Ahsen Jillani
Admit it, you thought of John Lennon when you saw the headline. The hijacking of language by corporate entities is a routine part of our existence now. If I was tasked with coming up with a slogan, or designing a logo, I would have to do extensive research into how strings of words have been reserved and permanently taken out of circulation with a TM, SM, Copyright, or patent pending, or some other legal threat from those who have the power to crush us with lawyers in silk suits. I remember reading that a few years before his death, pop icon Michael Jackson successfully sued an older middle class guy named Michael Jackson. Suddenly, website names, social media profiles, your business name will have to be surrendered because the other side is simply more powerful. Are we masters, slaves, or equal partners in this relationship with the corporate world?
We are sadly in a world that is increasingly being controlled and dominated by very large entities with ferocious legal and psychological firepower. Whenever I argue that point, people tell me I have free will not to partake in the global domination of our minds and stomachs by the Fortune 500. Corporations that are iconic and time tested are a source of comfort for us. It is always great to see a McDonald’s at a distance in a Third World country. You know you will get consistent and safe food, air conditioning, quality service, and of course, a connection to the artery of global consumerism. Beyond that, however, one has to think carefully about how much love corporate entities have for us.
I imagine Fortune 500 bosses waking up and worrying about the state of humanity and coming in to work with some directive: “We are going to dig wells, and put in sewage systems, and prevent millions of deaths.” Well, there are problems with the idea. There are shareholders who have invested their money to sell more fatty burgers, more sugar syrup, more pesticide, more medicine, and whatever else companies market to us daily. There are also competitors willing to one up you if you dare to change your formula. As a result, we continue the fast, and frequently unhealthy journey, of obscene consumption.
While I read recently that some suicidal food company warned its customers to only eat their fatty food occasionally, that will never catch on outside of select communities where hippies are still smelling sunflowers. We will never see “Eat Responsibly” labels on Big Macs, not that even those kinds of warnings have had any impact on alcohol and tobacco consumption. The prevalent economic model seems to be frightfully simple: sell sell sell-buy buy buy. So my doctor has been after me for two years about getting on medications, first for cholesterol, and then high blood pressure. I keep asking him, “For how long?” and the answer is always, “Forever.” In the drug industry, development of new antibiotics has slowed to a near halt because there is hardly any money in cures. PPI heartburn drugs, some of the best sellers on the planet, are increasingly coming under attack because of risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, calcium and magnesium depletion and a host of other problems. The industry says they should be used for 14 days only. Everybody concerned knows that most people never quit once they start.
So it is with fertilizers and GMO seeds that make you the envy of your fellow farmers but also deplete the soil and make you a lifetime slave to the company that puts a self-destruct mechanism in the seed. There are recommendations on how much pesticide to put on your crops, but both the farmer and the manufacturer seem to agree that more is better for sales and insect control. So we are rolling along feeling like the hearts of all these companies swell with love and pride every time we pull out our wallets.
And what happens if you fall off the consumerism grid? Well, I am off the grid. After thinking for years about how nobody really cared about my well-being but me, I turned off the TV a year ago and have not touched the remote since. Besides losing 20 pounds because I’m not eating junk food in front of the adrenaline pumping reality shows and idiotic pundits discussing useless garbage, my blood pressure is down and I have more quiet time with the family without the “white noise” of howling media outlets. The biggest benefit, however, has been that unseen force that destroys our health and controls our lifestyle—advertising. Once those chains were unshackled, I never looked back. I really don’t know what Beyoncé, George Clooney, or the Kardashians are wearing this week (and don’t care), but I also don’t have any compulsion to purchase bad food, useless medicines, newer cars, or more fake jewelry from QVC.
Economists, however, don’t like thrifty consumers who tuck money away under mattresses or even in savings accounts. Truth is, they want you to spend. I’m told that has to do with the “velocity” of money. You buy tomatoes for a dollar. The vegetable vendor takes your dollar and goes to the baker and buys bread. The baker buys potatoes for dinner with that same dollar. The potato farmer buys a cup of coffee with the same dollar. The one dollar is working very hard. So when these $100 tax cuts come from the Feds, they are meant to stimulate a lot more than a single purchase at one store. It is supposed to generate business and jobs multiple times. After 9/11, the government said to be vigilant, but to “Go Shopping.” Shopping runs America.
So, here I am, off the grid but realizing that if enough people got cynical and paranoid and distrustful, it may have a global impact. The fast food industry is trying to sell me two deadly burgers a day, the doctor is trying to sell me two lifetime pills (also potentially deadly) a day, and the car dealerships are trying to get me to trade in my 19-year-old Volvo for a new Dodge Challenger. In the end, however, this is all a business relationship. I imagine life without corporate, governmental or peer pressure. I think I’ll still eat an occasional burger, or need an occasional pill, but the rest of my money can be used for that yoga class I need to relax. Now if only I don’t collapse the global economy while sitting in my backyard doing nothing….
Ahsen Jillani lives in Mint Hill and has boycotted television.
Posted: Wednesday, June 1, 2016
