>i know you want me to answer 'white people are behind a good
>deal of marketing'

How do you know this? I stated some historical info about the nature of marketing/PR in the U.S. and asked you to tell me what you think about it. I will assert that just because something "works" does not make it ethical or encourage critical thinking/active consumers. The American media reminds me of Plato's cave where the people who are untutored in the "Theory of Forms" (media literacy) are like prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. The puppeteers, who are behind the prisoners, hold up puppets that cast shadows on the wall of the cave. The prisoners are unable to see these puppets, the real objects, that pass behind them. What the prisoners see and hear are shadows and echoes cast by objects that they do not see.

Such prisoners would mistake appearance for reality. They would think the things they see on the wall (the shadows) were real; they would know nothing of the real causes of the shadows.

>i dont think many of the black kids are media literate by your
>definition. i think every person is armed with common sense
>when it comes to hearing/seeing/reading media.

Really? In America, common sense or conventional wisdom that has mass acceptance is usually contrived, meaning somebody paid for it. My point is that it does not matter if the puppeteers are white or Black because they are not the ones who sit in in the board rooms.

>-Where do these young people get educated to become media
>literate?'
>
>this is a leading quesiton. you want me to say 'school' and
>then you can come back and tell me that that media literacy
>isnt offered in schools blah blah blah. if you really think a
>class in media literacy will somehow curb people's materialism
>im afraid you are mistaken.

I disagree. That's why I mentioned "core education". Teaching people how to think critically about media takes more than one class or year. Black youth are not the only ones overspending...the stats still show that the field is not level so while we all get the same messages via the media only some truly benefit. This is especially so for many Black youth at or below the line (low and moderate income)