It's All About Advertising
Marvelous piece in the February Esquire: A Short Prayer for Advertising. Author Stephen Marche points out that "there is no outside the ad anymore"--even anti-advertising organizations like Adbusters are their own brand.
Everyone is part of the promotional machinery, and we are submitting to this machinery in every aspect of our existence. Advertising works: Why do you think Americans are so fat and in debt? A world of hyper-advertising in which advertising dominates the basic functions of living will obviously be a world of hyper-consumption.
Now--I get this, having taught middle school for 30 years. Teaching in a middle school is one big blur of cajoling, persuading, promoting, marketing and influencing. And it's not just about managing erratic middle school behaviors--which sometimes need a touch of "threatening," too--but core academics.
How do we get kids to love to read, to crave books by a particular author? To become fascinated by natural
