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Ferguson: Why Our World Is So Stupid

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 1, 2009 5:15 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Craig Ferguson thinks he’s figured out “why everything sucks.” He traces the decline of human society back to the ‘50s and ‘60s, when advertisers decided to target young people, so that they’d keep buying the same things when they got older. “They didn’t mean any harm by it,” he writes in the New York Post. But soon we started celebrating youth, and that turned society on its head.

“Youth has a byproduct—inexperience,” Ferguson writes. “It’s not your fault. You’re just kind of stupid.” So the deification of youth “turned into the deification of imbecility. It became fashionable to be young and stupid.” We ought to be celebrating experience, as mankind has throughout history; instead we’re dying our hair. “Nobody meant any harm. But now we’re in this terrible place where we have the f#!%ing Jonas Brothers!”

Entertainer Craig Ferguson performs during the Annual Dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association, Saturday, April 26, 2008, in Washington.
Entertainer Craig Ferguson performs during the Annual Dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association, Saturday, April 26, 2008, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
Host of the Late Late Show Craig Ferguson emcees during rehearsal for the Boston Pops concert at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in Boston, Thursday, July 3, 2008.
Host of the Late Late Show Craig Ferguson emcees during rehearsal for the Boston Pops concert at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in Boston, Thursday, July 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
In an April 26, 2008, file photo Entertainer Craig Ferguson performs during the Annual Dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association in Washington.
In an April 26, 2008, file photo Entertainer Craig Ferguson performs during the Annual Dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association in Washington.   (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari/file)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 15 comments
Fondue
Aug 2, 2009 12:13 PM CDT
Let's see if we got this right. A man born in 1962 says it's the fault of 50' and 60's advertising.
jagerhans
Aug 2, 2009 11:54 AM CDT
I partially agree with Ferguson about false myths sold to youngsters, but explaining everything just blaming the ads is, well, stupid. In our western societies there is way more than this pounding us to the bottom.
Jes
Aug 2, 2009 10:33 AM CDT
Old news, this opening was weeks ago. It was awesome though, just like Craig very consistently is. I just can't believe I spent so many years watching Conan over him and it took a change in the late night schedules to give him a chance.

 
advertising • youth • Craig Ferguson • Jonas Brothers

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