Jun 11, 2009

Some people have all the balls in the world


Before you formulate an opinion, please don’t think I’m going on an eco-tirade saying that this franchise owner is a behemoth and should be put down like some stray, rabid, republican dog. That’s not what I’m going for at all with this post. Instead, let me put is as simple as possible:

I applaud the balls of anyone who puts this sign up.

I’m not saying I’m for or against the message, but you need a special kind of gonads to let the bird fly upon a leftist/environmentalist society such as ours nowadays. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a cleaner environment. I truly wish we would all help clean the oceans we’ve so efficiently laid to waste with our waste, I wish everyone would use more energy efficient cars and that everyone did their part to stop our oil addiction, but the entire Global Warming debate is something I haven’t completely decided upon because though you’d have to be blind to neglect the damage we’ve done the world, I think it would be unwise to rule out Climate Change as something that will continue to happen, regardless of our parasitic attempts to exert our influence over the pretty blue planet. That we’re affecting the final outcome, I can’t argue because we are; but that we’re the sole responsible party for a warmer earth? Well I can’t say I’m 100% convinced because the Earth has done and will continue to do as it pleases.

I am convinced that the human race is quite the pack of disgusting litterbugs to put it lightly and I’d like to see the world after a month where people truly commit themselves to being cleaner and picking up trash even if it’s not theirs. That’s the thing though, many a would be climate pundit waves their index at anyone who litters but is incapable of picking up something someone else threw away because heaven forbid the .01% of bacteria that isn’t killed by a hand sanitizer gets on their skin.

What I’m basically hinting at is that in a time when we’re supposed to be entering real debates, political, religious and judgmental cards are being played with no consideration for anyone else’s opinion and with no solution or alternative, just a complaint. Being an expert at bitching about pretty much anything I can think of, I’m the first to admit that as a race, we just bitch too damn much. That there is someone exercising their right to freedom of speech is even refreshing, since we basically shit on anyone that says something we’re not particularly thrilled to listen to, heaven forbid we could actually change the channel.

People walk around and get offended too easily by everything. True, there are things that are a stretch and naming your child Arian Nation is a bit irresponsible because you’re not giving your child the freedom to become a racist on their own, but so many other things, from political ideologies, to beliefs, mores, customs and a myriad of other aspects of our daily lives become debate topics because someone doesn’t want to listen to it. Pornography is evil, women can’t masturbate, men are justified in earning more money than women, salary caps should be implemented, my child shouldn’t be remotely exposed to that videogame, that TV show at 11 PM is too racy, she has too much cleavage and my favorite Cola is this one rather than that. Opinions abound about everything and it’s our responsibility to respectfully disagree and if desired enter into a mature debate, rather than the pushy “YOU BETTER DO THIS OR THAT” attitude.

If that’s your stance, then fuck you and your opinion for not respecting me and mine. I’m not for racism but would rather have a conversation with a racist to see why they hate me so much just for being Hispanic. I’m not for female genital mutilation but would try my best to attempt to be an advocate for female rights, being a man to offer a differing point of view since the ones responsible might think women speaking on this issue are compromised because of gender roles. I’m not one for supporting or condemning a franchisee who has the balls to put up a sign that might or might not be offensive, but I am one to ask why they think what they do, just to try and see things from a fresh perspective and see if we can’t find common ground. Hell, imagine if franchises with signs like that actually had a recycling program, a community health program or did something to assuage their message.

Instead, we just get people saying that the person who put up the sign is the worst franchise owner of the entire world and a bad human being. By the way, these are the same people who can’t get enough of the Jon and Kate Goslin implosion, spend billions of dollars sponsoring tabloids that make it lucrative to invade celebrities’ personal lives and are only too eager to force someone to buy hybrid or stop having an abortion, just because it’s more fun to have a picket than it is to really talk amongst ourselves.

What do you think? Oh and feel free to clock in how much time we've spent giving BK free exposure and see if the signs haven't been effective on some level.


Cheers

4 comments:

Thinking In Vain said...

Excellent post! :)

I'll write more if I remember when I have more time. :D

Unknown said...

Ka-frickin-boom! You've hit on a ton of important points here.

One of my favorite political blogs puts it this way: "I'll start believing there's a crisis when the people who are telling me there's a crisis start acting like there's a crisis."

And I totally agree that it was a brilliant, ballsy business move by that BK manager--for the 10 minutes on a ladder it took to rearrange the sign from reading "Try our Double Cheeseburger 99 cents," they reaped a helluva lot of free publicity.

RestrictionsApply said...

There is always a strong reaction to those who go against what is in vogue. In fact, sometimes it’s even fashionable to go against the grain. And when I say fashionable, I mean it. In a WAS post from a few months back, we discussed how the Caring-for-the-Environment movement is just that, a movement. And like all fads, it’s cyclical. (This is the second time in my lifetime that going green has been at the center of public discourse). Remember when it was cool to wear a yellow rubber bracelet? Of course, cancer is still out there, but announcing to the world your awareness of cancer (and chastising others for NOT wearing a bracelet) is no longer in vogue.

Fads, of course, are profitable. Going green surely generates a lot of green for many companies, under the guise of being “socially responsible.” It’s also very costly to be environmentally conscious. This doesn’t mean you should be a pig and litter the world just because you can’t afford it, but it also doesn’t make it OK to think your shit don’t stink just because you’re green and your neighbor is not.

Like you said, it’s all about respect for differences in opinion. But disrespecting others because of their differences seems to be human nature. Calling out “environmentalists” on this is even more difficult when they are shrouded under thick blankets of hypocrisy: The very societies who impose their green values on others are the ones doing the most harm to the environment.

Unknown said...

Sometimes I forget why I read blogs. This post is one of them. Loved the succinct writing.

I had the most amazing conversation with a skinhead the other day (in Germany). I ended up riding the train for an hour past my stop because he was just so amazing at clarifying his beliefs. He was racist, yes, but not in the "i hate blacks because they're blacks" way. He laid out all his political beliefs, and why those led him to come up with the worldview that he possessed. It was the best conversation I've had to this day.

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