Stuff I'm Reading: Amway--the Cult of Free Enterprise

Amway: The Cult of Free Enterprise by Steve Butterfield

Amway is more than just a company: it is a movement, based on conformity and a devaluation of human relationships. Everybody exists either to help you sell stuff or they are “stinking thinkers” who are of no value to you.
A lot of the time this book is so shocking because the author’s tone (up until the climactic chapters) is so dispassionate and matter of fact. He really just lays it out: Amway’s approach on marriage, the family, sex, etc., to the point where it is easy to forget that we’re talking about a company and not an actual cult. I have found myself so shocked at the information within this book, and it is compounded by the really great job Butterfield did in capturing the culture of this group.
Of course, I think Amway is only an extreme example of what goes on in a corporate mentality--even the smaller ones. It is easier to control and maintain people who think that what they are doing is in their own best interests who "love" the company. Amway's perverse use of love to sell their products is enough to sicken anyone, making one doubt the very meaning of love.
I did a six month stint at a grocery store a few years back, and the attitude of many of the workers reminds me of the Amway mentality: people thrilled to work overtime, praising the company’s health plan (which I was screwed out of because I was “part time” at just 39 hours), just a general feeling that The Company Saved my Life. It was a little eerie.
A job is a job and that’s it. Let me work and leave me alone.
This book was chilling. Even though it is over 20 years old, the web research I’ve done would indicate that little has changed. A quick google search shows me that the author died about 5 years ago. This work is an excellent testament to this man’s writing ability and his desire to use the truth to set people free.

Amazon link.

A great site about Amway that led me into the quest for this book.
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

I’ve got a secret…a dirty secret.

The Secret: a movie I watched today.

I was writing, or trying to write a post about this movie but it just got so ridiculous I didn’t really feel like exposing everyone to what I thought about it. I did something that I never, ever do, and I actually read through nearly all of the user comments on IMDB about it. For some reason, this movie inspires a visceral reaction to it’s ideas. I admit, I’m fascinated by the way people hate it.

So screw it, here goes.

The basic premise of this movie is that the energy you put forth teaches the universe how to treat you--whatever you feel, whatever you want, the world has a way of making sure you get it, whether it is good or bad. Put forth positive energy, and good things tend to happen, and vice versa for negativity.

My criticisms: some cheesy production, and the ideas presented, as I understand them, are not new. And in all honesty, the assumption is that everyone who wants something is essentially good, with no bad motives or desires. Adolph Hitler can visualize the destruction of the Jews and it’s okay because he just really wants it (I stole this idea from Dan Savage in his book The Commitment, thank you!). People are not inherently good. They are not bad either, they merely are. The Secret is pretty much like watching an episode of Oprah except Oprah never shows up. Which is weird. (I actually think that Miracle Man guy they showed was on Oprah.)
One of the things that I think is so hilarious is reading reviews on IMDB and seeing how violently against this movie people are. I just read one that called it a “scam.” And a “lie.” Like they are selling Amway or something (but this site is more fun!) . Where exactly is the scam, or the lie? I just wonder what about this so plainly irritates people. (Granted, the internet is probably not the best indicator of opinion--I think people are much more likely to go on-line about stuff they hate then about stuff they like, but come on.)
I have read reviews that say how much this movie insults poor starving children in Africa and Jews who died in the Holocaust because apparently they didn’t wish hard enough to get out of their situations. I say this is bullcrap--if you understand Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you see that self-actualization occurs after all the other basic issues of food, safety and security are addressed. (if you believe in Maslow, but as the internet keeps teaching me, not everyone does.) So saying that this perpetuates a “blame the victim” mentality is false. What it says is that now that we have come to this point in our history that we do not need to be hunting and gathering for our very survival, we can in fact concentrate on happiness. God forbid.

Yeah, I know, just shut up and play the damn keyboard.
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

The Ballad of Kyle

My car, the Kyle, has cheated death more than once. After three years with him, he has survived two very serious challenges, as well as a few smaller ones.

