Comments on: ….and then there is this… https://habitablezone.com/2011/09/03/and-then-there-is-this/ Tue, 07 Apr 2026 03:03:56 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2011/09/03/and-then-there-is-this/#comment-5314 ER Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:13:28 +0000 http://habitablezone.com/?p=3438#comment-5314 I wouldn't worry about it. For hundreds of years, Roman kids went with their parents to the Circus and saw gladiators fight to the death and wild beasts devouring Christians. And they were the founders of Western Civilization. I wouldn’t worry about it. For hundreds of years, Roman kids went with their parents to the Circus and saw gladiators fight to the death and wild beasts devouring Christians.

And they were the founders of Western Civilization.

]]> By: Jody https://habitablezone.com/2011/09/03/and-then-there-is-this/#comment-5313 Jody Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:05:33 +0000 http://habitablezone.com/?p=3438#comment-5313 I am gonna move to Timbuktu...I swan. Ya know though ER....digressing here...but look what you and I have been exposed to as children....I saw a murder on TV for God's sake!!! Lee Harvey Oswald. I have seen JFK murdered over and over again. I do know that now a days, a counselor is available for the children. I am gonna move to Timbuktu…I swan.

Ya know though ER….digressing here…but look what you and I have been exposed to as children….I saw a murder on TV for God’s sake!!! Lee Harvey Oswald. I have seen JFK murdered over and over again.
I do know that now a days, a counselor is available for the children.

]]> By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2011/09/03/and-then-there-is-this/#comment-5309 ER Sat, 03 Sep 2011 17:30:22 +0000 http://habitablezone.com/?p=3438#comment-5309 Well, Pat Robertson claimed the Teletubbies were gay propaganda designed to turn children into homosexuals, and Ariel Dorfmann was convinced the entire Disney cartoon universe was US cultural imperialism and indoctrination (proving that 'toon intolerance is both bipartisan and ecumenical. And of course, we are presently bombarded with a chorus of frightened voices admonishing us sternly about how "Sesame Street" is brainwashing our children. I guess the Red Smurf Menace can't be ruled out either. The best one in this vein I stumbled on accidentally (and I kick myself for not having saved the link)was one scholarly analysis of "Dilbert". The writer argued that "Dilbert" was not a satire on the modern office, hence a slightly veiled criticism of Capitalism and worker/management relations, but just the opposite: it was an apology for Capitalism and a devastating attack on the critics of Capitalism. The evidence: the "Dilbert" cartoonist was himself a former manager and administrator/executive, and that even though Management was always characterized as buffoons, they always got their way, the workers never organized, and were constantly divided amongst themselves. Not to mention they were a pretty ineffectual bunch of slackers whose modest talents were irrelevant unless organized by the boss. When the workers did succeed at anything, it was usually destructive and self-defeating. The idea was that the humorous surface tone against management only obscured a deeper, more vital subtext; that opposition to management was in itself both pointless and inept, and that the only way of resolving workplace dilemma was to join management and work from within to 'fix the system'. This carries the essential management message, "don't fight us, join us", which allows them to get away with anything because their way alone offers liberty and freedom to advance and an alternative to chaos. The superficial anti-management tone was just a smokescreen to make this hidden message more acceptable by lowering defenses to it. I wish I could communicate that author's arguments more effectively than I just did, he was brilliant at articulating his case. I never did decide whether he was serious, or just satirizing himself! Well, Pat Robertson claimed the Teletubbies were gay propaganda designed to turn children into homosexuals, and Ariel Dorfmann was convinced the entire Disney cartoon universe was US cultural imperialism and indoctrination (proving that ‘toon intolerance is both bipartisan and ecumenical. And of course, we are presently bombarded with a chorus of frightened voices admonishing us sternly about how “Sesame Street” is brainwashing our children.

I guess the Red Smurf Menace can’t be ruled out either.

The best one in this vein I stumbled on accidentally (and I kick myself for not having saved the link)was one scholarly analysis of “Dilbert”.

The writer argued that “Dilbert” was not a satire on the modern office, hence a slightly veiled criticism of Capitalism and worker/management relations, but just the opposite: it was an apology for Capitalism and a devastating attack on the critics of Capitalism.

The evidence: the “Dilbert” cartoonist was himself a former manager and administrator/executive, and that even though Management was always characterized as buffoons, they always got their way, the workers never organized, and were constantly divided amongst themselves. Not to mention they were a pretty ineffectual bunch of slackers whose modest talents were irrelevant unless organized by the boss. When the workers did succeed at anything, it was usually destructive and self-defeating.

The idea was that the humorous surface tone against management only obscured a deeper, more vital subtext; that opposition to management was in itself both pointless and inept, and that the only way of resolving workplace dilemma was to join management and work from within to ‘fix the system’. This carries the essential management message, “don’t fight us, join us”, which allows them to get away with anything because their way alone offers liberty and freedom to advance and an alternative to chaos. The superficial anti-management tone was just a smokescreen to make this hidden message more acceptable by lowering defenses to it.

I wish I could communicate that author’s arguments more effectively than I just did, he was brilliant at articulating his case. I never did decide whether he was serious, or just satirizing himself!

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