Rant 1.5...play me some Snog Mr Piano Man....
This hooks onto my last rant.

I am quite sick of the sales driven, consumer society that we live in. It's not that I don't own and even enjoy material things, and I occasionally feel the need to own a new CD, BUT....

Material things are just that. Things. They are things that you own which more often than not, own you. Sadly, in our society, everything has a price. Money exists as a necessary evil. Money is also a worthless scrap of paper or chunk of numbers that has a meaning only because human beings have put a value on it. There's a reason why Confederate money is worthless, it is from a bygone age that has no value in our present situation. And yet, our currency of today, at the heart of it all, there is really no difference bewteen it and confederate money outside of the importance we impose on it.

So, we become a society that revers the dollar and the magic it can command. People start to rank each other according to how much money they possess. There are some people who actually buy into the idea that earning a higher salary than someone else makes a better person, or being able to purchase large expensive items makes them more likable. While this may seem cliche, it's true in many aspects for many people unfortunately. Or, there are other people who get so attached to their lifestyle of accumulating material items, whether it be cars, kitchen supplies, furniture, etc, that when a blow does come to their cash supply and they can no longer afford their lifestyle they get bent out of shape.

Our society is so overrun with messages of consumerism. Ballparks that should have actual names are named after corporations now, ads are plastered all over every bus, billboard, tv screen and radio frequency. Everywhere you turn, someone is trying to sell you something, and buy YOU in exchange for their product.

Humans have become a commodity. Companies vie for their money, very often under the guise of wanting to supply them some service or product they NEED, but what they are really doing is securing a source or revenue that will continue the existence of their company, and keep trying to come up with more things that their customers will buy to keep the money flowing in. Think of all the credit card companies who come up with more features that you can buy to add onto your card that offer you protection, or this or that. Think of any of the extra services that phone companies or car companies will add on to get you to spend more.

Salesmen are trained to sell us things. They are trained to weedle into our minds, find our weak spots, and turn them against us so we'll say yes instead of no. That's why it's required for some restaurants cashiers to push dessert or fires with that grease laden burger. That's why you can't just reinstate your credit card when it expires, you have to hear a sales pitch written on a script that the customer rep is being paid to read.

I could go on and on about this and just get more pissed off, but suffice it to say I was not put on the planet to buy things, and I'm damn sure that no one else was either. I do not exist to consume. I must consume some to survive physically, mentally and emotionally, but that does not mean I need a cell phone that can play 12 mediocre pop songs at decibel levels that could wake babies in the next county.

I'll sick of people trying to sell me shit I don't need. If I want or need something, I'll find out if it exists, and I'll buy it. I don't like unwanted products being shoved down my throat. I don't enjoy being shoved into a marketing segment and being used as a tool. The whole idea is very dehumanizing and really really sad.

Cue Snog.