Best of 2009 - December 30

December 30 – Ad (What advertisement made you think this year?
Since I don't have TV, I don't really see ads anymore. So, while the following isn't an "ad" per se, it did make me think. (The original video is no longer on YouTube, so I am posting a video that shows the original but with commentary on top.)





This video makes me think about two main topics.

First, I think it's sad that we care about celebrities so much and put them on pedestals. Who cares if a celebrity pledges to be a better person? First, they should stop being such bad examples to children by making inappropriate movies and dressing like porn starts, and then they should quietly make changes to their private behavior. That's great if you pledge not to give someone the finger (though, honestly, you probably have a chauffeur and don't even pay attention to the road anyway), or if you want to donate money to a worthy charity. But posting about it for the whole world to see how great you are doesn't count. It then becomes a publicity stunt and not true charity. But, I guess it doesn't really matter, since I expect that someone wrote this script and the celebrities are just reading it, which make their "pledges" even less valuable.

That rant aside, this video also made me think in another way about how I can improve my own personal citizenship. Lately, I've been frustrated at the growing lack of civility (which is partially why this talk on anger and this talk on basic civility and values are so good), especially between those on opposite sides of a political issue (examples: Glenn Beck and followers vs. "the czars" or supporters of gay marriage vs the conservative religions). I personally believe it is entirely possible to disagree with someone and still be polite. As an example, there is a neighbor of mine with whom I almost entirely disagree on political/religious matters: gay marriage, health care reform, religion, creationism/evolution, etc. But yet, we are friends, and any discussion we have on these matters is informative, interesting, but most of all civil. I personally feel that I leave our discussions uplifted with new viewpoints to ponder, but not attacked or resentful. So, I think instead of celebrities telling us to swear to be a servant of Barack Obama, we should all try to find ways to be better citizens, whether that be actually voting in local, state, and national elections; cleaning up the trash in our neighborhoods; volunteering to sit on community boards, the PTA, or volunteering in classrooms; being more polite and civil to those with whom we disagree; or whatever improvement we feel we need to make. While I can see the benefit of displaying these goals (it helps increase responsibility to follow through), we should also make sure that posting any need to improve should not be for the purpose of saying, "Look at me and watch the great things I will do."