It must be Tuesday
Q: Dear Ty,Ty: Good questions and even better observations, Dave. Or Candid Camera. Or that terrible TeeVee joint with Howie Mandell called, Howie Do It. Or the cool-insider-silly Punk'd created by Demi's husband. Indeed the staple of the unscripted hidden camera reality comedy program is altruism in the face of the ridiculous, right? And speaking of Candid Camera, did you know I met Allen Funt, the long time Candid Camera host? Met him at the Western Psychology Association Annual Meeting in 1990. My friend and colleague (and TeeVee fan), Carrie, was nearly distraught after meeting the shell-of-a-man in person. You see, by then, Mr. Funt was ancient, feeble, and cliché. She said, "Remember, Ty, never meet your heroes." I still value that advice because what is hero in the mind is often very different in person.This has been bothering me for a few days, this ACORN video thing.Back at UCSC you let me participate in your affirmative action experiment. It involved a ruse where you gave the participant a test to see if he or she "qualified" to be in a study. At the end of the test you said to me "well, you don't qualify, but we don't have enough men in this study, so I'm going to let you participate anyway." Then a series of questions were asked, and I supposed people answer them differently depending on if they "qualified" or not. I doubt the ruse worked on me because I was told in advance by you "I'm going to perform my experiment on you to show you what it is." Also, you didn't sell the "you didn't qualify line" very well to me, kind of mumbled it (this would make for another great experiment, "How well can one friend lie to another while showing him an experiment he's working on?").So, these videos, where a supposed pimp and his "ho" get financial advice from ACORN employees appear immediately to me like a classic psychology experiment. Something entitled maybe "Study in Altruistic Behavior as Manipulated by Ever-Increasing Situational Absurdities." In this experiment, a person who's given the task of being as helpful as possible is presented with a ridiculous situation. These videos could just have easily involved a guy looking to start a Leper colony next to an elementary school or start a giraffe farm on his rooftop garden. There will always be those willing to go that extra mile and say "Yes, sir, how can I help you with your desire to house Gitmo detainees in your guest bedroom?"But, most people look at that woman in the video and think, "That dumb bitch, she probably grew up in the Ghetto where under-aged prostitutes from El Salvador are kept in brothels around every corner." How she should really be looked at is a participant in an experiment who fell for the ruse and demonstrated how good she is at her job. Shit, she probably should have gotten employee of the month, not fired. I mean, the woman was just doing her job, a pretty powerful motivator for some.Your thoughts?
- Dave
Anyway, ACORN, huh? I haven't seen the video but I've read about it a little. Sigh. Yes, a handful ACORN employees got tricked into becoming the cause of the era for men with the names Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck and the people who listen to them. Yes, I guess we are Nazi Socialist Elitist Foreigners then. I guess you win this silly ass "debate" then, Bill O'Reilly. Sigh.
It's so unfortunate. Not that I'm defending ACORN but they have done quite a bit of good for people. But these weirdo right-wingers are not only transparently desperate, they are just freakishly crazed; self-painted into corners of their own illogical, under-educated rhetoric. I mean these addled rubes would sell their mother's souls if that would make them appear to be "correct for the mainstream of America." Because that apparently means something to 'em even though they can't really explain that.
And you think the republicans are bad? Really? At least they are organized and stick to their vision of dominance. I can't completely hate people who play to win. The democrats, on the other hand, are merely pathetic. I can't even begin to discuss what a failure of a party the democrats are in comparison to the evilness of republicans. It's just so sad [sad.face.emoticon]!
Yet I maintain that there are still patriots among us. We just have to do our part to make shit right. Not through violence, not through hatred, not though lies. We're not republicans and we are not democrats. We need to move the whole ideal of America to a place where we can at least call ourselves on our own self-serving, self-pity fear and ignorance. How? Open your eyes and call out all the silly little wrongs all the time. You wouldn't let a friend drink and drive, right? Well why are you letting ignorant zealots crash your America like terrorists in a hijacked plane? You don't think this all affects you? Then think harder. Try harder. In fact, stop trying and start doing. Something. Pen to paper, fingers to keys, anything.
I am America. I am an American. And so are you so start giving a shit for a while. Try that.
I guess I don't really have an answer to your question, Dave. But I am sick and tired of the bullshit, for sure. Don't we, as a people, have real problems to attend to?
Just a guess,
-ty
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