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Seriously.

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by Remixer, Dec 27, 2011.

  1. Cayvmann

    Cayvmann Very Tilted

    Can I now be Team Disbelief?

    ( don't feed the trolls cavy, don't do it )
     
    • Like Like x 1
  2. Remixer

    Remixer Middle Eastern Doofus

    Location:
    Frankfurt, Germany
    If that isn't Team Edward right there, I don't know what is.

    Did the mods/admins check whether it's the same user? Eh, the_jazz, Baraka_Guru, Martian?

    EDIT: Then again, maybe it's simply those damn Twilight people with their uniform opinions.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  3. martian

    martian Server Monkey Staff Member

    Location:
    Mars
    Staff have all kinds of neat tricks.

    Herding users isn't my job.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  4. pan6467

    pan6467 a triangle in a circular world.

    I think as for the advertising you are wrong. Maybe not as overtly as it is today, BUT having grown up in the 70's and 80's as I stated the peer pressure was there (at least in my white suburbia part of the USA). I watched Happy days and had a Happy Days lunch Box and a T shirt with a pic of Fonzie saying "AYYYYYYYY", when I wasn't wearing my Star Trek shirts. Laverne drank PEPSI and milk and in one episode it was pointed out that it HAD to be PEPSI because Coke didn't taste as good. Saturday Morning cartoons and after school blocks that lasted until 6PM, were totally aimed at kids. Transformers, GI JOE, etc. there were many cartoons BASED on toys or had toys based on them. Movies were not much different, everyone knows ET ate Reece's Pieces. I remember in the 80's when shows like ET talked about how movies would sell ad space to help pay their budgets. Star Wars was nothing but a gimmick and may have been the first movie to truly commercialize it's appeal, there was nor has been anything close to the success of that franchise's commercial value.

    Advertising was dominant from day 1 in television, the Colgate Hour, Texaco Theater, "Soap Operas" that were primarily produced by Proctor and Gamble, Fred Flintstone and Barney doing commercials for Winston, Desi and Lucy doing commercials for Philip Morris cigarettes, Boxers wearing certain gear and the ringposts with sporting goods company names on them, baseball having ads on the outfield walls, even high school football fields and programs having "ads". ADIDAS t shirts in the 70's, Nike paying rock stars and stand up comedians to wear their shoes.

    My point is it just SEEMS to be more prevalent today because it isn't as "hidden", it's always been there.

    As for the OP kids, back in the 60's everyone said the same things about the Hippies and believed them to be the majority of that era's generation, when in all honesty it wasn't. They had great points and the media and cultural icons behind them to make them appear far bigger and more important than they were. They turned out to be the greediest generation and the most imposing of any generation in this country though. More rights have been taken away once the "hippie" generation came into power than at any other time in our post "Civil War" America. In my opinion, it's based on that generation being followers of the media to "see" what everyone else in their generation is doing. I truly believe it is one reason that generation developed the need for all the psyche drugs that have infiltrated our society.

    One of the great things about George Carlin was he exposed that generation for the shallowness it is. The 3 Stooges had trading cards for crying out loud that just so happened to peak in sales when their movie "Have Rocket Will Travel" hit the cinemas in 1959 and until Lady Bird Johnson complained that billboards along the highways blocked her view of the lands, they were practically on top of drivers.

    So, to argue advertising has gotten worse or that we are becoming a more "needy" society may have some merit but in all honesty it's been the same for 60 years.
    --- merged: Dec 30, 2011 5:43 AM ---
    I seem to recall a thread saying your job was more in the background handling the servers. I maybe mistaken but...

    I also seem to recall on 4.0 a mod once said that you banned not necessarily by name but IP address.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  5. Cdwonderful

    Cdwonderful Getting Tilted

    Location:
    Campbell, OH
    kids suck. I use to be one.
    I grew out of it.
     
    • Like Like x 5
  6. Borla

    Borla Moderator Staff Member

    My main point wasn't that it was non-existant, rather that we spent less time using mediums that allowed us to be directly reached by it. With technological advances, also came new ways to advertise. Don't get me wrong, I had my A-Team lunch box and Star Wars toys because I was a fan of those. But I also remember that after an hour or two of TV or Atari (later Nintendo) we were kicked outside or told to turn the TV off and find something else to do. Once the TV was off, we were typically playing sports or board games for fun. Today, aside from the fact that people in general watch more TV than they did 20-30 years ago, they also spend a lot of time using other devices (primarily the computer) that allow them to be reached by advertising. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying those other things are evil or are ruining society. I'm just saying that advertising is much better today, and hits us more often, than 20-30 years ago. Today advertising is literally a half-a-trillion dollar industry in the US alone. That is staggering compared to decades past, even when you factor in inflation.
     
  7. the_jazz

    the_jazz Accused old lady puncher

    Oh, I think we're pretty much on top of everything we need to be on top of.
     
