Peddling Arrogance

During the recent Olympics Cadillac dusted off that worn out and musty Protestant work ethic to peddle their ELR.  In the process the car maker scored an impressive hat trick by also trafficking in xenophobia and firing some salvos in the ever escalating class war. The ad opens with a vaguely familiar actor standing in a well-manicured yard in front of a gorgeous pool asking nobody in particular, “Why do we work so hard?  For this?  For stuff?”  And then as he strolls towards his well-appointed, ultra-modern kitchen he takes up that great American pastime - Euro-bashing.  “Other countries; they work, they stroll home, they stop by the café.  They take August off – off.”  Then with a sneer he asks, “Why aren't you like that?  Why aren't we like that?”

Let me interrupt you here Mr. Actor who I can’t seem to place, so that I can address some of your questions.  “Why do we work so hard?”  Well sir, it's because we work in America where corporations squeeze the very last drop out of us and then turn us upside down and shake us to see if there’s anything left. You see before the recession Americans were already working hard and then corporations cut back.  With the recovery they realized that they could get by with minimal hiring, which magically drops money to the bottom line and into the bank accounts of share holders. We work 10 hour days right through lunch and then take our laptops home to try and finish what we didn't get done during the workday.  And we don’t do if for STUFF; we do it because the guy we report to makes it very clear that “If you can’t get it done, I’ll find somebody who can." That's why we work so hard.   

But Mr. Mystery Star, there is STUFF that we do work for.  We work for our food, for our shelter and all of the necessities required to keep a family above water.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that other STUFF that’s been drowning American families for decades.  It’s called healthcare and those Europeans that you’re scoffing at have had it for years while families here have been struggling, going bankrupt and yes dying for lack of healthcare.  You might want to turn on that 70” TV you probably have in your mansion and check out the news.  A lot of families are actually taking on water.  Take San Diego for instance where 38 percent of households in San Diego County live below the self-sufficiency standard; in other words the STUFF they need is assistance.  There’s been a steady increase in the number of families going to the local food bank to get STUFF; stuff to eat.

Why aren't we like those European countries you ask?  The first time I heard you pose that question I turned to the wife and said, “Because here in America we’re stupid.  Why in the hell wouldn't I want a month off?”  But if you really want to know why we aren't like that it’s because we’re afraid to take vacations.  The next time you’re answering nature’s call and you need something to read while sitting on your heated toilet seat pick up the survey from the consulting firm, Right Management.  It’ll tell you that 70 percent of employees leave vacation days on the table, not because they want STUFF but “because the perceived environment that now prevails at many organizations seems to recognize devotion to the job to the exclusion of nearly everything else.”  I know that I have to think twice before I take time off because we’re so over worked that nobody can cover my desk and I dread the blown up email inbox I have when I get back. And yes, when I put in for time off I have this feeling in my gut that I'm doing something wrong; that I'll be perceived as a slacker.

You are right about one thing Mr. Slick; we don’t stop by at a cafe on the way home.  We stop at the local tavern.  Park that hifalutin Caddy in front of a corner bar sometime about 5:30 in the evening and deign to peek inside and you’ll see a line of us at the bar hunched over our drinks.  That’s because the day was so damned stressful that we need a couple shots and a beer to take the edge off.  Oh and if the day was like mine often is we’ll probably get an appetizer because we ended up working through lunch and forgot to eat and we’re famished.  And by the way I've been to “those other countries” and I've stopped at those cafes and you know what?  Many times there are a fair amount of Americans there, stretching out their legs, taking in the sights of a piazza, luxuriating, sipping their lattes or Campari and sodas and saying, “Gee, this is really the life.”

