The State of America's Emotionality
Posted: Sat Jun 23, 2012 10:01 am
Accountable;1397637 wrote: Well then, I guess you'll have to either get used to being pissed off or stop blaming your emotional state on others.I'm using this quote because it provoked the thought.
It's interesting how common it is in American life to make others responsible for one's feeling, or emotions. I submit we're conditioned that way by our capitalistic system. Here's why I say that.
In a consumer economy such as America's the idea is to sell dreams. Our products and services are invented, manufactured and marketed with the intent of creating the illusion that owning them will make life easier and thus provide us more time to "enjoy" life or make us feel better about ourselves or our circumstances. We tip our food servers based on how well they do in making our meal enjoyable by paying attention to our needs above their own or the others they are simultaneously serving.
Watch any sporting event on television and notice how the advertisements promise to increase our viewing pleasure with their beer, pizza, hot-wings or how much better we'll look behind the wheel of the newest car model (not to mention what fools we're willing to make of ourselves during the acquisition process portraying us as slobbering over the pretty machine).
The list is seemingly endless.
It's all about feelings - no wonder we're addicts. Sales instructors teach their students to find the customer's "hot-button" in order to assure them that their product will alleviate whatever it is they fear.
Google made an issue of this and required their advertisers to appeal to reason in Google advertisements. I can recall an incident back in 2006 or so when BMW decided to ignore Google's policy and went ahead with emotion based ads. Much to everyones surprise Google canceled BMW as an advertiser. That took balls and caused me to to think of Google as a company with a conscience.
What's equally interesting is that the forces that work overtime to make us 'feeling dependent" on them are also the same entities that make the claim that government is actually the guilty party by running out insulting arguments and slogans of government dependency.
It appears to me from being on many forums over the past 7 years that emotional dependency is less of an issue in other countries that appear to have less consumerism and more government in their daily lives.
Any thoughts?
It's interesting how common it is in American life to make others responsible for one's feeling, or emotions. I submit we're conditioned that way by our capitalistic system. Here's why I say that.
In a consumer economy such as America's the idea is to sell dreams. Our products and services are invented, manufactured and marketed with the intent of creating the illusion that owning them will make life easier and thus provide us more time to "enjoy" life or make us feel better about ourselves or our circumstances. We tip our food servers based on how well they do in making our meal enjoyable by paying attention to our needs above their own or the others they are simultaneously serving.
Watch any sporting event on television and notice how the advertisements promise to increase our viewing pleasure with their beer, pizza, hot-wings or how much better we'll look behind the wheel of the newest car model (not to mention what fools we're willing to make of ourselves during the acquisition process portraying us as slobbering over the pretty machine).
The list is seemingly endless.
It's all about feelings - no wonder we're addicts. Sales instructors teach their students to find the customer's "hot-button" in order to assure them that their product will alleviate whatever it is they fear.
Google made an issue of this and required their advertisers to appeal to reason in Google advertisements. I can recall an incident back in 2006 or so when BMW decided to ignore Google's policy and went ahead with emotion based ads. Much to everyones surprise Google canceled BMW as an advertiser. That took balls and caused me to to think of Google as a company with a conscience.
What's equally interesting is that the forces that work overtime to make us 'feeling dependent" on them are also the same entities that make the claim that government is actually the guilty party by running out insulting arguments and slogans of government dependency.
It appears to me from being on many forums over the past 7 years that emotional dependency is less of an issue in other countries that appear to have less consumerism and more government in their daily lives.
Any thoughts?
