I'm really getting tired of all this negative talk surrounding the Coca-Cola Super Bowl commercial, but read another article today which has me scratching my head and wondering what planet some people are from.
The article, titled, "Culture: The problem with the Coke ad: You don't get to invent your own definition of America," comes courtesy of Sarah Barnes of CainTV (yes, Herman Cain).
One part of the article which stood out to me was this:
"That's ironic, because failure to communicate is exactly the problem with this ad. We no longer communicate if communicating means defining anything. Nothing has a definition because everyone now invents their own definition for everything. And that's what Coke did in this ad: It invented a new definition for America.
That's a problem, because America actually has a real definition connected to its founding and history. And we need the America of that definition. The real one."
That is ironic, because in saying "everyone now invents their own definition for everything," she's admitted that she too re-defines America, which she believes has a "real" definition and doesn't specify on that very definition.
Later on, she wrote this:
"The problem? The unease? American culture is something children grow up to love. They flee faithful to a country that has sacrificed to provide freedom and liberty. Lives were lost to establish safety for our bodies and our minds. We are grateful! We are willing to die to protect the gift! We send our best, the very best we have to offer, to the front lines of life or death because we believe so strongly in our ideals. We believe so strongly in the culture we have painstakingly built, using building blocks of the lives lost by our best!
It is a part of every single American. Why then is Coke not glorifying the culture that began this great nation, the spirit that is struggling to stay alive today? Why does Coke need to tell us that those building blocks aren't good enough anymore? In just over a minute they told us that multiculturalism, political correctness, and forced equality should replace our time-honored culture and heritage."
So, if "multiculturalism, political correctness, and forced equality" have nothing to do with the "real" definition of America, what is the definition? What is this "time-honored culture and heritage" all about? Should the commercial have depicted women doing housework, African-Americans being slaves, homosexuals being mugged? Should it have shown many people of our ancestry singing "America the Beautiful" in English, German, French, and Polish? You know, Caucasian-dominated European countries? This writer appears to be obsessed with this country's "definition" and "identity," yet oddly enough, appears to have trouble defining it herself.
She then closed with the following:
"I disagree. I am not a liberal. I am a member of a nation that does not want me anymore. I am a member of a family that is replacing me with a second dad, or a female role model, or egg donor. I am a conservative woman. I am descended from the first families to enter this nation from England. They fought to survive the winters and diseases, the pain and death. They were the founders of this great nation. They wanted liberty from government interference. They wanted others to be safe from oppression.
I know some will say that isn't true - and that's exactly what I'm talking about. History is being re-written, over and over, until nobody has a past. You can't know where you are going, until you know where you came from. We built this nation on a culture of liberty, hard work, ingenuity, strong selfless men and women. Why not honor America and Americans without trying to change our culture? I still remember who we are. I still have that knowledge in my heart. We are not some Frankenstein national cadaver of half dead cultures, stitched together by some godless bureaucrats in Washington (or wherever they happen to be vacationing this week.)
If we un-define America, if we make it an ever-changing mesh of ideas, if everyone is an American and everything is American, then nothing is American. When America can no longer be defined, then America ceases to exist. That is the goal. America is being stolen in definition, so it can be stolen in possession. If the definition of America and Americans is not known, then how can our rights be known either? Don't those too then become changeable to whatever half-dead cultural body part we sew this year?
We shouldn't melt. We should welcome those who see the greatness. America shouldn't change, because this nation is needed. We have made it possible for others to exist and greatness to be achieved!
It isn't the language that is the problem, but a small symptom of a larger disease. Identity is the most important thing we can own. My identity defines me as a daughter of the Most High, Ever Lasting, Prince of Peace, King and Creator of the Universe, the great I AM. Without that identity I am nothing. Without that identity, this nation is nothing. While a language or the color of skin is not something to fear, loss of identity, of our definition, is something to be mourned. It means the loss of greatness and the possibility of greatness for generations of people.
What was Coke trying to say? I'm not 100 percent sure, but I know what it felt like. I know it's a bigger problem that needs to be noticed. I notice. What are you afraid of, and will it keep you from greatness? Will it keep you from remembering your identity? Will it keep you from remembering your national identity?"
