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WORTH THINKING ABOUT: LOVE FOR SALE, 30 SECONDS AT A TIME The clinical psychologist Mary Pipher says that our sales resistance is no match against the power of modern advertising: "Ads manipulate us into being dissatisfied...We are encouraged to feel anxious or sorry for ourselves. Advertising teaches us to live on the level of the pleasure principle. This leads to impulse-control problems and to feelings of entitlement. 'I am the center of the universe and I want what I want now.' This thinking creates citizens who are vulnerable to quick fixes. It leads to citizens filled with self-pity, which is the flip side of entitlement. "Advertising teaches that people shouldn't have to suffer, that pain is unnatural and can be cured. They say that effort is bad and convenience is good and that products solve complex human problems. Over and over people hear that their needs for love, security and variety can be met with products. They may reject the message of any particular ad, but over time many buy the big message -- buying products is important." From Mary Pipher's, "The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding Our Families"; see: <http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345406036/newsscancom/> The NewsScan Credo: Be informative, have fun, and get to the point! <http://www.newsscan.com/> janet paterson 52 now / 41 dx / 37 onset e-mail - [log in to unmask] web-site - http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Village/6263/