Hot. Hotter. Hottest.
The official thermometer in Los Angeles broke at 113 the other day. The extreme heat could easily be a metaphor for political discourse or how that discourse gets us hot under the collar. I think the extremism that is more worrisome is more deep seeded and our political environment only reflects what exists throughout the rest of society. Every day we’re bombarded with messages encouraging us to buy this product or that product to fix this thing or that thing. Advertising is fantastic – there is creativity, inspiration and innovation reflected in a range of new products. It’s not the new products or their messages that is cause for concern. It seems that each new product is the best ever. This one is the best drain cleaner ever. The drain cleaner we tried to sell you last month? Fuggetaboutit…this one’s better. Never mind that next month there’ll probably be an ever better one. The claims of best ever and most fantastic and other hyperbolic descriptors have resulted in the opposite e...