Unlike what seems to be the majority of the class, I have no substantial history with these "memes" or "adorable pet videos". When it comes to the writing on this subject I am quite the novice, and for this I am proud. So please excuse how greenhorn-ish this blog may be. One thing is for sure, the general public does seem to hold some interest in the cute animal culture. Whether this interest has traceable origins or simply sprouted from human nature, it captivates millions.
The task of finding something substantial in the material provided was quite the challenge. However, the thought that being a "dog person" or "cat person" could influence or predispose someone to a certain economic ideology was interesting. Or perhaps the causal claim goes the other way, does your economic policy stance predispose you to being a cat or dog person. The claim that, "Trots prefer cats, whilst Maoists, dogs, because cats embody class independence, whilst dogs rely on cross-class alliance" may be complete nonsense, nonetheless humorous to consider. It would be interesting to investigate if there is a correlation between pet preference and ideology. Are Republicans dog people? Democrats cat people? That leaves Moderates as fish people? Or maybe Republicans are more Golden Retriever-ish and Democrats more Beagle-like. If you want to get real edgy, perhaps you claim Republicans are Siamese cat people and Democrats lean more Persian. The possibilities are exciting.
Personalities, which consist of personal preferences (and vice versa), define what kind of animals one likes. In that sense, ideology (e.g. Democrat v. Republican, Capitalist v. Socialist, &c.) CAN, possibly in a very indirect way, effect which pet one would like... in short, I agree with what your say. Is it possible? - it's plausible. Is it likely? - probably not.
ReplyDeleteI think the Marxist is too busy romantically (in the 19th Century's use of the term) trying to solve social injustices to care about pets, while the Capitalist is too busy trying to sell them.
I liked your post very much. It made me laugh several times. I agree with you that it would be interesting to look deeper into the pet preference with ideology. I also envy you in regard to you not wasting your time watching these videos, as I have spent a little time watching them and other foolish things on youtube. I am far from an addict, but on the occasion, I get caught up watching videos that waste my day away. Good move by you staying away from that.
ReplyDeleteYour post was very interesting. I never consider myself to be a cat or dog person. Nor do I think of myself as one who watches cat videos across the web. But to think back, I have seen a share of funny cat videos that actually made me laugh. With that in mind, I've realized that I've wasted way to much of my time watching these "dumb" cat videos jusst like the rest of america.
ReplyDeleteTanner, glad to hear that you have not wasted your time on these videos in the past. Now, let me tempt you with one and tell me that your heart doesn't melt when you see a baby tiger cub: http://thedailybanter.com/2013/10/watch-a-white-lion-cub-practicing-its-roar/
ReplyDeleteI think you actually did hit on a very substantive point. I like these apparently frivolous issues because they actually often lead people to come up with some of the most interesting questions. I think what happens is that they aren't really sure how to approach the question, so they focus on going in depth. The same happens with less hot button topics more generally. Your question about dog and cat personalities has actually been studied quite a lot academically. A quick search will turn up several results. Don't believe me? Look here: http://www.businessinsider.com/republicans-dog-people-democrats-cats-2013-1
Jeff, I finally wasted some time on dontevenreply.com. It was great, but it did help to fuel my similar problem of wasting time on internet memes and other diversions. My inner slacker thanks you.