My favorite commercial

I first saw this commercial last year when I first moved to Missouri. I thought it was terrible then, and then I never saw it again. I could only assume that whoever was in charge of it decided is was so asinine, ( an observation I arrived at the first time I saw it) that they decided to pull it. It is a commercial by one of the big local hospital systems here, peddling their own insurance programs. Let me set it up for you. Two women are talking. The conversation is about healthcare. One woman is confessing to the other that she is going to have to drop her health insurance for her, her husband and her kids due to the rising costs of everyhting, not just health insurance. The other woman of course is shocked by this, as she should be, and proceeds to tell her to call said hospital system, as they have their own in house insurance plan, which she assures patron #2 is very affordable and easy to get a quote. All this is good and fine, what floors me is the overall context of the commercial. The two women are sitting and having lunch. This lunch is in a fancy italian restaurant, and both women have meals in front of them. Not only that, but they also both have a glass of wine. So I am monday morning quarterbacking from couch and thinking. Okay, italial food for lunch 7-8 dollars, glass of wine 4-5 dollars, plus tip, roughly 12-13 dollars for lunch. This is the part that is so hilarious to me and depressing at the same time. I rarely eat out for lunch, once, maybe twice a month, sometimes not even that and I have never spent 13 dollars. Furthermore, if you are drinking wine at lunch, I am not sure what kind of job you are going back to, probably none. This commercial epitomizes a lot of the problems in america. I can't afford health insurance for my family, but I can afford 15 dollar lunches because " I deserve it" or whatever other ridiculous reason people use to justify their own severe lack in judgment or responsibility. If my wife is ever telling me that we need to drop our health insurance due to finances, and I find out abuot 15 dollar lunches, someone is going to be in a timeout of the serious kind. But, I know she would never do anything even remotely akin to that level of stupidity, far from it. I am just making a point. And, so continues my growing disappointment and contempt for big business/mass media/commercialism.

Part I

My good friend Joel brought up an interesting discussion the other day. This will be part one of the discussion, and one must understand that text on this topic simply will not get the job done, but it is something to think about. The discussion centered around Maslow's heirarchy of needs, and poverty in America. The contention or observation posed was that the need for social acceptance has moved higher up in the heirarchy than most of what is found in the esteem grouping of the pyramid, and in some cases, albeit indirectly, above some of the basic fundamental needs for survival. This may be too strong an assertion. But certainly it could be argued that the need for social acceptance has far exceeded the need of accepting personal responsibility. I did say need, because accepting personal responsibility is in large part what allows us to function as humans, and not as other animals, thereby categorizing it as need. I realize this is somewhat of a simplistic view, but for this purpose, I will leave off discussion of all the many facets of our characters that make us decidingly human. Furthermore, many of these other facets have their roots in accepting personal responsibility.


An Aside: I get very suspicious when anyone starts to instruct or educate me on "the poor in America". Certainly cases of abject poverty exist and a true humanitarian effort is needed ( i.e. personal responsibility by someone or some group) to assist these cases. The point is, that America has the richest poor people in the world. 1/3 of the *poor* population is obese. Obesity and poverty are two conditions that absolutely cannot be reconciled with each other.

Back to the topic,
Why do people feel it necessary to spend way beyond their means in order to obtain some sort of "social acceptance"? A quick example is the family that "can't afford" health insurance, but has a family cell phone plan and a 35 thousand dollar Tahoe. Don't tell me it doesn't exist or is very isolated....I see it everyday. This is just a broad example of what the discussion centered around. How did we get to that point? Who is to blame? Why does this seem to be prevalent more among a low socioeconomic status of people? Is it really more prevalent among a low socioeconomic status of people? More to follow on this discussion, as I think it is a good one.

--Steak

Upcoming events

Well,

I have been away for awhile. No new news really to report. I had a great idea for a blog the other day, but I have since forgotten what it was. I really need to start writing down ideas when I have them, because they appear so few and far between. It has been a good long while since I have been able to see any good live music. The last live concert I saw was Aaron Watson at the Wormy Dog in oklahoma city. So, I am very much excited about the blues festival coming up in september. Really, I am just going to see one band, JJ Grey and Mofro, but I am sure there will be some other good acts, after all, it is a blues festival. They have a new cd to be released titled "Orange Blossoms" or "Orange Blossom Special" or something like that. I am very pumped about that. It is so very appreciated that outstanding music can still be found and people are still making it. Just the other day, I was informed by someone that XM radio now has a kenny chesney channel, which is apparently all kenny chesney songs all the time. It is unfathomable to me that there is enough people that like kenny chesney that much, that it now requires a full time radio station devoted to that garbage heap Kenny and his "people" call music. It is really sad for someone to be a kenny chesney fan, really it is. I feel sorry for anyone who is that way. I wouldn't choose to most readily describe a kenny chesney fan as ignorant, or having bad taste, or being a moron. Despite the fact that all those descriptors may be applicable, really, I just feel sorry for them, because if you will let someone convince you that kenny chesney is music so good it needs its own radio station, then you would and could be convinced of absolutely anything....seriously. kenny chesney fans should never be allowed to read " A Modest Proposal", lest the air be full of the sweet smell of roasting babies.