Nike and Kaepernick

Borrowed from Bayou Renaissance Man

The economics of information propagation shapes our minds.

In pre-written history, information was passed orally and it is a good bet that human minds re-wired to store and process "verbal" information.

With the advent of movable type and paper made from wood, as opposed to discarded cotton and linen clothing or sheep skins, it became more economical to store and transmit information as the printed word.

For a long time there might have been one book available to the public...the Bible.

Then there might have been twenty books and a weekly newspaper.  It was possible for an intelligent person to "know everything".

That all changed with the internet.

The internet created an environment like an electric field. The only way to "harvest" the potential energy of the consumer is to stick above the ground-clutter like a lightening rod.

Getting noticed has become the goal

Tesla Motors is the poster child of this strategy.  Get noticed and the stock price goes up.  It does not matter that their business plan is the equivalent of a streaker at a football game.  The streaker cannot block.  He cannot tackle.  He did not practice and does not know the plays.  He got noticed, dammit, and that makes him cool.

This is the way that many "creative" people now think.

Looking into the future
It will be interesting to see if kids get beaten up because they are not wearing Nike apparel. In some places not wearing Nike will be equated with not supporting Black Lives Matter and the natives will take that as license to bully other kids.

I gotta hand it to Nike, that is a hellova business model:  Buy and wear our overpriced shit or our thugs will beat you up.