I'm old.
This year is my 20 year high school reunion. I'm not going. I don't want to see any of those punks. Well, maybe one or two. But the whole facebook/social media revolution has made the idea of a reunion kind of moot, in my mind. I have already connected with most of the folks I would want to see, anyway. So it's a bit anti-climactic. I'm also too busy to go, anyway. Yep. I'm that booked.
So, one of the things that has bothered me about it is the post touting the opportunity to advertise at the reunion. The exact text follows (names/personal info changed for the sake of anonymity):
Sponsorship/Advertising Opportunity!!! Due to overwhelming interest of some very successful classmates, we are opening up a few select sponsorship/advertising opportunities to everyone for a limited time. This is a chance for you to give back to the greatest high school class ever and to showcase your success since high school. The proceeds will help lower the overall cost of the reunion per person, purchase decorations and prizes, and aid in the overall budget for the reunion (none of the monies collected will go to the J H Retirement Fund, even though he could use it!). The Reunion Committee has established three sponsorship tiers: Gold - $1,000, Silver $500, and Bronze $250. Each tier allows the individual/company/organization to advertise in their respective level; donors will be listed in the official reunion program (paper copy), recognized at the reunion by Master of Ceremonies, able to advertise on the reunion websites, and able to display their own banners/posters at the reunion. The higher the tier, the larger the recognition and advertising opportunity. For questions, please email J H at address@email.dum or via text/cell 208-555-LAME. If we get enough donors, we might even pay people to show up at the reunion!
So, this bothers me on a number of levels. First, the whole idea of getting together at a reunion is to reconnect with old friends. The solicitation of business contacts and/or opportunities is really embarrassing. Then, there's the whole "showing off" aspect of it. "Look at me! I can afford to pay $1000 to have my name read! Aren't I awesome!!! I've really made it in the world, LOSERS!"
But what REALLY bothers me is the idea that we've turned everything into a business transaction. Marx told us about this:
The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his “natural superiors”, and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous “cash payment”. It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom — Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation. The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage labourers. The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation.
So come to the reunion! And bring your checkbook...
This year is my 20 year high school reunion. I'm not going. I don't want to see any of those punks. Well, maybe one or two. But the whole facebook/social media revolution has made the idea of a reunion kind of moot, in my mind. I have already connected with most of the folks I would want to see, anyway. So it's a bit anti-climactic. I'm also too busy to go, anyway. Yep. I'm that booked.
So, one of the things that has bothered me about it is the post touting the opportunity to advertise at the reunion. The exact text follows (names/personal info changed for the sake of anonymity):
Sponsorship/Advertising Opportunity!!! Due to overwhelming interest of some very successful classmates, we are opening up a few select sponsorship/advertising opportunities to everyone for a limited time. This is a chance for you to give back to the greatest high school class ever and to showcase your success since high school. The proceeds will help lower the overall cost of the reunion per person, purchase decorations and prizes, and aid in the overall budget for the reunion (none of the monies collected will go to the J H Retirement Fund, even though he could use it!). The Reunion Committee has established three sponsorship tiers: Gold - $1,000, Silver $500, and Bronze $250. Each tier allows the individual/company/organization to advertise in their respective level; donors will be listed in the official reunion program (paper copy), recognized at the reunion by Master of Ceremonies, able to advertise on the reunion websites, and able to display their own banners/posters at the reunion. The higher the tier, the larger the recognition and advertising opportunity. For questions, please email J H at address@email.dum or via text/cell 208-555-LAME. If we get enough donors, we might even pay people to show up at the reunion!
So, this bothers me on a number of levels. First, the whole idea of getting together at a reunion is to reconnect with old friends. The solicitation of business contacts and/or opportunities is really embarrassing. Then, there's the whole "showing off" aspect of it. "Look at me! I can afford to pay $1000 to have my name read! Aren't I awesome!!! I've really made it in the world, LOSERS!"
But what REALLY bothers me is the idea that we've turned everything into a business transaction. Marx told us about this:
The bourgeoisie, wherever it has got the upper hand, has put an end to all feudal, patriarchal, idyllic relations. It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his “natural superiors”, and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous “cash payment”. It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom — Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation. The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage labourers. The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation.
So come to the reunion! And bring your checkbook...
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