On Mon, 1 Dec 2008 02:42:30 +0000, Ed Pawlowski wrote
(in article ):

I especially like the part in our Constitution that says "all men must
compete for bargains at holidays sales"
No one made them get up to go to the store, be it Wal Mart, Best Buy, JC
Penney, etc.

It's next to the bits that say that in order to be accepted/admired by your
peers:

You must wear clothes and hairstyles that fashion dictates are the norm or
better still, will become the norm in the very near future while maintaining
a slight edge or
difference that will persuade everyone else to follow suit yet enhance your
alpha status
(Meanwhile, you must certainly own a necktie or two.)

You gotta have the very latest ipod, cellphone, satnav to survive.

A city child cannot be educated unless conspicuously driven right to the
school door in a military
or big-game hunting vehicle.

You should proclaim belief in a monotheistic religion from the following
limited options... (C,P,J,X,Y,Z...)

You can have any political views you like, but definitely not _that_ one.

and many, many more things that are not actually written down but
nevertheless are "rules." Some are very loose and need only be followed by
those seeking some sort of alpha or celebrity status, Close behind are those
which to transgress would only have you labelled as "uncool" or "unusual"
in some way. Disregarding others would maybe have you considered as
"harmlessly eccentric" and maybe regarded more or less suspiciously. Yet
others would be very dangerous not to go along with. A lot depends on where
(and when) you are and whom you're with.

This stuff doesn't have to be written down. It still provides leverage on
society.

I agree that nowhere does it say that man must be a sheep, herded by market
forces, manipulated by the marketing industry and driven by advertising to
consume or behave in a certain way - but look around you and tell me it ain't
necessarily so. Were it not, we would not have seen the tragedy that kicked
this thread off.

Look around you and tell me people are _really_ free.

I really wish you could.