The first came two years ago, when I broke down in upstate New York, on my way back from recording “Prepare to be Keyboarded” in Massachusetts. As I cruised down the Taconic State Parkway, idly doing an Andy Rooney impression (“don’t you hate when your car coffee cup holders are…just a bit too small?”) suddenly the engine began revving, and revving, the RPMs going off the scale, the shift light coming on, even though I was already in 5th gear. By the time I reached the top of a big hill to limp into a “scenic overlook,” I knew I was in trouble. Hours later, as the tow truck came and took me to Red Hook, New York, little did I know that this would be where he would stay for 3 weeks as I debated whether this was the end for Kyle until the mechanics finally got around to putting in my new clutch.


A few months after that, I was rear-ended as I was driving in the rain while rocking out to a Bad Religion song. This caused my trunk to be permanently shut. Then sometime last year, my radio was stolen as I was at work--I mean, who the hell steals radios anymore? And then at some point last year my driver’s side door latch broke, causing the door not to shut and making me use rope to hold it while I am stuck climbing in the passenger side.

And lately there has been the problem of Kyle not starting…which is what led to the second major challenge to my ownership of him. As the car sat, not starting at all, in its spot in front of the house, I made calls and inquiries about other cars, assuming that Kyle was dead (or at any rate, too expensive for me to bother with anymore). The next day, for the sheer hell of it I tried to start him up…which he did. Confounded, wondering what to do, I decided to drive him to the local service station. Ever since the “rope holds my door shut” thing, I’ve been hesitant to take him to any mechanic, for fear that he would laugh at me and tell me he didn’t want to bother with my little piece of…Kyle. But he looked at him, and figured out it was the main relay and now he lives. He lives!

I guess I love this car because I feel sorry for it. And yeah, I know it’s gay to call your car a boys name. Shut it.
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Stuff I'm Reading: Dishwasher 16

Dishwasher #16 by Dishwasher Pete
Dishwasher has been the chronicle of Pete’s quest to wash dishes in all 50 states, always hilarious and fun and an inspiration to me as a writer (and a dishwasher). This is a zine that has always spoken to my sensibilities, easily making my top 3 list of favorite zines of all time. And as entertaining as it is, it only ever costs a dollar or two, making it a wildly good value, much better than any comic book out there.
Number 16 is bittersweet, because it is the last issue ever, and for that I am sad.
By this issue, we learn that Pete has given up the 50 state Dish quest and he accounts for the long, long hiatus since issue 15, during which he attempted to do an all cafeteria tour, then eventually moved overseas and got married. He talks about his stint at a women’s college cafeteria in Pittsburgh, working in a dish room where all the dishes came through a window from seemingly disembodied hands, to pile up on him and his comrade Curly.

There is a section of 18 arguments against raising the minimum wage: REFUTED! Which I think should be required reading in this “debate.” And there is a page of dishwashing-related mini-comics at which I actually laughed out loud.

I’m sorry to see this zine go, but I certainly understand the need to move on. This song’s for you!


http://www.dishwasherpete.com/
www.daveygandthekeyboard.com

Help the Hamilton Arts Collective!

I don’t usually do this, but today I’m going to re-post info from the Hamilton Arts Collective blog about a very important meeting this Thursday. They are a great bunch of people whose establishment is in jeopardy because of apparent zoning and neighborhood issues.
I played there over the last year, and I can tell you that this a worthwhile bunch of people to support. They have a great set-up where anyone with a good proposal can book a show on their stage, and an audience can lounge in comfort in any of their comfy couches. It would be a real shame if something were to happen to make this wonderful organization go away.
If you have the ability, please, please try to come out for this meeting on Thursday, and tell others to do so as well!
Thanks for your attention!

Davey G. and the Keyboard


Visit the Hamilton Arts Collective website for more information about who they are and what they need from you!


http://www.hamiltonart.org

(the text that follows is from their blog)

HAC Meeting: Thursday, 14th June, 7pm
EMERGENCY MEETING

Thursday, June 14, 7pm
Church of the Messiah
5801 Harford Road at White Avenue
(about three blocks north of the Hamilton Arts Collective on Harford Road)

An emergency meeting for the Hamilton Arts Collective will take place this Thursday evening at 7pm. The Rev. Lee Ann Tolzmann, rector of the Church of the Messiah, has graciously offered a meeting room to discuss the future of the HAC. Light refreshments will be provided.

