Several times in my life I developed a "comic monologue" or "standup routine" for use in clubs and plays. One jokeline I used to work in was this: "I was born Democrat, Polish, Catholic and male -- not necessarily in that order!" It was a local joke for Milwaukee/Chicago and played off the fact that everyone born in a certain area of Milwaukee (and a different area of Chicago) were all of those things -- usually in a non-separated way.
Those terms amounted to my "brand" -- my thought-package of self-description at the time. Since those times I have dropped "Catholic" as an adjective, have substituted other words for Polish and Democrat (since I am clearly not defined any longer by either of them). Even "male" is in doubt these days as I age into a more asexual mode of life.
So too are world brands: are we truly Zionist or anti-Semitic any longer; or does that articulation work only for those who are categorical non-thinkers? Are we truly Palestinians, or Shi-ites, or Muslims, or Christians -- or do those "categories" slip away depending on our actions? The world is in "shambles" yet we insist on age-old time-honored and time-disgraced polarities! A Chevrolet, after all, is not the best car in the world merely because I prefer it, or because I always buy one.
There should be no brand loyalty unless there is proof through action that the brand is still viable -- and the term(s) have not been falsified or corrupted by simple repitition.
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