I'm talking about the fact that it now costs two cents to make a penny.
Time Magazine had an article about this in one of its recent issues. The article itself is not what I'm complaining about though... in fact, I thought it was well written and did a nice job of staying in the middle of this issue, despite the obvious stupidity. I, however, will not be doing that.
The fact that it costs two cents to create one penny, and the fact that our country still continues to churn out those pennies, is absolutely absurd. We should all be ashamed of ourselves for allowing this to happen. It's embarrassing, it's shameful, and it needs to stop. But it won't. Why? Because, as this article so eloquently points out, the factory that produces the bulk of these pennies employs some 200 people. So in order to help them keep their jobs, we as a country are now willing to spend twice as much money to produce something that usually winds up thrown in a tip jar or on the street anyway.
Really, this just introduces us to the biggest problem we have in this country. WE ARE LAZY. Whether it's outdated, outpaced employees, or unions, or situations like this stupid penny thing... we have reached a point in this country where we will actually stop progress in order to help people keep their jobs and maintain the status quo.
Do you want to know the real reason why this country was so powerful during World War 2? Why for decades we raced ahead of the rest of the world, and why suddenly we have stagnated? Why we're now being beaten by countries that couldn't hold a candle to us in the past? This is why. It's because we will tell the 200 people at this penny factory "hey, it's okay, you shouldn't have to train for another job or try to figure something else out, we'll all just spend a bunch of our own money to keep you employed and happy." Preposterous!
I work in a dying industry. No matter what people say, television is going the way of the newspaper. Fortunately we have the benefit of time... the current television model still has some years left in it. For now. But working in this industry has given me a unique perspective on this very same situation. I've worked at union stations, I've worked at stations where I was seen as a threat, I've worked in just about every scenario possible. And while just about all of the people I've worked with have been hard working, kind, helpful, wonderful people... there have been a few that illustrate my point perfectly. These are the people who refuse to learn a new product because "they're used to the old way," or the people who won't accept that we've moved on to a new medium, or the people who think that because I know how to code a basic website and edit a promo, I'm the "end of promotions as we know it."
You almost can't blame these people. Eventually, we all become outpaced and obsolete. That is the nature of capitalism. It's what keeps us going as a country. You work as hard as you can, make and save as much as you can, and then one day you are replaced and you hope that you've done well enough for yourself that you can retire with some dignity. I'm fully prepared for this to happen to me one day. Now granted, it is becoming more and more difficult to retire with said dignity, but if we're going to stick with capitalism in this country, that model must stay in place.
So like I said I don't blame these people so much as I blame our government. By continuing to produce pennies, our government is sending a message to all of us. "Don't worry about keeping up with the times, don't worry about continuing to work hard to better yourselves and others, don't worry about any of that! We will continue to pay you, even when it becomes an absolutely terrible business deal for us!" This is a horrible message, and it's one I think we can all agree that we cannot afford to make right now. The correct message to these people should be "hey guys, look... it just doesn't make sense for us to continue buying pennies from you. It's become too expensive. So we're going to drop the penny, but hey, you guys can press metal, why not look in these other fields and see if there's anything available?"
If you want to know why there aren't solar panels on top of every building... if you want to know why we're all still driving gas-guzzling cars instead of hydrogen or at least hybrid vehicles... if you want to know why computers only get better incrementally instead of racing toward perfection... if you want to know why a dude can walk into a Target and buy a flat-screen TV with cash, while during the same purchase buy food with food stamps... this is why.
And it needs to stop.
Attack Of The Drones
I have to say, I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't know this was going on... but are you aware that our government is using attack drones to kill Americans? That's right, we've reached the point now where you could be going out to check the mail, hear a weird sound, and then suddenly have a missile hit you right smack in the face.
But that would never happen. ...Right?
I've been reading up on this quite a bit, and what I gather is that it's now okay for the government to use drones to carry out attacks on Americans who have "known ties to terrorists." So an American citizen can now be executed without a warrant, without a trial, without any due process... and that's okay. Something just seems off about that, but I can't quite put my finger on... oh yeah IT'S THE CONSTITUTION.
Now a lot of people I know are blaming Obama for this. Even the media reports are saying that he is the one who authorized this. But if you think about it, Obama really isn't to blame. This door was opened in the days following 9/11 by none other than George W. Bush. When that guy signed The Patriot Act, it opened a lot of doors to these kinds of things. It's just now we're starting to see the real impact of that decision. And honestly, you can't even blame Bush.
