And so did their stupid rant about Ikea. One guy takes those “Fight Club” types to task:

It’s happened again.

Not for the first time, I was subjected the other day to a heartfelt diatribe on how Ikea has singlehandedly leached all the vitality and vigor out of the world, shoehorned human creativity into an infinity of barcode-anonymous MDF wall units, and spawned endless cyborg armies of khaki-clad, essentially fungible consumervolk.

You read that right: Ikea.

Unlike many nonsensical prejudices, it’s roughly possible to trace the root source of all this hostility, identify a locus classicus of Ikeaphobia: in this case, the vastly-overrated Fight Club. Ever since the film hit American screens, some years ago now, it’s been hip among would-be cynics of a certain cohort to reserve a stream of vituperation for the giant Swedish furnishings chain…

You know what? I’m done with it. If your life is mediocre, I promise you, Ingvar Kamprad didn’t make it that way. You did. And if you’re so desperate for your own soixante-huit moment that you can sit there with a straight face and tell me that you’re being oppressed by flat-packable pine furniture with goofy pseudo-Scandinavian names, I’d advise you to spend a few days working with child slaves in the Sudan, or something.

He’s absolutely right. It reminds me of the Pope being shocked that when Poland was freed from Communism the people there flocked to McDonalds. It’s like, what’s your objection, fast food at reasonable prices? Did you really expect the Poles to hang out and do the rosary all day instead of better themselves? Gimme a break.

Read the entire rant here. Well worth it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 29th, 2004 at 2:29 pm and is filed under Humor & Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.