Thursday, September 6, 2018

Don't "Just Do It," Think, Study, Research, Read


By Robert Wenzel

I have long suspected that Nike's tagline "Just do it" was aimed at those with high time preference.

"Just do it," is not the type of message that is going to be well absorbed by the thinker. One who is willing to take time before acting to get a better understanding of various options.

This idea of high time preference and the non-thinker as a driver of Nike marketing could not be
better indicated than by Nike's recent decision to feature Colin Kaepernick as its face for the current "Just Do It" campaign.

For who is Kaepernick?

As far as I can determine, he has become a symbol of protest but not of studied, researched, thought out protest.

He told NFL Media:
I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.
(As a side note, this black man, Kaepernick, protesting black oppression is believed to be worth more than $22 million.)

To be sure, there are problems with acknowledging the flag of the government, but they go well beyond oppression of black people. The government, that the flag represents, has military bases around the world, many at active hot spots. It has a central bank that through manipulation of the money supply distorts the economy and buying power of the average American, black and white.

The edginess that exists on the streets between black youth and police is largely the result of government "education" that is a fraud.  An edginess the result of government minimum wage laws that prevent black youth from getting that first job. And anti-drug laws that lure them into crime/

There is no indication that the multi-millionaire protester Kaepernick understands any of this. There is no indication that he is signaling any of these problems to black youth.

He is just a do it multi-millionaire filled with high-time preference anger.

Without understanding, but just screams, he is like the baby who does not yet understand the world and uses the scream to get help from adults.

And when one is an adult who does not think, reason and study but screams and protests demanding action from other adults, the other adults will surely be there to provide guidance that will benefit no one but the other adults.

And so Kaepernick will continue kneeling in an unthinking pose to drive the high time preference lower masses to rage. He will become their role model so that they don't think, but just scream and just buy Nike shoes. That will get them far.

Robert Wenzel is Editor & Publisher of

10 comments:

  1. Brilliant move by Nike though. Sure, good Ol boys are burning their shoes, but who cares, in the videos they are all the cheap brands white boys buy. And, they have already bought them. The kids, AROUND THE WORLD, who are going to sympathize with the “cause” will put the $$ down for Nike shoes.
    Kaepernick is no dummy either. Like you pointed out, he’s worth $20 million. Suing the NFL for collusion, Nike endorsements, win win. He has donated,(in the millions) to different causes. And I’m sure not going to boohoo about someone helping to make more people be anti-cop.
    I’m still all for the kneeling. Heck, if Facebook can be called a public entity, the NFL sure can be too. Slippery slope?
    Nice move Nike.

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  2. Yea I think there is way too much emotion surrounding the kneeling protest. It is not that much of a protest. Now if they stood up and turned thier backs to the flag that would be a real protest.

    I hate the cops and truly support any protest against them. But this has been blown so far out of purportion it’s rediculous. And that’s obviously not the fault of the very passive protesters.

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  3. Kaepernick is certainly an imperfect vessel, as was made clear by his praise for Castro and for the US military. And RW is correct that racist cops shooting black people, however tragic, is just one relatively small facet of the total abuse that people suffer at the hands of the state.

    That said, I have a great appreciation for what he started. The teary-eyed reverence for the rituals of nationalistic idolatry was pathetic, and someone needed to throw some cold water on it. In a Charlie Hebdo way, it was a sacred cow that desperately needed to be taken down a peg or 3.

    Again, I don't want to minimize the victims of the police, but to me the bigger story has been the reaction, the way people have absolutely lost their minds that someone would dare "disrespect" a state worship ceremony. (And ironically these are often the very same people who turn their noses up at "politically correct snowflakes.")

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    1. There have been quite few others long ago that did similar. I never stood for the pledge in school back in the 70's and it was seen as my right to do so and never resulted in all the insanity we have now.

      but now with the spun SJW mindset so prevalent in society now, you step out of line these days and its a big deal.

      America as it was is already long lost and gone.

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  4. Kaepernick would be much better served, as it relates to his protest, if he used exploit, deceive or lies to in place of “oppression.” That’s what the State does. They exploit; they deceive; and they lie. Just take a look at the massive failure that is public education; just take a look at the failed war on drugs; just take a look at our offensive foreign policy that’s resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents; just look at our wise overlords in Congress as they preen about passing laws restricting free speech, gun ownership, property rights and on and on and on.

    And another thing, as a free thinking, “woke” Black man, I’ve come to the conclusion that “we” do not suffer from “oppression.” We (blacks) need to be honest with ourselves and admit that the pathologies now present among us (e. g. disproportionate representation in prison, increasing levels of single mom guided homes, widening income & wealth gap compared to Asians and whites) are on us.

    For example, in 1960 22% of black children were raised in single-parent families; in 1938 11% of black children were raised in single-parent families; today more than 70% of Black children are raised in single-parent families. Question to the class: was it harder for black folk in 1960 or 1938?

    The question answers itself.

    It’s past time for US to wake up.

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  5. There are situations that a “just do it” attitude/action is warranted. This comes after analysis, thought and if the situation allows practice. I don’t think Nike’s tagline HAD anything to do with high time preference. “Just do it” WAS for those that have a plan and just need to carry it out. Primarily it is about training for athletics.

    Another “just do it” situation is something like extreme skiing. Most of us have seen footage of what the average person considers to be a crazy person skiing down an almost vertical narrow chute. While some of these people are crazy most of them are also analytical in studying and thinking through the run before they ski it. The type of run I am trying to describe there is very little ability to do a slow run or stop, so eventually you have to “just do it” or not.

    Did Kaepernick think, study, research and read before he decided to ski down the extreme mountain of cops abuse of “people of color”. Based on his actions and words I think not. So now that Nike has put Kaepernick’s face on their “just do it” slogan they have brought in an aspect of high time preference into their ads.

    But who thinks of time preferences or killer cops or race relations when they are shopping for athletic apparel or technical gear? Most people want to buy what the best in the world are using. At this point Kaepernick has no NFL contract. Prior to his kneeling he was relegated to a backup. He may be out of the NFL due to bringing on the kneeling BS but he was not warming the bench because of it. So Nike is trying to sell athletic apparel and gear using a barley was athlete turned activist.

    Strange but in today’s racially charged me too climate it might just work. After all Kaepernick’s NFL apparel was the top selling NFL apparel after he started protesting during the anthem.

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  6. "Just Do It" is more about overcoming fear of failure. However, this new campaign has inspired many, many hilarious before/after memes with something fun in the first/just-do-it half followed by something disastrous in the "even if it means sacrificing everything" half. Usually, when people can successfully satirize a campaign, that doesn't bode well for the campaign.

    Kaepernick is a mediocre QB who found a successful way to get attention focused on himself. The kneeling controversy is exactly the opposite of "even if it means sacrificing everything."

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  7. Once again the girl goes home with the guy who can dance while the libertarians sit at the bar congratulating each other on their fine arguments. Go team.

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  8. How many of the commentators here have family in prison for non-violent drug offenses? How many have attended the funeral of someone killed by a cop?

    Libertarian: "Taxes, inflation, OSHA, oh my!"

    Black guy: "The cops killed my dad."

    Libertarian: "You don't understand oppression."

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    1. Actually, he doesn't. Cops are paid for by taxes and (yes) inflation. Take that away and suddenly cops will find quite a lot of reasons to be very friendly to the locals. (And the whole OSHA and "safety at all costs" culture is exactly what trains cops to shoot first and ask questions later.)

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