Scapegoat
We're a simple people and with the 60s long gone, we like to take stances in order to feel important and join others in the same cause in blaming certain things for everything that's wrong in the world--and generally there's one specific target that we aim toward even though clones exist in every other direction. Usually it's because this target is the best or biggest, and it's so much more fun to take them down, and so much easier too! After all who actually likes to do critical thinking?
Here are some examples:
Hummer H2 - Yeah it's big, brash, and gets horrible mileage, but it's no bigger or worse for the environment than any other full sized SUV. The Hummer is the face of the whole anti-SUV movement, and people point at them for the fuel crisis, global warming, Mid-East conflicts, etc..but you never hear people give off the same criticisms when they see a Toyota Sequoia/Lexus LX470 or Benz GL out there, which are bigger and get marginally better fuel mileage than the Hummers/Escalades of the world (if they even do).. the same goes for performance sports cars that get mileage in the low-mid teen range that have zero utility (at least you can stuff a Hummer with lots of people/cargo).
Sure there's the whole image the Hummer H2 gives off that's part of the blame, but just from the standpoint of what's killing off baby seals, it's no worse than any number of popular vehicles out there.
Walmart - There's a million reasons to hate them--but for some reason they take all the criticism while Target gets none of it and is actually welcomed. Buying or supporting one is the equivalent of supporting the other. They both pay their employees about the same, both import their products from 3rd world countries, and if you shop at either you're most definitely not helping out the mom & pop/local businesses out there which apparently only Walmart is capable of driving out..
The only difference is a) Target charges more for their products and gives off some sort of image of "class" b) Walmart is way bigger, and c) Target's PR dept kills Walmart's.
So many anti-Walmart people who dislike them because they're killing mom/pop somehow think shopping at Target, or Home Depot or wherever is somehow helpful to the local business owners in their town, which is a ridiculous notion.
At least with Walmart there's the passing on of the slave labor wages from whatever 3rd world country that's making their products onto the lower class of America that truly can't afford to shop elsehwere (e.g. my parents when they first immigrated over here)--at Target you just ending up paying more for the same crappy products and providing them with higher profit margins.
I could go further but this article sums everything up (in a 3-page article) pretty well.
Barry Bonds - Yup he cheated at the sport, but so did all his peers, and he did it better than all the other cheaters. Maybe he shouldn't have lied about it, but the blame is laid on him because he was so good at cheating, and because he's a class A jackass, making it easier to point the finger to him.
McDonald's - They're unhealthy and will kill you young if you're eating all their popular items everyday--but uh the exact thing is true about every other restaurant out there. Not just the fast food places either, pretty much any popular item at any "trendy" restaurant, from Chili's, TGI Friday's, and Cheesecake Factory out there is going to be loaded with fat, calories, and will give you a heart attack. Restaurants rarely become popular because they're healthy--they become popular (and hence profitable) because of taste, and in order for things to taste good for Americans you need to add lots of butter and fat and cheese to their foods.
But McDonald's seen as the reason why everyone is fat and dying, when basically the joke of a documentary Supersize Me could've featured any restaurant out there and come to the same conclusion--eating lots of fatty foods makes you fat, OMG.
At least w/ McDonald's you'll have money left over to pay for the angioplasty.
Mmm $1 double cheeseburgers.
Aaron Rodgers - Poor guy, he's had nothing to do with Brett Favre flip flopping all over the place, Packers fans need to LEAVE AARON ALONE.
What else is out there?
We're a simple people and with the 60s long gone, we like to take stances in order to feel important and join others in the same cause in blaming certain things for everything that's wrong in the world--and generally there's one specific target that we aim toward even though clones exist in every other direction. Usually it's because this target is the best or biggest, and it's so much more fun to take them down, and so much easier too! After all who actually likes to do critical thinking?
Here are some examples:
Hummer H2 - Yeah it's big, brash, and gets horrible mileage, but it's no bigger or worse for the environment than any other full sized SUV. The Hummer is the face of the whole anti-SUV movement, and people point at them for the fuel crisis, global warming, Mid-East conflicts, etc..but you never hear people give off the same criticisms when they see a Toyota Sequoia/Lexus LX470 or Benz GL out there, which are bigger and get marginally better fuel mileage than the Hummers/Escalades of the world (if they even do).. the same goes for performance sports cars that get mileage in the low-mid teen range that have zero utility (at least you can stuff a Hummer with lots of people/cargo).
Sure there's the whole image the Hummer H2 gives off that's part of the blame, but just from the standpoint of what's killing off baby seals, it's no worse than any number of popular vehicles out there.
Walmart - There's a million reasons to hate them--but for some reason they take all the criticism while Target gets none of it and is actually welcomed. Buying or supporting one is the equivalent of supporting the other. They both pay their employees about the same, both import their products from 3rd world countries, and if you shop at either you're most definitely not helping out the mom & pop/local businesses out there which apparently only Walmart is capable of driving out..
The only difference is a) Target charges more for their products and gives off some sort of image of "class" b) Walmart is way bigger, and c) Target's PR dept kills Walmart's.
So many anti-Walmart people who dislike them because they're killing mom/pop somehow think shopping at Target, or Home Depot or wherever is somehow helpful to the local business owners in their town, which is a ridiculous notion.
At least with Walmart there's the passing on of the slave labor wages from whatever 3rd world country that's making their products onto the lower class of America that truly can't afford to shop elsehwere (e.g. my parents when they first immigrated over here)--at Target you just ending up paying more for the same crappy products and providing them with higher profit margins.
I could go further but this article sums everything up (in a 3-page article) pretty well.
Barry Bonds - Yup he cheated at the sport, but so did all his peers, and he did it better than all the other cheaters. Maybe he shouldn't have lied about it, but the blame is laid on him because he was so good at cheating, and because he's a class A jackass, making it easier to point the finger to him.
McDonald's - They're unhealthy and will kill you young if you're eating all their popular items everyday--but uh the exact thing is true about every other restaurant out there. Not just the fast food places either, pretty much any popular item at any "trendy" restaurant, from Chili's, TGI Friday's, and Cheesecake Factory out there is going to be loaded with fat, calories, and will give you a heart attack. Restaurants rarely become popular because they're healthy--they become popular (and hence profitable) because of taste, and in order for things to taste good for Americans you need to add lots of butter and fat and cheese to their foods.
But McDonald's seen as the reason why everyone is fat and dying, when basically the joke of a documentary Supersize Me could've featured any restaurant out there and come to the same conclusion--eating lots of fatty foods makes you fat, OMG.
At least w/ McDonald's you'll have money left over to pay for the angioplasty.
Mmm $1 double cheeseburgers.
Aaron Rodgers - Poor guy, he's had nothing to do with Brett Favre flip flopping all over the place, Packers fans need to LEAVE AARON ALONE.
What else is out there?
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