A Midtown Comment: Examining Responsibility

On a balmy fall night, my ex-friend and I, in one of my balmier moments, stood on the corner of 14^th Street and First Avenue, strained with debating whether humans were stupid or just brainwashed at the hands of the corporate gods. I could see McDonalds’ golden arches a block away. I’d wondered how long an advertising campaign needs to hook you on the two-all-beef-patties-special-sauce-lettuce-cheese tune, or how long it takes before you’re craving Coca-Cola’s corn juice, or you want to inhale carcinogens because the Marlboro man has a tobacco stick so coolly hanging from his lips. And what about having Kellogg’s Cornflakes, M&M’s, Hershey’s, Calvin Klein, Nike, all forever seared in the mind. A block north there is the effervescent blue logo of a financial giant whose dream is to take over the world, or at the very least the banking industry (isn’t that the world?) How many times will these dastardly brands be paraded in front of our eyes before we forget the reality of a clinical report, a news release, or an earth shattering article pointing out the ills of the product or its maker?

The reach of global corporate power had been inconceivable to me in the past. I should have understood the implications in my behavior during my younger days: the fashion chasing that left me penniless, the sugar cravings that had me bouncing off the walls, and the cheap fast-food fixes that polluted my body. Perhaps the power of marketing was too much for my young, developing brain. It must have also been too much for my parents’ brains for they allowed me to indulge in such garbage, or was it my wanton, whiny cries that made them cave? Should the global empires be held accountable for the destruction of life and liberty when we have so much freedom to choose? Oh, but we’re only talking about a few rotten teeth, a few extra pounds, a few undernourished sugar junkies. They were just giving what was being demanded, after all, you can’t control the freedoms of the individual.

I am sure the global industrialists went hunting the world over to bring wealth to the poorest of nations out of the goodness of their hearts; after all, the business world has always been about something more than the bottom-line—right? The global industrial expansion has brought jobs to so many nations outside the U.S. Nike pays less than a dollar a day—seems like a pittance, but surely these workers are much better off than they were. When the slave-camp conditions were revealed, Nike set out to make things right: they raised wages by 10%, [reduced beatings to twice a day, and added an extra piss bucket. And the laborers leaped with joy for the generosities extended.] Thanks for bringing this to light; we are all the better for it, and we are being a good corp now. It would seem that the steady flow of propaganda has me confused.

And my fair-weather friend says we are the masters of our own mind.

Walking through Tompkins Square Park I noticed several dog owners gravitating toward the doggy playground like robots. I had just finished reading a chapter from John Perkins’ The Secret History of the American Empire and was still angry at our nation’s abuses. Armed with greater perspective, I wanted to scream at these foolish dog-lovers for frivolously wasting time on a Sunday morning with their darling beasts instead of devoting time to reforming the U.S. or at the very least, acquiring an unbiased understanding of our country’s thirst for world domination.

I know I had an epiphany, I just can’t remember what it was.

My memory is short when it comes to history; I am often swayed by the verbal acrobatics of politicians, and my impudence seems insurmountable. Democracy and the republic are being modified to fit the corporatist’s needs. This is where I need to rely on history, not the white-washed history I was taught throughout my formative years, indoctrinating me into the biased U.S. worldview. I needed an unbiased worldview—and the U.S. is not the world. Remember the adage: There are two sides to every story? It applies to our school’s history textbooks.

Documentaries and documentarians are needed to remind us of the deceptions and abuses. Deciphering truth through media bias, political rhetoric, and corporate propaganda, is not always easy.

Because my life did not span the history of nations, research becomes utterly important. Yet, it has limited effect since I have not been so personally involved. After all, I wasn’t there during the labor movement or the women’s rights march or any number of momentous other occasions in history. Being so far removed from the action, leaves me susceptible to complacency over the few inequalities in my lifetime; after all I need to get on with my goals, my career, my personal pursuit of happiness. And that is where I find myself today; I opened a fast-food joint to put money in my pocket. My pursuits made justifiable by my faith that nature’s karmic law, “What goes around comes around,” will prove true and get ‘em.

Perhaps it should be our mission to seek out and avoid any pursuit that will burden or cause pain to another so that karmic law becomes a bit more even. That’s it, now I can feel better and go about my day! Empathy, empathy, I cry. What if it was me in the soup, taking the brunt of the injustices being dished out? So I continue to ask: What can my helpless ass do? How can I contribute to the cause—the human struggle against the tyrannical forces of our time? How can I contribute to a better tomorrow? I know I can contribute, I guess I will continue asking the question until an answer yields itself. Whatever it is, will it ever be enough?