You Probably Can't

TV can be underrated. I was watching Southpark last Monday in which the 'Earth Day Brainwashing Festival' was taking place and the Earth Day organisers kept using a Jedi mind trick any time they made a point or statement about the environment.
Now I have been to and enjoyed some great events like the Sustainable Living Festival which to all extents and purposes was a trade & lifestyle show.
The episode culminated in Stan or the other one yelling 'Run! these environmentalists don't use reason or logic!' it was one of those artfully crafted poignant comments that struck me blind. My boss at work has said often 'They are exactly right for the exact wrong reasons' not referring to environmentalists or any particular group but it made me think that out there in society there are people that are right (without wanting to get into a shitfight about what right is) but there passion and enthusiasm is detrimental to their cause.
Probably the best example of this is the Church. There is nothing proposed in the fundamental philosophy of Jesus that is detrimental or offensive, everyone could probably benefit from getting some Jesus into them. The problem is the enthusiasm of the pre existing pro Jesus institution unintentionally forming a barrier.
The Church isn't cool, it never was and never will be. Great guitar skills can make a person cool and impress chicks but equally a Christian flavour can make great guitar skills unchool and fails to impress me. Infact when I've obligingly gone to upsetting Christian Youth "information sessions" that generally upset me they have often opened up with a Guitar Rock ballad about Jesus giving his life for my sins (not Jesus' philosophy by the way) and I find myself sitting amongst asian kids with there hands in the air and their eyes closed thinking: 'I would rather have my balls sawn off with an old school razor than be here right now'
And it works in some cases, generally in two cases Isolated students coming to study from Malaysia and the Hillsong Christian Factory is unfortunately the closest thing to a good time they can find in these foreign surrounds. And dudes who convert for the sake of a girl.
But the point is energy and resources go into this strategy and it wins over nothing but the converted. It isn't really succeeding, the biggest threat posed by hillsong is that Charity Organisations and Churches will get taxed on their profit making activities (hillsong are being investigated for pocketing Charity funds via administration, the Jehovah's witnesses own Sanitarium and red rooster or some shit*)
Athiests aren't finding Jesus left right and centre due to this strategy, it would be nowhere near the slow and steady rate family units are going agnostic and church attendance drops.
The second poignant example is Environmentalism (which has a brighter future than institutionalised religion) there are strategies that just don't work and shy off people that probably quite like the environment. When people want to see systems and strategies and programs and businesses (which are growing) they have traditionally been met with poor hygene, passionate speaches deviod of reason and calls to action deviod of planning and even clear starting points. More and more effort is getting put into strategies the 'enemy' has learnt to ignore. I see posters every day reacting to every headline in a newspaper calling for a 'day of action' using melodramatic language and I see fewer and fewer groups actually turning up to these things.
From the point of view of say a CEO of a logging company, or an MP with some input into Environmental folios I do what? I look out my window and see 20-30 people protesting something with some off putting graphic pictures hanging out on placards. Maybe even a burning effigy of John Howard. I have two choices 1. Call the police if I can be bothered/have to get past them to get to my car. 2. Close my venetians and get on with my evil plan.
I used to have these fanatics corner me all the time in first year because I had long hair, ironically at that stage I cared less about the environment than I do now but had been a fan of Captain planet. I always came across plenty of passion, energy & enthusiasm and new that this person would never succeed in anything but alienating her cause and eventually jump off the band wagon.
For what is a fanatic? Someone who has a deep vested interest (esteem or ego needs) and low understanding of the broader issues regarding this interest. It's a common trate that nows no race, colour, creed or social standing. At work I have fanatics for overtime. They work overtime. Some fucktard the other day asked me why I was leaving already. I said 'it's 2 past 5 I've already worked overtime' you talk to anyone who loves working overtime about how economics bears out no relationship between productivity and extended hours. Within the G8 contries with lower work hours outperform countries with longer work hours. Its a fad a fashion inherited from wall street and Japanese fuedal culture with little substance. If you really want to upset an overtime fanatic just say 'I don't work overtime because I don't want the boss thinking I can't efficiently finish the job in the hours they set me.' or something to that effect. It really upsets those fuckers and what's more its true. These poor fools donating their time thinking it would advance their career are doing themselves a disservice. I would have to say from my experience I'm struggling right now to justify staying at work 8 hours/5 days a week. I can get through most of my work in time to spare.
Other work fads that generate fanatics are professional attire, meetings and weekend work functions. But more to the point the 'Can do' spirit is useless if the task just Can't be done. My whole philosophy is infinite human potential, that infact anything can be done. It can be even the normal probability distribution curve allows for infinite possibilities (though with infintismally diminishing probabilities of them occuring). All things are possible. But some places just can't be gotten to using some starting points or some strategies.
Example 1. You can't ride a bike (and bike only on the natural surfaces of the Earth) from Melbourne to Paris, France.
Example 2. You cannot be the best company for every single product in the world.
Anyone trying to achieve these outcomes could with enough effort. But phenominal effort. The first one would involve riding the bike into the ocean and then hoping your body could physically endure the hopefully favorable currents that would drive you over some weeks into the African or Asian continent and then ride the west of the way on a fully oxidized bike to Paris.
The second can be done by becoming the best company in the world at one product then aquiring a company that is best in the world at another product with it's own branding and infrastructure and slowly aquire company after company until you own the number one brand in everything.
Unfortunately managers with the Can do Spirit take on a brand say Rolls Royce 'The Rolls Royce of Automobiles' and then say Rolls Royce are now in the guitar business. And this manager makes plenty of passionate speaches, spends up on product launches, makes more passionate speeches, offers sales incentives for Rolls Royce Guitars (they may have had a shot if they'd called it something else but the company knows Rolls Royce means the best and the best Guitars are Rolls Royce guitars) in the end for all the can do spirit of the Manager they end up making only one big sale before the project packs up and for all the energy and resources put into achieving this classic case of ambition exceeding ability no trees have been saved and I am stuck listening to some fucktard playing his uncool rolls royce guitar in a Jesus rock ballad in their efforts to convert me.
For the record I imagine Jesus himself if he lived in our age would be a pretty awesome shredder on the guitar.