We published the twenty-four plus page broadsheet insert. It turned out to be the biggest advertising publication that year. It turned out to be the biggest moneymaker for the Sheldon newspapers. But more important than that, once the paper hit the streets and was read, the “recession” inexplicably disappeared. It disappeared because it did not exist anywhere except in peoples’ minds. Moreover, I am proud to say, the businesses that advertised in that issue—all sixty or more of them—all reported that business powered up thereafter. The advertising supplement won Best Newspaper Idea that year.
What made me happiest was dispelling yet another stupid myth borne of fear.
Franklin Roosevelt said upon his becoming America’s President in 1933 that, “the only thing we needed to fear … is fear itself.” He was right then, and his words hold truth today.
Real Americans have always been bold, not the milquetoast dillies the U.S. media makes us out to be. Don’t believe the horse-pucky they generate day after day. The media’s interest over the past twenty years and now is all about gossip and opinions (none of which holds any substance other than to dismay the public).
And to those who wish to cling to the idea that northwest Iowa is in dire straights, don’t tell me there’s a recession when I see traffic flowing morning, noon, and night (with the cost of gas being past the $3.50 range per gallon), and three-quarters of those driving are jabbering on their cell-phones. Don’t tell me that there’s a recession when every time I pass the Argosy Casino I see the parking lots full with streams of people pouring in and out of the place.
Don’t tell me there’s a recession or that times are tough, especially when I am told about the high cost of food. Food? High cost? Give me a break. Have you ever heard of any American anywhere in the United States dying of hunger? Be honest. The truth is no American, other than at Valley Forge during the American Revolution, has died as a result of starvation. No one. Heck, America has an obesity problem. No one has any trouble-collecting layer upon layer of blubber.
How can we possibly be suffering a recession when women and men have money to go to a beauty parlor regularly and have their hair adorned and their nails worked on? Or see price tags on new cars unabashedly at $25,000 and up?
Folks, don’t fall into the media trap of believing the clap-trap it spews out. If there is such a big recession and the media broadsides us with it, how come you see hundreds of reporters and photographers surrounding Brittany Spears when she goes to her local grocery store? Doesn’t sound like the national media is curtailing its costs, does it? (Besides, they should leave the poor girl alone.)
Recession? There’s no recession … but there sure is a hell of a lot of greed out there.
