The future is here

I just finished Frederik Pohl's The Merchant's War. A great sequel to his superbly cowritten The Space Merchants.

The book deals with many things. Mostly, it deals with commercialism, consumerism, and addiction. An unholy trinity that is the cornerstone of western economy. The story is set in the far future and is a satiracal view of our advertising driven culture. I gotta tell you, the future is here. Just go one full day without seeing an ad. No? How about an hour? (While awake.) This would mean not surfing the web, no television, no magazines, no driving, no radio, no clothing with logos. You can't even go into a bathroom stall without seeing an ad. You'll pretty much have to go naked into the forest to avoid the barrage of corporate manipulation. Perhaps even then you can't get away.

It really has me wondering how much of my life is a conditioned response; programmed by Madison avenue. I checked my yahoo mail and there was an ad for xxxx-a-Cola with boincing bubbles. I saw the ad and I heard the jingle even though the speakers weren't on.


Anyway... on an unrelated note, I'm wondering if I should add Googles AdSense banner advertising to the blog. B)

Maybe not.