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I
was watching ABC one Friday evening and this one commercial caught
my attention. It was a couple of people standing around a store
at night, just staring at a building. Cars would drive up, someone
would approach them and then ask, "What's the problem?" to which
they would get the response, "It's closed." The remainder of the
advertisement focused on a few more people coming up to those
gazing at the closed down store to get the same response. Thirty
seconds of this built up to a message, "Amazon.com changed the
way people shop and HP technology made it possible."
Obviously,
the closed down store was a local book retailer and Amazon.com was
the reason why it had been closed down. I find something seriously
wrong here and I was infuriated by this advertisement for Hewlett
Packard and Amazon.com.
It's
not a big surprise that America has shifted to an extremely large
industrial and corporate country. The money the United States possesses
controls large markets in the global economy. Sadly enough, this
corporate system has grown to a machine much larger than itself.
It has now worked its way into every facet of American life.
The
American political system, for instance, is comprised of those who
can raise the millions it costs to get their name known to the American
public. Millions are spent on campaign costs to tour the country
in extravagant tour busses and high glamour rallies, not to mention
the millions spent on television advertisements and mail-outs bashing
opposing candidates and their policies. Politics are no longer about
who has the best ideas, but rather who can raise the most money
to push their face, name, and party so that they can obtain a majority
vote which is mostly compromised of ignorant choices based on recognition.
Online
mega-sites such as Amazon.com and cdnow.com weaken the local stores
that do their best to survive in a market that is no longer about
idea but rather marketing. Consumers become more ignorant about
the minds behind the product as they are no longer viewed as customers
but as victims.
Meanwhile
the Wal-Mart super centers, McDonalds franchises and online giants
slowly weed out the small, independently owned local businesses
of our cities. The American dream is slipping further and further
away as it becomes harder to push your idea when opposed by the
large businesses already controlling the local and national scene.
It exacerbates
the tragedy when companies such as Hewlett Packard and Amazon.com
proudly announce on national television the fact that they're doing
it. Perhaps this system of online purchasing and industrial mega-giants
is much more detrimental than we've ever imagined. They aren't denying
the fact that they're doing it. We shouldn't be either.
Copyright
© 2000 David Ball. All Rights Reserved.
David Ball is a student at the University of Central Florida
studying graphic design. He refuses to believe in American realism
and ideology and continues to make all of his purchases offline.
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