  8. I am too old to have had an A team lunch box. We were one of the first families in our street to have a television - remember we had neighbours in for the first moon landing. There were advertisments obviously, on the one commercial station - but when they came on, that was the time to put on the kettle and go to the loo. Perhaps our parents raised us to expect less - having gone without themselves during the war years. We also had the seemingly now lost notion that a wallet or purse is not a bottomless pit. When dad wanted to take us to europe, he would finish his day job and work in a bakery at nights to pay for it. We knew he was working for the holiday - just driving and camping with his wife and four children. I do remember, just a few short years down the road and the 'must haves' had begun to make an appearence.
    I think in another month, cigarrettes will have to be removed from display and sold 'under the counter'. Cant see the lack of advertising and a few pics of lung cancer making that much of a difference to smokers - its expected by someone somewhere who came up with the idea that it will cut down the numbers of smokers and improve the health of the nation.
     
  9. cynthetiq

    cynthetiq Administrator Staff Member Donor

    Location:
    New York City
    My three nephews were given ipod touches this christmas from grandma and grandpa (my parents). They are 8, 6, and 3. It was on the top of their Christmas list. Last year it was Nintendo DS.

    I think that they would have shit bricks if grandma and grandpa didn't get them for them. They are pretty spoiled, but not from me.
     
  10. Cayvmann

    Cayvmann Very Tilted

    I remember calculating what I thought my parents had to spend, and asking for things I knew they could afford. I did my best not to envy the "rich" kids. I'm glad I didn't, because even as meager as I make Christmas, my daughter would qualify for my young self's idea of "rich" kid.

    I'd give her the world if I could, and she knows it. I also know she wouldn't fuss at me for not getting her an iphone/ipod.
     
    • Like Like x 6
  11. Daniel_

    Daniel_ The devil made me do it...

    I ave tried to raise my daughter with an awareness that she is lucky to live in a household that has an above average level of education and income. I know several kids that have grown up with the same expectation that they deserve more, and it always goes wrong when the real world catches up with them.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  12. Sensible parenting Daniel. The most precious thing you can give a child is time I think. Wonder how many of the larger pressies are 'guilt trip' gifts from parents who dont spend time with their kids for one reason or another.
     
  13. EventHorizon

    EventHorizon assuredly the cause of the angry Economy..

    Location:
    FREEDOM!
    i think the problem is that people expect presents... which is bullshit. a gift is a gift, not a fucking tribute
     
    • Like Like x 1
  14. davynn

    davynn Getting Tilted

    Location:
    East coast U.S.A.
    I'm glad that other people want to take on the risk and rewards of raising an estimable human being from infancy. If everyone had my attitude the propagation of humanity would be in serious trouble.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  15. uncle phil

    uncle phil Moderator Emeritus (and sorely missed) Staff Member Donor

    Location:
    pasco county
    there are too many of us already...
     

  16. No, there are too many of them. Just the right amount of us. :)
     
    • Like Like x 3
  17. Zen

    Zen Very Tilted

    Location:
    London
    ^^^^^^ @CravenMorehead
    I secretly agree, though /me slaps inner self with large inner trout for doing so.

    Also, I'm a member of davynn 's club. I avoided child rearing, partly because I judge I'd do a rubbish job, and partly because I don't see a world in which I'd want to raise one.

    I mean ... I vilify that brattish après Xmas feeding frenzy pasted in the OP, yet I do not ignore the 'sold' cultural priorities that encourage them. I'd want to help kids to steer past that, however I feel outgunned - often hardly able to keep my own head above the water full of toasters etc.
     
  18. ace0spades

    ace0spades Slightly Tilted

    Location:
    Vancouver
    This year we made all our Christmas presents. My fiancee made fudge/cookies and we made mead for the people who drink. It was fun, less expensive, and far more personal. I think we'll do this again next year.
     
  19. streak_56

    streak_56 I'm doing something, going somewhere...

    Location:
    C eh N eh D eh....
    Well, I'll officially throw my hat in as a spoiled child that got exactly what he deserved.... nothing! My father had a very well paying job and I knew he did. He always taught us proper money management, earning what you want, the difference between need and want AND as a child (teenager years as in the OP) I resented him for that because my "friends" were getting what they wanted. As soon as I got my first job (refereeing hockey) he stopped providing the wants and I had to get myself the wants. And I bet if I had an outlet like Twitter or FB, I might have said something.

    Now as an adult, I have do save money, I have RRSPs, I have investments, I have everything I need and every once in awhile I get something I want. Am I resentful for him teaching me those things now? Hell no, I lacked the maturity to realize what he was doing for me. And thats what these kids are doing, people mature at different ages and some might mature later in life. But life always has a knack to give a swift kick to someone whenever they need it in a situation like this.