WE are the ones who are to blame. We allowed this to happen. We stood in the ashes of 9/11 and cheered when Bush announced the Patriot Act. We were more than happy to know that drones were carrying out surveillance missions and even attacks on terrorists in other countries (and we tended to ignore all the civilian casualties that came with those missions). Further, we continue to allow our country as well as private companies to spy on us, day in and day out. Ever wonder why the pop-up ads and the right column of your facebook news feed seems like it's catered to exactly what you want? It's because they are all watching your every move. Every single thing you do now is tracked, cataloged, and used for these purposes (as well as some purposes that are less savory).
In some ways this is a good thing. If you're going to hit me with pop-up ads, it might as well be for shit that I want. But it opens a door for a lot of more dangerous possibilities, and I'm just as guilty as all of you for letting it happen. The real question is, how do you fight it? How do you say "no I'm not okay with this" and not get busted yourself in the process?
The reality is, since 9/11 we as a country have been paralyzed by fear. Our leaders continue to set more invasive and dangerous precedents, all in the name of "protecting us," though down the road I think we may all look back and call bullshit. And we buy into this fear by listening to the hype, listening to the talking heads on the TV (Charlie Rose said on 60-minutes tonight that the terrorists in Algeria were Al Qaeda, when I think it has been more than widely questioned if they were actually associated with Al Quaeda at all, and not just using that name as a branding mechanism), and flat-out refusing to do any research or learn anything on our own. God forbid... you might miss your Honey Boo Boo marathon! Ain't nobody got time for dat!
It's time to wake up people. I'm not saying there's anything you can do about it... but you can at least realize that these are the days. These are the days that we as a culture will look back on and say "yep, yep, that's when we lost control and that's when everything started changing." Blame Obama if you want. Blame the CIA. Blame yourselves. I don't care... we're all buying into it, and we're all allowing it to happen. And if it doesn't stop soon, I seriously believe we will all come to regret it.
The Road
From Netflix: Set in a postapocalyptic future, this end-of-days tale follows two survivors, a father and son, who navigate an ash-covered wasteland in search of a better life, with only a sliver of hope that salvation awaits them at the end of their journey.
My Take: Phewwww man, what a tough movie. "The Road" might fall short in some areas, but realism is not one of them. Here's a world that was all but destroyed... we don't know what did it, we don't know why it happened, all we know is that it did happen, and it changed everything for everyone that was left. While I usually hate being left in the dark in movies, I think it actually worked here. In a situation like this, no one would know what happened or why. You'd wake up in the middle of the night, or you'd walk out of the grocery store, or you'd look out the window, and suddenly the entire world would change in a matter of seconds. And, much like this movie, most people would go utterly, batshit insane.
I find it very interesting the way the minds work that were behind this movie. Their idea of the post apocolypse is one riddled with cannibalism, a world where you can't trust anybody (or you shouldn't, anyway). A world where there really is no organization, no group of people who continue to put their duty first and try to make the most of it. No, I think it's much more realistic that when our backs are against the wall, humanity would instantly turn on itself. It's gritty, it's desperate, and it begs the question -- why not just put a bullet in your head and call it all over? Why even try to struggle through any of this?
I guess the answer for that is the kid. The kid is what this whole movie centered around... and unfortunately, the kid is also what ruined "The Road." First off, this kid has to be the biggest bitch I've ever seen in a movie. He's worse than the kid who saw dead people. He's more useless than the Blanket character in "The Brave Little Toaster." He lives in this world where he constantly acts like he has no idea what's going on, helpless, worthless. He basically kills his dad through the course of this movie, and then whines like a little bitch because everything is so unfair. Seriously, this one single character destroys what would have otherwise been a pretty cool and moving film.
I can't say I recommend "The Road." It's depressing as hell. It's not fun to watch. And that kid... that kid makes me just want to rent every copy of this movie Netflix owns so I can break all the discs in the hopes that Netflix can't or won't bother replacing them.
The Three Stooges
From Netflix: This contemporary take on the Three Stooges follows the iconic comic trio from their zany childhood in an orphanage in the 1950s, to their later accidental involvement in a madcap murder plot, to their bumbling into stardom on a hit television show.
My Take: Terrible.
How's this for a crappy feeling? I go to Kohl's the other day, just sort of browsing around, when I notice that the boxer shorts I buy... the only boxers I've ever found that don't ride up too bad and are more or less cool and comfortable... the only boxers I wear... are clearanced. It was like my entire world was flipped upside down. I bought so many pairs, I should be good for a little while. But it's like I have nothing to look forward to now. I know that somewhere, some time down the road, I'm going to run out of boxers. And where will I go? What will I do? WHAT THEN???
No comments:
Post a Comment