Mr. Onepercenter momentarily leaves our sight and then emerges, magically changed from his polo shirt and shorts into a his business and as he makes for his Cadillac he delivers his punch to the collective gut of everyone who works for a living, “It’s pretty simple; you work hard, you create your own luck and you gotta believe anything is possible.”  Just before speeding off in his shiny ELR he flashes us a knowing wink and says, “n'est–ce pas”  (isn't it so).  I’ll have to mention that to the fellow who happens to be bussing my table the next time I’m at a restaurant, or to the farm workers picking lettuce next time I’m passing by the coastal fields.  In fact I think I should go back to my former workplace and spread that gospel to the plant workers at the injection molding machines; the folks who stand in place all day in sometimes sweltering heat, breathing fumes that can’t be very healthy.  I’ll just mention to them that if they aren't driving a Cadillac and they don’t have a lot of STUFF then they must not be working hard enough. “Work harder,” I’ll tell them, “put your back into it.” 

Conservatives and the one percent just love this work ethic shit.  What boggles my mind is that even poor conservatives fall for it. They drink this Kool Aid by the gallon. I’ll likely get pilloried for being a lazy, whiner.  And they may be only half right because I’m not lazy; I work those ten hour days and I take my laptop home and I actually like what I do but that doesn't mean the workplace couldn't be a kinder, gentler place. Conservatives will rail at this for being sour grapes, liberal jealousy.  Look, I've no issue with rich folks spending their money.  No doubt many work very, very hard for it and more power to them if they want a Cadillac.  What I do take issue with is an ad that peddles the snake oil that hard work equates to riches.  It simply isn't true.  Honest hard work should equate to comfort and security and the sad fact is that too often it doesn't even do that.  Many Americans work two jobs and are just barely able to keep the wolf at bay (and some can’t even do that).  Americans work hard yet their standard of living is falling behind.  And if there is some bitterness maybe it’s warranted; as a New York Times article pointed out, “the share of the nation’s income channeled to corporate profits is higher than at any time since the 1920s, while workers’ share languishes at its lowest since 1965.” 

One conservative commentator wrote, "Love, love, love this commercial as it clearly explains our work ethic and American ideals." Really?  Is that all there is to the American entrepreneurial spirit? Working for STUFF? The commercial invokes the likes of Ali, Gates and the Wright Brothers. Was their inspiration to be able to buy STUFF?  You mean all the great entrepreneurs and inventors didn't do the great things that they did in order to save lives, to make a better way, to entertain and to inspire? STUFF.  That's it?  Is that what makes Americans morally superior; their materialism?  

Which brings up another problem with this ad.  It exhumes the rotten, worm eaten corpse of the Ugly American.  Why is it that some of us get our ya-ya's out over a chance to tweak Pierre's nose?  Does xenophobia and international bullying somehow make us morally superior.
  

My issue over this commercial isn't the rich guy; he's just the shill. What is offensive is the fact that it rubs the noses of most Americans in the shit work that they toil very hard at just to make ends meet.  It's offensive because it touts that ridiculous notion that if you work hard then you get STUFF; and if you don't have or can't afford STUFF then you must be lazy and or morally defective.  The fact is, most folks in this country work very hard; harder than people anywhere else in the world and only a small fraction get the STUFF.  And the rest work for the necessities.  You see it isn't “pretty simple.”  Somebody has to pick crops, or sweep streets or work retail, or do clerical work, or teach, or do their duty in the armed services.  They all work hard and can't come close to sniffing an ELR at it's base price of $75,000.  I suppose it doesn't really matter does it?  Because this commercial is only aimed at the people who can afford to look down their noses at the unwashed masses.

Oh and I finally figured out where I saw you Mr. Actor who I couldn't place.  You were in the HBO series Band of Brothers.  I liked you much better as a simple GI. And while I don’t like your commercial I am rather partial to Stacy's mom in that other Cadillac commercial.  Maybe you could do me the favor of hooking me up to meet at a nice little sidewalk cafe.  She probably likes cafes because ironically enough – she's French.  And much more likable than you - n'est–ce pas.

Stacy's Mom - Got it going on; and French