TWO FROM ZNET

First, another essay on the do-nothing Democrats:

Democrats Do It Again and Again

Once again the Democratic Party has demonstrated how out of touch it is with the U.S. American people. Polls have shown that about 2/3 are against what the Republican-led Congress did by attempting to intervene in the Terry Schiavo case. If the Democrats were in touch with those they claim to be representing, and if they were willing to speak up clearly in support of their views, this latest example of despicable Republican opportunism could be backfiring on them the same way Bush's sputtering Social Security privatization campaign is.

And how about all those House Democrats who voted for the$81 billion to continue the Iraq war, not even attempting to put any conditions on it? Back in October of 2002, because of a massive, grassroots pressure campaign, 135 of them voted no to the war authorization vote. 2 ½ years and tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths later, only 43 voted against another huge check for war and occupation.

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Now...would someone again tell me why I'm stupid to support the Green Party? I mean, I admit that they currently have no real political power, but...man, the Democrats do have political power, but don't seem to do anything with it. Really, if voting Green is throwing away your vote, I just don't see how it's any different voting Democrat.

Next, an essay on the poisonous effects of advertising:

The Dangerous Spread of Commercialized Culture

Perhaps most alarming has been the epidemic of marketing-related diseases afflicting people in the United States, and especially children, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and smoking-related illnesses. Each day, about 2,000 U.S. children begin to smoke, and about one-third of them will die from tobacco-related illnesses. Children are inundated with advertising for high calorie junk food and fast food, and, predictably, 15 percent of U.S. children aged 6 to 19 are now overweight.

Excessive commercialism is also creating a more materialistic populace. In 2003, the annual UCLA survey of incoming college freshmen found that the number of students who said it was a very important or essential life goal to 'develop a meaningful philosophy of life' fell to an all-time low of 39 percent, while succeeding financially has increased to a 13- year high, at 74 percent. High involvement in consumer culture has been show (by Schor) to be a significant cause of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and psychosomatic complaints in children, findings which parallel similar studies of materialism among teens and adults. Other impacts are more intangible.

And

Finally, advertising has also contributed to a narrowing of the public discourse, as advertising-driven media grow ever more timid. Sometimes it seems as if we live in an echo chamber, a place where corporations speak and everyone else listens.

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So many people simply ignore advertising that it's easy for them to think that they are immune to its effects. Of course, that's crazy because advertising is propaganda, plain and simple, in support of a very specific philosophy of life: happiness and satisfaction can be found through acquisition of wealth and accumulation of things. Commercial culture is all the more insidious because most people tend to believe that they adhere to some other philosophy of life, pursuit of happiness, being "born again," whatever. Meanwhile, they buy like zombies, receiving a mild rush of euphoria with each new and cool product, and then that rush is gone, leaving them to repeat the process for the rest of their lives. Face it, that's what the shopping mall is all about; that's what trips to Wal-Mart are all about. It's really an awful way to live life, but that's how most Americans do it.

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