that most of the time there is no malign intent when an ad makes the assumption that we all agree on something. For example, the troop support thing I heard on an ad for the USO, a good organization that performs an important service. It is however a dangerous territory of thought. Despite the dystopian reality of the USA right now (and really throughout its history--slavery, Indian killing, oppression of women, consumerism, Dollywood), I really do appreciate what the US stands for on paper. William Burroughs called America "The last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams" and I agree. You could say with American ideals, I love the album cover, even though the music kinda sucks. One of the great ideals that this country was supposedly based on is dissent. The idea that we don't all have to, nor should we all, agree. We are strong because we have a variety of opinions. Or, more to the point, we SHOULD BE strong because we SHOULD have a variety of opinions. Don't get me wrong. There are far worse things than assuming we all agree, but I bring up the issue because I've never heard it discussed before. I'm admittedly splitting a semantic hair, but I think it should be split at least once. We don't all agree on anything and that's one of the last great things about this fading republic.
posted by John McKenna at 1:26 PM
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