Very poignant essay here. A lot of it makes sense. In one camp you have your capitalists in their "all well and good for the dollar" attitude and then you have the anit- "if it's not for the public good, it's not good" attitude. Personally I don't want to take money out of anybody's pockets however I don't like to see marketing victims. Madison Ave. is indeed a machine and they pump out images to the masses to encourage consumption, which is fine for those that are educated, but for those who are not it causes a problem.

When you have a segment of the population that due to lack of family structure, does not have a balanced view of what is and what is not valuable, the problem begin there. Whether it is white girls emulating Paris Hilton or black boys with t-shirts to their knees and a fitted hat, if there is no parent to set an alternative value, then marketing will win.

This is not only a black problem, this is global culture issue as we are encouraged to get the latest and greatest item we focus on attaining that, then there is the "Tipping Point" and it is a "15 minutes" phenomenon (see UGZ Boots) the manufacturers quickly print their money and retire in San Tropez. So when everyone is waiting in front of Bloomingdale's to be the first to have, they are quickly just another face things get to mass markets very quickly now and because of that need to be popular, loved, etc. once again marketing wins.

Marketing is no longer about identifying with an image, in my opinon, it is about creating an image, which you know, but now so more than ever, it is about manufacturing a life that people want to have, this is why people spend time watching reality shows starring celebrities or wanna be stars, it is vicarious living. So now this manufactured reality is being sold to those of us who want to be loved and popular and rich and those who are not and have no education or foundation to save them, get lost in the shuffle.

It's an ill domino effect.
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The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.
- Muhammad Ali