When I drove across the country a couple of weeks ago, something had changed since the last time I made the trek; what happened to all the pro-life billboards? When driving through the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin a couple of summers ago it seemed like we couldn't go a mile or two without seeing an 'Abortion is Murder' billboard with a picture of a hacked up fetus on it. And all that graphic, shock and shame-based marketing made me think of sandwiches.
Hold on, I can explain! Have you seen or heard a Subway commercial lately? The bulk of their advertising in the past few years has been focused on shaming and mocking overweight people.
OK, so it's not exactly saying, 'Have another burger, fatass!' but the implication is there: if you don't eat what we tell you to eat, you'll be fat, and if you're fat, you're miserable and unlovable. Just ask Jared. Maybe that's effective marketing, but it's also pretty slimy. Besides that, Quizno's is so much better than Subway, and Quizno's never gave me shit for going to Carl's Jr. They just told me their sandwiches tasted good. (And have you had that Batch 81 sauce? It rivals Arby's Sauce as the greatest condiment ever created.)
So Subway wants you to be ashamed of what you eat, and the Midwest wants you to hate yourself for the rest of your life if you've ever even considered an abortion, but it's not just Big Sandwich and the Religious Right who use shame to sell products and push agendas -- have a look at some animal rescue websites.
Check out Causes on Facebook, of which my organization has begun to make good use recently; the top animal rescue organizations on that site are showing you pictures of mangled fighting dogs, burned kittens, or just sad-ass puppies waiting miserably to be adopted. Don't you dare look away -- these animals need your help. And the fact that these top animal welfare organizations, including ASPCA, HSUS, and PETA, oppose the no-kill movement, meaning that in many cases they advocate the killing of the very same animals in their photos, all the while calling it 'rescue', you shouldn't be dissuaded from giving them your money, because after all, if you don't, more pit bulls will be mangled, and more kittens will be set on fire. Hell, you might as well be holding the match.
And then there's this delightful ad:
I can't tell you how many people have told me they turn the TV off when that one comes on. I'm surprised the networks will even air it. So I'd like to pose a few questions, to HSUS and the other organizations that use similar marketing strategies to raise money for their rescue (and animal killing) work -- Do you think the 'shock and shame' model changes hearts and minds? Do you think you make more money showing people disgusting images of torture, or showing them an alternative? And if you're showing people graphic images of animal suffering in order to raise money for your cause, aren't you exploiting those animals for gain, even benefiting from their pain? Is any of it really necessary?
I deal with the horror of animal abuse every day. I see the things in the HSUS ads firsthand. And I change the channel when those commercials come on. I don't deny that the ads are effective -- clearly they attract donors and volunteers, but I think it would be interesting to see psych evaluations done on the people who respond favorably to them. I can't responsibly hypothesize about what the results would indicate, but I will say that the reputation of animal rescuers for being 'crazy' isn't entirely undeserved, and furthermore, when I, who live in a kennel with a pack of feral dogs, often feel like one of the most sane people in our field, something's very wrong. I think it's entirely possible that shock and shame attract the mentally ill and repel the mentally stable. Honestly, if you think about it, how could that not be the case? If nothing else it's manipulative, and mentally stable people tend to walk away when they feel they're being manipulated.
I've stayed away from shock and shame in my own organization's website and promotional materials, preferring to show people images of healthy animals playing and having a good time. Sure, I tell their stories, but if I tell you a dog's face was torn half-off, do I really need to show you a photo of it? There's a big difference between not hiding the ugly truth from people and shoving it in their faces. Do I need to put a grotesque image in your head that haunts you for the rest of your life? Do I need to give your children nightmares? My Sanctuary may not be a multi-million dollar a year organization (yet), but for a nonprofit founded less than three years ago, I think we do pretty well. In the last five hours we've raised $150 with this photo:
It's not a ton of money, but we'll use every cent of it to save animals. Maybe we'd get more money if she was covered in wounds and lying in a pool of blood, but I'm not doing that. We'll build this organization without blood money, without shame money, without 'Please God make it stop!' money. And unlike the others, we won't be then using that money to kill healthy dogs and cats in some back room. Look -- I can be as negative and accusatory as anyone (this rant is the proof), but putting aside whatever foul mood I might be in or whatever's pissing me off today, even the very topic of this entry, 'at the end of the day' as they say, I'd rather create beauty than try to put a dent in ugliness. Sure, it's semantics, a glass half full/glass half empty kind of thing (or as my good friend Brent once said, the glass is half empty, and the other half is piss) but if I have the choice between showing you how ugly the world is or showing you another option, well, I think you know where I stand.
Let's face it -- this is America, we're a capitalist society, and we don't want socialism in our country, in any of its forms. If we wanted our government to take care of us, we'd move to France. We're not looking for handouts; we're living the American Dream, doing it our way -- the American Way. We don't want to get paid to go to college. We don't want six weeks of paid vacation every year. Government sponsored maternity leave? Forget it! And we sure as hell don't want free health care! And why not? Because all of those things mean higher taxes, and instead of paying that money to the US government, we'd rather pay college tuition, hospital bills, insurance premiums -- we cut out the middleman, because anything less would be un-American.
