I don't watch TV ... does that make me cool?

As my regular readers are well aware, there are many, many types of people in the world I can't stand: preachy vegetarians, people who use the word "veggies," people who audibly say "beep beep" when you're in their way, etc. But worse than all these are the ones who go around telling anyone who'll listen that they don't watch TV because they think that makes them cool and different and interesting. It would be funny if it weren't so pathetic.

Most of these "arguments" against any and all television hinge on the claim that all TV shows just make you dumber. Television is totally useless because it isolates you from your community and is just mindless entertainment.

I think that TV, like anything else, depends on how you use it. It can be a unifying force, if you want it to be. Take Chappelle's Show. This is a show that just about everyone under 30 remembers. Okay! What?! Yeaaa - yuh!! These simple phrases will forever bind our generation together and give us some common ground. And something like South Park is basically a political cartoon in animated form. There is something to be said for having this constant commentary on current events that everyone can relate to.

Now, I'm not saying that TV is always good, or that you should do nothing but watch it all day. I'm just saying it's not always bad. I also have a real problem with the elitism of those who say they never watch it. It doesn't say to me, "Oh, this person is cool and different," it says, "This person is a smug asshole."

I eat only unnatural food

Organic food is one of the greatest marketing coups in history. It's right up there with bottled water and diamond rings. If there's one thing we Americans are good at, it's taking normal products, marketing the hell out of them, and jacking the price way up. Organic food is Exhibit A.

It's all about guilt. These privileged white yuppies can't help but feel that every extra dollar they have has the blood of a hungry third-world child on it. Which is not entirely untrue. So they buy organic to make themselves feel better. Classism is also a big part of it. "Oh, I eat organic. I'm so much better than that riffraff that eats at McDonald's." It's a status thing, like vegetarianism. No one who eats organic keeps that fact quiet. They think it makes them cool and special, while simultaneously assuaging their guilt over being born in a prosperous country.

But, they can't admit that guilt and snobbishness are the reasons they eat organic, so they've invented a few actual arguments in favor of organic. Like, organic food is healthier. Actually, it's not. Even the FDA, the governmental organization in charge of regulating the use of the word "organic," does not claim and has never claimed that organic food is any healthier than regular food. And it's not safer, either, as both organic and regular are subject to the same safety standards. The only demonstrable difference between regular and organic food is the price tag.