I know some friends who say they refuse to pander to the masses, but that's what they do.
I don't care if you're doing business or art, whether you're in the corporate world, artsy fartsy, or plain old soy bean peddler by the street, perhaps even a blind beggar, maybe a politician. You're all subscribing to the almighty brand.
You're selling stuff, by trying to convince people how it will make them be whatever.
For example, I got friends - and some enemies - in both of Malaysia's political camps. You know what they're selling? Not economic stability or growth. They're not selling you the idea of social improvement. Hell no.
You - the masses - never wanted society to improve. You don't want economic stability because if the economy is stable, you have no excuse and nothing to whine about.
So what you want, and what they're selling, is image. Use this product, watch this film or support this candidate, and it will make YOU a ____.
Support the Opposition, and you're a cool leftist Che Guevara. A fighter for the people! That's fucking cool, man! You don't even have to know what Guevara fought for. Or who he killed. Doesn't matter. You're cool and now you will have all the sex. ALL of it.
Support the Government, and you're like, prime material to land a fat Government contract. You're going places. You're a patriot. You're not mainstream like the lefties. You're cool! And with the money, you will buy all the sex. ALL of it.
Man, I fought cool for years. I hated cool. It's so dumb. But that's the world we live in. I shrug and continue to masturbate.
Oh, man. I see how they do it, and I'm like, what? It's the same shit, over and over again. The scary part? It sells. Not cause it works. Nothing makes you anything. It just sells because that's what humans do. That's what they believe in.
Nothing makes you anything. And despite all the quantum physics - which I tend to believe as pseudo-science - perception does not materialise into reality.
The world does not run on magic. It runs on oil, and they just discovered 64 million barrels of it off the shores of Kuantan. That's just RM10 billion or so. But it's enough. For me.
You go take all the cool. I'll take all the money, thanks.
