in8notes

In response to Johns post about FotF's video about tossing out magazines which don't say Merry Christmas.

The piece has a simple message: Christmas is important to me as a holy day, and if you want to market to me effectively - respect that fact. If you don't, I won't buy from you. I can't think of a more American way to protest. I can't see how this is "culture war" or an "attempt to drive a wedge into this country" - that's just crazy talk, and frankly really good fodder for your opponents it makes you seem incredibly biased. I think this message will resonate with a lot of FotF people who are stuck in terrible economic times, and maybe for the first time in their lives will not be able to afford all the crap they usually buy as gifts for their family. Methinks a lot of people will be re-examining what their holidays really mean this year.

Companies "being nice" and "not excluding" people!? Nice as fantasy perhaps, but it's just a marketing strategy. They want to sell to everyone, and it's much cheaper to just print some non-specific greeting than it is to get stuck with too many Christian or Jewish cards after the season ends. They can send the magazines out to everyone and not worry about what faith they are. Corporate America has usurped nearly all religious holidays (not just Christmas) and twisted them into shallow excuses to profit. The fact that companies are involved so overtly in a religious holiday at all is disturbing. As we see the US become more and more of a corporate state, perhaps we should begin to argue for the separation of that state sponsored corporatism from the church according to the First Amendment?

Many people don't realize that this is exactly the same type of thing that pissed off enough folks in the Middle East to blow themselves up. American companies have for many years acted as a surrogate invading force spreading consumer culture which many folks in the Middle East see as destroying or diluting their culture. I realize the US isn't the first Empire with a history of wiping out indigenous cultures and assimilating them of course, but just think what you're doing here: you all are defending our "good" corporations and denouncing religious folk who feel their holiday is being diluted through corporatism. Why not also defend Haliburton's "good" intentions to rebuild Iraq? Or Blackwater's "good" intentions to impose order out of chaos? Corporations aren't "good" or "bad", they are purely profit driven. Good and Evil are moral constructs usually defined by religion or philosophy.

...and the fact that the Catholics had to shift the date of the holy birth a bit to coincide with ancient Indo-European celebratory dates as they converted folk 2000 years ago doesn't really have anything to do with this guy's message. Rome and the Catholics (who are really just all thats left of Rome) have effectively erased those older culture.

Last saved: 09/20/2009
Links: /journal / xmas-corp.txt

Role of the bard and war images

Having someone document what happens in war is an old tradition which harkens back to the age of the Bards in Gaelic and British culture. Bards were poets and musicians who would travel with an army to record the great deeds of their patron. A Bard was untouchable in war - and they didn't carry weapons only musical instruments. However, with that... Read More great honor came great responsibility. The satirical words of the Bard could ruin a monarch, just as the praise of one could make him more powerful. The role of the bard is partially fulfilled today by reporters (embedded or not), however with this great power (of words and images) comes great responsibility. It is unfortunate that reporters today do not have the same stature in modern society as the Bards did in ancient society, and it is because of this that they function much more like pimps and paparazzi than Bards.

The question about what images are acceptable to publish and when to do so is not a new debate. Have you ever read about Mathew Brady? He was one of several photographers who documented the Civil War. His very graphic images of 'The Dead of Antietam' were first displayed in 1862 (while the war was still raging) at his NY studio and it caused a big sensation at the time. War weary Americans soon tired of seeing these kinds of graphic images and Brady, having risked his fortune on the enterprise died penniless. His images remain an important historical archive of that war.

Last saved: 09/20/2009
Links: /history / bards-photos.txt