But unfortunately, socialism is already alive and well in America, and if we're going to be a truly capitalist society and keep those vodka swilling Russians and red Chinese from taking over, we need to root out every form of socialism from our way of life. What socialism, you ask? That's the scary thing -- you don't even realize how much socialism those commie liberals have already sneaked into your everyday life.
Let's start with education -- the public school system is a purely socialist institution. Can you believe there are people in this country who think that every child living in the United States has a right to an education? And the taxpayers are footing the bill! I don't have any kids, so why should I pay for their education? What do I care if they grow up to be morons? If they want an education, they can go to private school like I did, and their parents can pay tuition like my mom did, or would have done if I hadn't had discounted tuition because she was a teacher at the school and an academic scholarship to cover the rest. After all, it was only $18,000 a year. I say the public schools are crap anyway -- get rid of them all, get government regulations out of education, and any cheapskate parents who aren't willing to fork over thousands of dollars a year for their children's educations can home school them. Besides, who wants their kids learning 'evolution' and 'sex ed' anyway? That junk science just leads to evil behavior, like wildlife conservation and using condoms.
And we can't stop with schools; how about police and fire departments? Who do you call when your house is on fire? The fire department? Socialist! A real American puts that fire out himself, or pays an immigrant to do it. I'm tired of my tax dollars being spent to put out other people's fires. If you don't want your house to burn down, don't light it on fire! And cops -- don't even get me started! We can take a cue from your commie friends in Nicaragua on this one; I've been down there, and when you want a cop, you have to pay him. Now that's capitalism!
Public roads? Screw that -- I've got four wheel drive. Prisons? Why should I pay to lock up rapists and murderers when I can just shoot them with the fully automatic rifle the US Constitution guarantees me the right to own? The military? Who needs an army when we've got rednecks and Blackwater? FDA? I don't need some bureaucrat to tell me when there's poison in my food. Foster care? They aren't my kids. Veterans' hospitals? They shouldn't have gotten shot. National Parks? Why should my tax dollars pay some guy in a khaki uniform to tell me where I can't mine for gold or blow the heads off of God's creatures? This land is my land, and I'll do with it what I please!
And what about that lurking, stinking, wretched assault on the American way of life called the welfare system? Don't have a job? No problem! We'll pay you not to work! Have kids and no money to buy them food? No problem! Have some food stamps! By all means, let the hard-working American taxpayers support your family for you! Buy some Twinkies with those food stamps! We don't mind a bit! Some people think the welfare system is flawed, but that we still need it for those who truly do require assistance. Are they crazy? If you need food, get a job! If you're injured, suck it up and get back to work! We all have to take care of ourselves -- we're not here to take care of each other. That's not the American way.
And then there's health care; good Americans who love Jesus are taking a stand against socialized medicine, but did you know that our health care system is already overrun with socialism? Yeah -- would you believe that hospitals actually get state funding based on the number of patients they receive? And get this -- if you have a life threatening injury or illness and you go to a hospital, they're legally required to treat you, even if you don't have any money, and you know who pays for that, right? You and I, the taxpaying citizens of this country. Well I say not only do we not need universal health care, we need to weed out the socialism that's already destroying our health care system. I say if you can't afford health care, get a job. If you don't want your insurance company telling your doctor what treatment you can receive, then pay your own medical bills. I say if you don't have health insurance, you're shit out of luck. And if you think hospitals in low income areas have a lower standard of care, why don't you move to a better neighborhood? Around here, people are airlifted to bigger, better hospitals for all but the most basic of emergency procedures, and I think that's just fine. Seriously, are you going to turn down a helicopter ride just so you can have your life-saving surgery a couple of hours sooner? Get your priorities straight. When are you ever going to have a better excuse to spend $15,000 for a ride in a chopper?
I think the problem with this country is that we've forgotten the American Dream; our ancestors didn't invade this land and commit genocide on its inhabitants so we could become a nation of freeloaders -- so we could let some 'public servant' like Barack Obama implement programs to keep us 'safe' and 'healthy'. This is America, a God-fearing nation founded on competition, where the government is supposed to stay out of the way of progress. If you want to tell me who I can have sex with, fine, because that really does affect everyone, but don't you dare try to tell me how to make my money, and you'd better keep your dirty hands off of it. If I want to give my hard-earned money away, I'll donate it to my church; hell, they're the ones who ought to be in charge of things anyway. Some people say that would send us back to the Dark Ages. I say what's wrong with returning to a simpler time? People knew their place back then. Why not go back to the Dark Ages? In fact, I say bring on the Stone Age -- just make sure the stones are red, white, and blue.
