Let me give an elderly observation to you youngsters out there. Here is what I’ve found is a sure sign that you’re getting old. I noticed this in my parent many years ago and see it in myself today. And here it is…
You know you’re getting old when… You don’t understand advertisements…
No, I’m not talking about senility; though heaven knows that argument can be made in the case of my parents and myself. No, I’m just talking about things like reaching the end of a commercial and wondering what they were selling or thinking the message was insulting, stupid or both.
Your first reaction is this is a generational thing; an aspect of dam kids these days are this that or another. But I have to remind myself that surely kids (twenty-somethings) aren’t really as bad as they are depicted by these ad agencies. Surely the advertising guys are the idiots in all this.
Take for example the pushing of Obamacare to the millennials. The left needs them to sign up in droves to subsidize all us less healthy old people; so they’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising directed at the youths. (Every time I hear or use the word “youths” I think of Jocelyn Elders who would drop the “th” sound for just a “t”. Something like “yoots”… which sounded like a term for an exotic baby deer or antelope or something. I think it was Elders… Anyway another sign of getting old is getting off track, but that’s beside the point.)
The first round of advertisements directed at youths depicted a bunch of (to be blunt) promiscuous sluts hooking up because they have free birth control, and a bunch of brain dead drunk frat boys balancing on kegs of beer.
Now come one. Someone tell me this isn’t a generation thing. This can’t just be me. I see those advertisements as insulting. It says the left sees millennials as shallow reckless idiots. Granted, those three things a perfect combination for voting Democrat; but still, to just come out and say it? As a young man in my twenties, I would have been insulted to be thought of and depicted in such a manner; and I’ve got to hope that society hasn’t degraded to a point where that reaction isn’t shared by young people today.
Now… Obama’s bunch has moved on to their next advertising push. This is centered around the premise that it’s a civic duty to discuss health insurance with family and friends over the holidays. Of course, that discussion assumes your target hasn’t actually gotten quotes on plans and realized their price and deductibles have doubled in the last few months. This conversation idea is about as stupid the other leftie push of convincing older lefties to buy health insurance for their kids as a holiday gift. Notice it’s just a holiday gift (as opposed to Christmas) if it’s given by a leftie.
The very thought of such an encounter makes me pine for a leftie friend or relative I could sit around and reminisce with over the holidays; holding my breath in anticipation; hoping they will breach the subject… C’mon… C’mon you know you want to… and then POUNCING on them like a rabid wolverine! Alas, I have only one leftie friend, and won’t get to see him over the holidays. And he is much too smart (and knows me too well) to fall for that anyway. And within, my family… I’m the liberal. 🙂
And on not understanding this advertisement even further. As the “spokesman” to get youths talking and signing up over the holidays… Obama’s bunch released “Pajama Boy”… a beta smirking, hot chocolate drinking, onesie pajama wearing, doofus.
This guy looks vaguely like a cross between androgynous Saturday Night Live character “Pat” and Rachel Maddow. There is no way I could concentrate on the subject of health care talking to the likes of this guy. As a male, all I would be able to think about would be how bad I want to give this little liberal pansy wedgies (which are hard to do in onesie pajamas) and indian burn. And I can only assume the female reaction would be something like, “What is he talking about? Birth control is cheap even without Obamacare… not that Loser McPanzyass here would ever find that out.”
These guys pushing Obamacare are supposed to be smart. I just don’t get it; and can’t figure out if they’re the idiots or I am.
So let me end this post with a few more pieces of old-man advise.
First, in the off chance that someone in your family or circle of friends saw this ad; I’d lay off the Obamacare talk. You don’t want anyone associating you with this crap; especially an older brother who might want to relive the bygone years of torturing you.
Second, if you’re considering signing up through healthcare.gov that’s OK with me. It’s a free country. BUT if I were you I’d make dam sure I’m the last one to do it. It is OBVIOUS from an IT (Information Technology) perspective that these guys gave no thought to security. Zero. And there is no indication they’ve addressed those issues or even intend to. To them solving the security problem is a question of adequate rhetoric.
Target (who actually considered and tried to implement security) just lost the personal financial information on MILLIONS of customers. Giving any useful information to healthcare.gov is just asking for trouble. And by the way, signing up over the phone doesn’t help. You’re just giving your information to a “navigator” who has had zero criminal backgrounds checks so he/she can put the information into the same insecure online system you just avoided. Yeah… that really helped your odds.
Third, please let this whole debacle educate you now that government is practically NEVER the answer for anything. As a matter of fact it is almost always the reason for the problem in the first place, health care included.
>The left needs them to sign up in droves to subsidize all us less healthy old people
Actually, the single-payer mandate was the achievement of Karen Ignagni, the CEO of health insurance lobby America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents the largest insurers in America, including Aetna (my provider) and Humana. They’re not lefties.
But, to be fair, you are correct — any insurance system needs young, healthy people to pay in, whether its being offered by a corporation or a state. Insuring people with jobs is safest of all, which is why most insurers would like to stick with that group, and let the gov’t take over when they get old (ie, the original system).
>Alas, I have only one leftie friend, and won’t get to see him over the holidays. And he is much too smart (and knows me too well) to fall for that anyway.
Aw, how sweet. It’s like being the gay or “special needs” friend.
> And within, my family… I’m the liberal. 🙂
Families. Ugh. Among my buddies, I’m the conservative because I like guns.
>This guy looks vaguely like a cross between androgynous Saturday Night Live character “Pat” and Rachel Maddow.
Yeah, they did pick a dork.
>As a matter of fact (the gov’t) is almost always the reason for the problem in the first place, health care included.
It’s a little more complicated than that. I agree the gov’t does stupid, expensive things (like invading Iraq and farm subsidies), but wouldn’t include health care in that comparison.
One of the major reasons health care is so expensive in the US is there are too many separate groups negotiating prices. The insurer who gets the best prices, every year, is Medicare. They’re the Walmart of medical services, and they can drive down prices because of it. Even companies as big as Humana and Aetna can’t drive prices down the way they do.
Of course, that all leads to the same arguments against Walmart: you’ll drive quality down, you’ll drive manufacturers/health care providers out of business, etc. Oh, the evil corporation/government, squeezing out the small businessman. America is doomed. Etc. So we get rhetoric instead of solving the problem.
I think the real reason to “talk about healthcare” over the holiday is, it’s required by law, and that 25 year old in PJs who’s still living with his parents doesn’t want a fine come April 15. Sitting on your hands about it is a dumb strategy. When the ACA is seriously re-tweaked in a year or two, it probably won’t be mandatory — it’ll be incentivized (tax breaks), but not mandatory. At least that’s where I think it’s heading.
>When the ACA is seriously re-tweaked in a year or two, it probably won’t be mandatory — it’ll be incentivized (tax breaks), but not mandatory. At least that’s where I think it’s heading.
Seems I’m behind on the news. It’s already happening.
See “Obama Repeals ObamaCare” in the WSJ.