Philosophy
The less short of the short people has officially entered the "tween" stage. She and TheWife went through her clothes, purging that which was too babyish. She also let us know that she has a favorite clothing store, a place whose offerings fit what she envisions as "her style." It is a typical corporate mall-based store, but has the interesting name "Justice." It isn't fair-trade clothes as one would hope, but when entering, it was filled with pseudo-tie-dye and other shirts sporting facsimile protest slogans designed for pre-teens -- "Save the Earth: It's the only planet with candy" and "Peace, love, and hope."
The clothing has lots of bright colors and lots of glitter, but I also noticed lots of peace signs. I couldn't help but notice an incredible ambivalence as I tried to tune out the sappy boy band music. On the one hand, it is corporate appropriation. This is an attempt to capitalize on the shallowest idea of peace within the usual consumeristic American way of being, not trying to induce people into a sustainable, thoughtful, caring lifestyle. In that sense it seemed a betrayal to use our symbol against us. On the other hand, the overt attempt to include sentiments at least on our side made it seem like a painless first step that could coax young girls just worried about clothes to begin to think about these issues. A spoonful of sugar does help the medicine go down. And success is, in some sense, going mainstream. It is making basic notions of peace entirely unoffensive to the middle of America where they can do the most good. Cohousing communities in Oregon are one thing, malls in conservative central Maryland are another. If it can help make it part of the psyche, maybe it is a good thing.
I don't know which instinct to follow here. Is the corporate appropriation of the peace sign a good thing or a bad thing?
- Is Peace Just Internalized Conflict?
Came across an interesting passage in, "The Meaning of 'Ethical Neutrality' in sociology and Economics," an essay of Max Weber in which he argues that there is no such thing as peace: "Conflict cannot be excluded from social life. One can...
- Can The Palestinian Authority Negotiate Peace With Israel?
Today's question is whether the Palestinian Authority can negotiate peace with Israel. I'm not asking whether it is likely to happen when Abbas sits down with Netanyahu, I'm asking a more basic question -- are they the ones who should be sitting...
- The Complimentary Close
A standard part of every letter and most e-mails is the complimentary close. That's the one or two word adverbial phrase that you put right above your signature or typed name. They are a rather strange form of utterance. J.L. Austin followed Wittgenstein...
- What Is Peace?
The kids have this little book by Todd Parr called "The Peace Book" and it got me to thinking. Peace is a positive concept, not defined simply as the absence of war. What else, then, is a necessary or sufficient condition for peace? I don't mean peace...
- Reflections On Our First Trick Or Treat Experience
Took the short people trick or treating for the first time last night. It has effects you never imagine. We are trying our level best to endow them with a strong environmental ethic, but after last night, I think they are now strongly in favor of the...
Philosophy
Corporate Use of the Peace Sign: Diluting Its Meaning or Infiltrating the Young Mind?
The less short of the short people has officially entered the "tween" stage. She and TheWife went through her clothes, purging that which was too babyish. She also let us know that she has a favorite clothing store, a place whose offerings fit what she envisions as "her style." It is a typical corporate mall-based store, but has the interesting name "Justice." It isn't fair-trade clothes as one would hope, but when entering, it was filled with pseudo-tie-dye and other shirts sporting facsimile protest slogans designed for pre-teens -- "Save the Earth: It's the only planet with candy" and "Peace, love, and hope."
The clothing has lots of bright colors and lots of glitter, but I also noticed lots of peace signs. I couldn't help but notice an incredible ambivalence as I tried to tune out the sappy boy band music. On the one hand, it is corporate appropriation. This is an attempt to capitalize on the shallowest idea of peace within the usual consumeristic American way of being, not trying to induce people into a sustainable, thoughtful, caring lifestyle. In that sense it seemed a betrayal to use our symbol against us. On the other hand, the overt attempt to include sentiments at least on our side made it seem like a painless first step that could coax young girls just worried about clothes to begin to think about these issues. A spoonful of sugar does help the medicine go down. And success is, in some sense, going mainstream. It is making basic notions of peace entirely unoffensive to the middle of America where they can do the most good. Cohousing communities in Oregon are one thing, malls in conservative central Maryland are another. If it can help make it part of the psyche, maybe it is a good thing.
I don't know which instinct to follow here. Is the corporate appropriation of the peace sign a good thing or a bad thing?
- Is Peace Just Internalized Conflict?
Came across an interesting passage in, "The Meaning of 'Ethical Neutrality' in sociology and Economics," an essay of Max Weber in which he argues that there is no such thing as peace: "Conflict cannot be excluded from social life. One can...
- Can The Palestinian Authority Negotiate Peace With Israel?
Today's question is whether the Palestinian Authority can negotiate peace with Israel. I'm not asking whether it is likely to happen when Abbas sits down with Netanyahu, I'm asking a more basic question -- are they the ones who should be sitting...
- The Complimentary Close
A standard part of every letter and most e-mails is the complimentary close. That's the one or two word adverbial phrase that you put right above your signature or typed name. They are a rather strange form of utterance. J.L. Austin followed Wittgenstein...
- What Is Peace?
The kids have this little book by Todd Parr called "The Peace Book" and it got me to thinking. Peace is a positive concept, not defined simply as the absence of war. What else, then, is a necessary or sufficient condition for peace? I don't mean peace...
- Reflections On Our First Trick Or Treat Experience
Took the short people trick or treating for the first time last night. It has effects you never imagine. We are trying our level best to endow them with a strong environmental ethic, but after last night, I think they are now strongly in favor of the...