In a time when violent crime has invaded our peaceful neighborhood, there is something dreadfully wrong with closing down the one establishment that offers community activities in an open and positive manner. No one has broken the law, disturbed the peace, or destroyed property. Our patrons come in all sizes, colors & ages. And they come quietly from all around the city to enjoy art-related activities such as live performances, foreign films, theater projects, art openings, yoga, children's art shows, Baltimore Improv Group, and a lot more!

You are invited and encouraged to bring your talents and ideas to be a part of the solution to our problem. We want neighbors to join with us in our commitment to make Hamilton a better & safer place to live, work and play.

Art is the answer!
http://www.hamiltonart.org

Stuff I'm Reading: Optic Nerve 9-11: Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine

To me, this 3 part story demonstrates two things: Tomine’s growth as a storyteller but also (unfortunately) his strength at creating utterly unlikable characters which I truly, truly hope are not meant to be autobiographical.

The story is about Ben Tanaka, an Asian-American movie theater manager, and his filmmaker girlfriend Miko. Miko goes from California to New York for a job, leaving him alone on a somewhat ambiguous “break.” The issues center upon his lusting after non-Asian women, and acting on a few of his opportunities, while in the meantime Miko engages in a few opportunities of her own. The three part series follows Ben in all his anger and sarcasm as the relationship reaches an inevitable climax.

The first point: I have been reading Optic Nerve for more than ten years and have every issue so far. It has gone from being a funny mini-comic to a serious and not-funny regular-sized comic. He used to drive me crazy with writing these incredibly compelling slice of life style stories (usually about relationships) and then just ending them at the dumbest time with no real resolution and no real reader satisfaction (just like real life, I guess, but in all honesty this is not why I pick up a comic book). Now, he does wrap up his stories with some degree of reader satisfaction, but then I get stuck on…

The second point: This main character, Ben, completely drains me of any sympathy by the end. He is a douche bag: a man who is unsupportive of his girlfriend, quick to anger, flawed in ways that don’t make him interesting to me. They are simply characteristics that make me say “Good, he deserved that,” after his girlfriend leaves him, the barely legal movie house girl rejects him (all right, she‘s actually 22, but no one is rooting for him to score with her), he loses his job, etc., etc. Even as I pick this book up again to review it, I am immediately turned off by the main character’s negativity. I just find it hard to deal with, even though the whole thing is done very well.

I guess one of the things that bothers me is the thought that the Optic Nerve I used to like is never coming back. The Optic Nerve of the mini-comics, the funny little shorts, the rough drawings have given way to the more adult style, but the stories are…I don’t know…not very fun. It’s still (and always has been) a quality product, but man, I just wind up feeling so down on it that I hate myself for it. And I hate myself for saying anything even remotely bad about it, because I am naturally inclined to be forgiving to artists who stray (except for Sam Raimi. Curse you Sam Raimi for that god-awful Spiderman 3!) and also this is, at the end of the day, a good comic. So…a well done book, I’ll probably keep reading, but man I miss the old days.

Pittsburgh Trip!

Last week 1L and I went to Pittsburgh and stayed with her brother and his fiancée.



We drove up Wednesday night and then on Thursday we went to the Phipps Conservatory, where there was a glass exhibit.

Later we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo, where there is a new polar bear exhibit. There were also other animals.



We got stuck in some traffic in the rain, but ultimately made it back in time to go to the Pirates game. We left in the 9th, with the Bucs up 2-0, then as we were leaving the Padres came back to win it in extra innings. (coincidentally, the Orioles had won 6 in a row in my absence.)

The next day we went to Kennywood, an historic amusement park with old wooden roller coasters. It was hot, we spent all day there. It was great!


I go places sometimes.