The Man Law commercials are strangely funny and, despite their popularity, have not helped their sponsor sell their product. Universal health care, I think, is probably a very popular idea but our own stupidity (in the form of our political process) prevents us from implementing it. It’s kind of embarassing being an American sometimes.
Written by randomfool on January 26th, 2007 with
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Read more articles on General Folly and Politics and Sports.
I have been struggling internally lately with my opinions on national health care. Obviously now with the election cycle already in overdrive and Hillbillary trying to “chat” in a seemingly desperate effort put some limit on Obamamania, the Democratic candidates are all supporting universal health care…and that issue was so successfull for Hillbillary before. All of the ridiculous rhetoric aside, I think it is embarassing that our “capitalist democracy” (which is actually neither capitalist nor a democracy…discuss), as rich and successful as it is cannot figure out how to make sure that our citizens have the benefit of the health care technology that is available. However, I also understand that the development of the technology we have is largely due to the very Darwinistic nature of our brand of capitalism. There is no substitute for true competition to generate the technological breakthroughs that we have been able to achive and, in competition, there necessarily must be losers in order for there to be winners. If there are no winner spoils to go after, there would be less investment and less achievement. I guess the primary reason I have not been able to support nationalized health care to day is because any effort to develop it is sucked into the idiotic political process that we have and we end up getting Hillbillary on a bus tour that results in her husband holding up a national health care card during the State of the Union. No thanks…I’d rather just have Darwin as harsh as the outcome might be. So, I guess I agree that we need to figure out, as a society, how we are going to deliver medical care to our citizens at a rate that is appropriate given our wealth without jeopardizing the benefits of the economic system that results in the wealth in the first place. What are the chances that the political process will ever be able to generate that result. Zero. And that’s why I am a permanent cynic.
Similarly troubling is the Man Law commercials for Miller Lite. I find them to be funny but I seem to be struggling internally with it. It’s as if I am uncomfortable with the fact that they are funny. I read recetly that the ads are being pulled because, while hugely popular with their target audience, they have not been effective at all in increasing the sales of Miller Lite. This idea that there is a glass box somewhere with people I like (Jerome Bettis) and people I can’t stand (Jimmy Johnson) deciding what manly men should and should not do in certain cirumstances (e.g., no baking on game days) is funny. But it is also disturbing that things like that are funny. The typical beer ads with pretty women in bathing suits for some reason doesn’t bother me as much (even though they make the same sad statement), maybe because I am jsut so desensitized to them by now. I’m gald that they are pulling the ads so I don’t have to spend time thinking about this.
So how could these two topics possibly be related? They are both examples of the best and the worst America has to offer. The Man Law commercials are strangely funny and, despite their popularity, have not helped their sponsor sell their product. Universal health care, I think, is probably a very popular idea but our own stupidity (in the form of our political process) prevents us from implementing it. It’s kind of embarassing being an American sometimes. If we weren’t so sad, we would be really funny.
Written by randomfool on January 26th, 2007 with
no comments.
Read more articles on General Folly and Politics and Sports.
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