This is the portion of the piece where the writer really lost me. She appears to be mixed up on her claim that "history is being re-written over and over again, until nobody has a past." It's not that we're continually re-writing our history to the point of not having a past. We're taking knowledge from our history/past to alter our course in the present and future. Everyone's made mistakes in their pasts. They're not re-writing their history if they attempt to learn from those past mistakes to improve themselves and their lives in the present and future.
To another point she tried to make, not everything is American. However, freedom is American. Opportunity is American. Immigration is American. Diversity is American. Difference is American. Change is American. America shouldn't change? If she had always believed that, she wouldn't be writing for CainTV right now. With the advancements in transportation, technology, education, etc., change is inevitable in any and every society. We haven't re-defined America. We've simply taken the original definition and evolved from it. Women can now work outside of the home, vote, and be independent. Minorities can now vote and not have to serve their Masters. Homosexuals are attaining more rights by the year. An increasing number of religions are being practiced in this country. We have maintained our freedoms of speech and religion, but simply have more diversity when it comes to both than we did at this country's inception. And that's the thing. It's not that people like Ms. Barnes are no longer wanted in this country as she claims in her writing. They have just as much right as anyone to express their beliefs and opinions. So, that's not it. It's that people like her are not supportive of some of these societal evolutions, are beginning to feel like the minority in terms of their opinions and beliefs, and have attempted to re-define America by denying the present, as well as mistakes in the past.
Regardless of what Ms. Barnes and others like her want to believe, America has maintained its identity and definition. Freedom is American. Opportunity is American. Immigration is American. Diversity is American. Difference is American. Change is American. My ancestors came to this country from Poland, Germany, England, and France, speaking Polish, German, English, and French. They all hailed from different countries, spoke different languages, but were joined in the U.S. The Coca-Cola commercial depicted this in a more contemporary fashion, as it showcased people from all over the world whom came to this country for a better way of life and to call America home, just like my ancestors. For people to have a problem with this commercial on the grounds that it re-defines America shows that they're both hypocritical and delusional. For if a similar commercial had been made when all of our ancestors ventured to this land, multiple cultures would have been seen, numerous languages would have been heard, and the same force would have brought them all together - the United States of America.
http://www.caintv.com/the-problem-with-the-coke-ad-y
The article, titled, "Culture: The problem with the Coke ad: You don't get to invent your own definition of America," comes courtesy of Sarah Barnes of CainTV (yes, Herman Cain).
One part of the article which stood out to me was this:
"That's ironic, because failure to communicate is exactly the problem with this ad. We no longer communicate if communicating means defining anything. Nothing has a definition because everyone now invents their own definition for everything. And that's what Coke did in this ad: It invented a new definition for America.
That's a problem, because America actually has a real definition connected to its founding and history. And we need the America of that definition. The real one."
That is ironic, because in saying "everyone now invents their own definition for everything," she's admitted that she too re-defines America, which she believes has a "real" definition and doesn't specify on that very definition.
Later on, she wrote this:
"The problem? The unease? American culture is something children grow up to love. They flee faithful to a country that has sacrificed to provide freedom and liberty. Lives were lost to establish safety for our bodies and our minds. We are grateful! We are willing to die to protect the gift! We send our best, the very best we have to offer, to the front lines of life or death because we believe so strongly in our ideals. We believe so strongly in the culture we have painstakingly built, using building blocks of the lives lost by our best!
It is a part of every single American. Why then is Coke not glorifying the culture that began this great nation, the spirit that is struggling to stay alive today? Why does Coke need to tell us that those building blocks aren't good enough anymore? In just over a minute they told us that multiculturalism, political correctness, and forced equality should replace our time-honored culture and heritage."
So, if "multiculturalism, political correctness, and forced equality" have nothing to do with the "real" definition of America, what is the definition? What is this "time-honored culture and heritage" all about? Should the commercial have depicted women doing housework, African-Americans being slaves, homosexuals being mugged? Should it have shown many people of our ancestry singing "America the Beautiful" in English, German, French, and Polish? You know, Caucasian-dominated European countries? This writer appears to be obsessed with this country's "definition" and "identity," yet oddly enough, appears to have trouble defining it herself.
