In
a controversial book a few years ago, Judge Robert Bork
called it “Slouching toward Gommorah”. You can
call it what you will, but you can’t help but notice
this country’s—this civilization’s—slide
into a cultural abyss that is truly frightening. Too many
of us seem to be happily going along, perhaps noticing that
something, somehow is not quite right, but too caught up
in our daily lives to really take heed.
The signs of this “slouching” are manifesting
themselves all over the place. As just one major example,
the notion of personal responsibility is now all but gone,
vanquished as some quaint, Victorian inhibition. The double
whammy of psychological determinism and bizarre legal technicalities
have destroyed the idea that human beings have free will
and can rationally make choices—good or bad—that
have very real outcomes.
No, that just won’t do anymore. Today, trial lawyers
and television commentators, educated at the finest Ivy
League schools, are lining up to inform us that McDonald’s,
Burger King, Frito-Lay and countless other outstanding corporations
are “killing” thousands by “forcing”
their fat-laden food product on us. That’s just one
recent example, but it’s a popular one.
I predicted long ago that after the thought police and new
Left puritans went after the tobacco companies and won they
would come for red meat and fatty foods. Not a moment too
soon and here they are. Attorneys are busy rounding up droves
of fat clients who are ready to blame their lack of discipline
at the drive-through window on the companies that perform
incredible services by providing tasty, inexpensive meals
quickly.
The fat in fast foods make them taste good and, thus, make
money for the companies that sell them. That is moral and
proper. People with weight problems should not eat such
foods and instead seek medical assistance and start exercising.
No lawsuits are needed or should even be considered. The
sob stories of the tubbies now all over national news railing
about their “addiction” to Big Macs and the
“evil” of KFC to dare sell such food is total
frivolity.
Yet, their new cause will triumph. It already has, really.
The fast food chains and snack makers are falling all over
themselves admitting their guilt and selfish love of profits
while scrambling to appear repentant for the crime of giving
us what we want and providing jobs while doing it.
Then I’m reading The Wall Street Journal recently
about how “staid” U.S. marketers now want to
catch up with Europe and show nudity in commercials. “The
U.S. is a younger country,” one genius commented in
the article, and are finally starting to “mature”
when it comes to showing frontal nudity to promote products.
I almost swallowed my double bacon cheeseburger!
“Mature”? Our two-year old pulls her diaper
off and gleefully shouts, “I’m nekkkid!”,
yet this is considered mature marketing by those sophisticated
Europeans! Look, I’m not scared of nudity. The Greeks
had it right when they worshipped the athletic body as an
ideal, as something sacred and beautiful to be proud of
and displayed when proper. But to show nudity on national
television in an effort to sell tennis shoes is offensive
to this noble concept of the human form’s beauty.
Disparate themes in this column? Perhaps, but that’s
how my mind works sometimes and a link does exist. Soon,
we’ll be seeing homosexual, nude men on network television
marketing deodorant followed by an ad for Wendy’s
new non-fat, no calorie, Classic Biggie Toast with lettuce
sauce. Just wait.
We’re witnessing the decline of civilization, folks.
I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the facts
are there. As long as censorship does not exist, those of
us who have discriminating tastes can still entertain and
educate ourselves in our own homes. As soon as we venture
out, however, MTV, Gay-TV, rap and the new leftist puritans
are all over us and our children.
“This is how the world ends/this is how the world
ends/this is how the world ends...Not with a bang but with
a whimper.” You were right, Mr. Eliot. I’m sad
to say, you were right. DBJ
Jack
Criss
DBJ Executive Editor
