PISSING VINEGAR Vol. 31: A Temporary Diversion From Comedy
Written March 2003

Okay, here's the situation...

I'm afraid. Completely and utterly afraid.

You see, recently my daughter celebrated her fifth birthday. I was fortunate enough to be able to see her on her birthday, as I don't get to see her very often. My two-year old son was there, of course, as well. As I watched my children playing with their toys and living their carefree existences, the fear started to creep in. This week, two friends of mine welcomed their first child into the world. Again, an inexplicable feeling of fear was detected, bubbling under my calm, easy-going surface. But today, the fear has taken over after reading the latest issue of Adbusters. The theme of the issue is "Are You In Denial?", and it deals with the fact that the majority of our population has been efficiently convinced my popular mainstream authorities and vindictive governments that everything is A-OK. However, a variety of interesting facts presented in the magazine paint an entirely different picture. For example:

* In regard to the growing gap between rich and poor: "In the... 1990s, massive amounts of wealth were transferred from the poor and middle classes to the richest. By one estimate, the financial wealth of the top one percent exceeds the combined household financial wealth of the bottom 95 percent". This is a fact that isn't exactly uncommon knowledge, but couple it with President Bush's new "economic stimulus plan", which basically makes it even easier for the rich to get richer, while forcing cutbacks in many social programs so heavily needed by the poor. This is a problem that is only getting worse. And, chances are, if you're not rich now, you never will be under an economic structure such as this.

It also became painfully clear while leafing through the magazine just how commercialized our lives have become. One letter to the editor reads, "My school has a uniform. It's not distributed by the school at the beginning of the year, nor is it even condoned by the administration. Nevertheless, there are unspoken rules that must be followed. Abercrombie tops, Gap jeans, North Face fleeces, and for the girls, a Tiffany's necklace to complete the ensemble..." Again, this person isn't saying anything we don't know, but to see it plainly spelled out in black and white gives it a much deeper effect. The magazine is full of doom and gloom, but it's also filled to its very brim... with truth.

And, this is why I'm scared. I no longer like the world I'm forced to live in. I have realized that I am a slave, and that it is nearly impossible to break free from my Burger King chains and duMaurier shackles. I have been groomed by corporations to follow their every whim, no matter how detremental it may be to my personal well-being. But, more than anything, I fear for the lives of our children. Not only will they be faced with the crushing pressures of consumerism propaganda and corporate dictatorship, but they are growing up in a world that is teetering on the brink of a horrible war, one that may very well invoke a holocaust so grand and so terrible as to not judge its victims by race, age, or financial background. I would love to tell my children that everything in the world is all sugar and spice, but it's not. It's also greenhouse gas emissions, deteriorating ecologies, nerve gas, burning oil fields, anthrax, brand name necessity, weapons of mass destruction, and a host of other threats. But the biggest threat of all is denial.

I will no longer deny that I am a thread in the wick, attached to the ticking time bomb of corporate sponsored self-destruction. I will not sit idly by as everything I love closes in around me, weilding daggers and dollar signs. I will fight. For those who would like to join me, I implore you to further educate yourself on the mammoth struggle we are faced with. I have provided a link to the Adbusters web site at the bottom of this post, and I urge you to check it out, and learn more about what you can do to help. Because, even after our generation has been rendered extinct in the wake of our own mistakes, our children will remain. And, personally, I'd rather like to leave them in a world where hope is more than just an idle dream.

Here endeth the ePISSle.