She then closed with the following:
"I disagree. I am not a liberal. I am a member of a nation that does not want me anymore. I am a member of a family that is replacing me with a second dad, or a female role model, or egg donor. I am a conservative woman. I am descended from the first families to enter this nation from England. They fought to survive the winters and diseases, the pain and death. They were the founders of this great nation. They wanted liberty from government interference. They wanted others to be safe from oppression.
I know some will say that isn't true - and that's exactly what I'm talking about. History is being re-written, over and over, until nobody has a past. You can't know where you are going, until you know where you came from. We built this nation on a culture of liberty, hard work, ingenuity, strong selfless men and women. Why not honor America and Americans without trying to change our culture? I still remember who we are. I still have that knowledge in my heart. We are not some Frankenstein national cadaver of half dead cultures, stitched together by some godless bureaucrats in Washington (or wherever they happen to be vacationing this week.)
If we un-define America, if we make it an ever-changing mesh of ideas, if everyone is an American and everything is American, then nothing is American. When America can no longer be defined, then America ceases to exist. That is the goal. America is being stolen in definition, so it can be stolen in possession. If the definition of America and Americans is not known, then how can our rights be known either? Don't those too then become changeable to whatever half-dead cultural body part we sew this year?
We shouldn't melt. We should welcome those who see the greatness. America shouldn't change, because this nation is needed. We have made it possible for others to exist and greatness to be achieved!
It isn't the language that is the problem, but a small symptom of a larger disease. Identity is the most important thing we can own. My identity defines me as a daughter of the Most High, Ever Lasting, Prince of Peace, King and Creator of the Universe, the great I AM. Without that identity I am nothing. Without that identity, this nation is nothing. While a language or the color of skin is not something to fear, loss of identity, of our definition, is something to be mourned. It means the loss of greatness and the possibility of greatness for generations of people.
What was Coke trying to say? I'm not 100 percent sure, but I know what it felt like. I know it's a bigger problem that needs to be noticed. I notice. What are you afraid of, and will it keep you from greatness? Will it keep you from remembering your identity? Will it keep you from remembering your national identity?"
This is the portion of the piece where the writer really lost me. She appears to be mixed up on her claim that "history is being re-written over and over again, until nobody has a past." It's not that we're continually re-writing our history to the point of not having a past. We're taking knowledge from our history/past to alter our course in the present and future. Everyone's made mistakes in their pasts. They're not re-writing their history if they attempt to learn from those past mistakes to improve themselves and their lives in the present and future.
To another point she tried to make, not everything is American. However, freedom is American. Opportunity is American. Immigration is American. Diversity is American. Difference is American. Change is American. America shouldn't change? If she had always believed that, she wouldn't be writing for CainTV right now. With the advancements in transportation, technology, education, etc., change is inevitable in any and every society. We haven't re-defined America. We've simply taken the original definition and evolved from it. Women can now work outside of the home, vote, and be independent. Minorities can now vote and not have to serve their Masters. Homosexuals are attaining more rights by the year. An increasing number of religions are being practiced in this country. We have maintained our freedoms of speech and religion, but simply have more diversity when it comes to both than we did at this country's inception. And that's the thing. It's not that people like Ms. Barnes are no longer wanted in this country as she claims in her writing. They have just as much right as anyone to express their beliefs and opinions. So, that's not it. It's that people like her are not supportive of some of these societal evolutions, are beginning to feel like the minority in terms of their opinions and beliefs, and have attempted to re-define America by denying the present, as well as mistakes in the past.
Regardless of what Ms. Barnes and others like her want to believe, America has maintained its identity and definition. Freedom is American. Opportunity is American. Immigration is American. Diversity is American. Difference is American. Change is American. My ancestors came to this country from Poland, Germany, England, and France, speaking Polish, German, English, and French. They all hailed from different countries, spoke different languages, but were joined in the U.S. The Coca-Cola commercial depicted this in a more contemporary fashion, as it showcased people from all over the world whom came to this country for a better way of life and to call America home, just like my ancestors. For people to have a problem with this commercial on the grounds that it re-defines America shows that they're both hypocritical and delusional. For if a similar commercial had been made when all of our ancestors ventured to this land, multiple cultures would have been seen, numerous languages would have been heard, and the same force would have brought them all together - the United States of America.
http://www.caintv.com/the-problem-with-the-coke-ad-y
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