A letter to Adbusters.

I don't understand you, Adbusters.

I admit to owning quite a few back issues of the mag, and a friend of mine asked to borrow them a while ago. He was a little surprised to find that I own only sporadic copies: 74, 77, 81, 83, and so on. As he read, he began to add comments in conversation that he'd read in Adbusters, and we had a back-and-forth about my ideas on the magazine. I realized that I keep seeing a new one on the magazine rack, flipping through it, dropping my $8.95 and taking it home only to become deeply confused.

83 had some interesting pieces by Robin Lawrence, Luke Whyte, Douglas Haddow, and a little comic by Phil Selby. But it also had a nearly decade-old Tom Wolfe quote on hooking up, while Maclean's just ran a cover story about how teenagers are developing some morals and fucking each other less lately. It had a comment by Andrew Tuplin that was either about how easily today's stupid people are manipulated by media or how prohibiting consumer goods can apparently help change human morality. It featured yet another horrifying and painfully true holocaust-to-gaza comparison that again complained about the symptoms while ignoring the disease. Then it proceeded to jump from foot to foot, chewing its lip nervously about how people seeing Australia in theatres won't know exactly how it was paid for or what influenced it; nevermind whether it was a "good" movie or not. Finally, it explained to everyone how, since Nike bought Converse, it's no longer cool, because before one brand was sold to another it was somehow more than a brand. Just like our $50 sneakers, in fact, which you should buy, as long as it's not a Buy Nothing day (because you can always walk down to Home Depot and get your $1.50 Painter's Touch tomorrow).

Where are you trying to go? Should I love my neighbour or worry that he is too stupid to believe 9/11 wasn't fake? Is planting a victory garden that would never be able to feed me the best way to combat evil capitalism? Should I smash church windows for censoring the Anarchist Cookbook but grassroots lobby for Amazon to ban Japanese rape fantasy games? Is causing a fuss about my 100-mile diet making a difference, or is it just making me feel superior to all my friends who can't afford to buy organic?

I'm glad you often publish letters like mine; a balanced viewpoint is a lofty and noble goal. But until the hypocrisy and self-serving activism stop, and this magazine grows up a little, I will continue to read Adbusters for the pretty, pretty pictures. Ooh, sparkles!

-Sol Kauffman
Vancouver, BC