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  • 00:00

    This video is sponsored by LegalZoom.

  • 00:02

    More about LegalZoom at the end of the video.

  • 00:06

    Hey Wisecrack, Jared again.

  • 00:08

    For 20 Years, the kids of South Park have been skewering every sacred cow they can find.

  • 00:13

    And at Wisecrack, that's just the kind of thing that gets us hot.

  • 00:18

    In its thirteenth season, South Park masterfully merged two of its favorite targets for ridicule:

  • 00:24

    religion and consumerism.

  • 00:26

    And you all know what happens when we marry God and money.

  • 00:31

    OK, sure.

  • 00:32

    But also a multilayered argument about personal agency and the opaque nature of the economy.

  • 00:40

    Break open a bag of Cheesy Poofs for this Wisecrack Edition of the Philosophy of South

  • 00:45

    Park's "Margaritaville."

  • 00:46

    Religion has long been a handy tool for explaining the unexplainable.

  • 00:50

    It's through clever religious allegory, then, that "Margaritaville" manages to tackle the

  • 00:54

    economic crash of 2008 and a mysterious system that for many remains the unexplainable - the

  • 01:01

    economy.

  • 01:02

    When the all-powerful "Economy" leaves South Park in tatters, everyone is quick to direct

  • 01:11

    blame somewhere -- including Wall Street and -- But it's Randy's characteristically bizarre

  • 01:18

    perspective that builds a large following across South Park.

  • 01:26

    Taking his cues from old-school Protestant ethics.

  • 01:29

    Randy preaches the economy is a petty vengeful diety that must be placated by worship.

  • 01:43

    Randy's position draws from the fearful punishment-oriented philosophies of the Old Testament.

  • 01:48

    And South Park steers straight into those biblical parallels, right down to the flinging

  • 01:52

    of stones -- I mean squirrels -- by those who pass judgement on the fallen.

  • 02:05

    In fact, Randy's persecution of Kyle mimics the biblical role of the Pharisees.

  • 02:09

    The Pharisses were an influential group of people who, in the New Testament, greeted

  • 02:17

    Jesus's message with skepticism, paranoia, and ultimately, incitement of violence.

  • 02:24

    Kyle's third-act self-sacrifice in which he, a Christ-like figure, has dinner with his

  • 02:26

    enemy, takes on all of South Park's debt, and sacrafices himself for the community furthers

  • 02:31

    the biblical parallels that dominate the episode.

  • 02:38

    Kyle's sacrafice parallels the crucifixion of Jesus, but where Jesus took on the sins

  • 02:42

    of the world.

  • 02:45

    Kyle shoulders the debt of all of South Park.

  • 02:50

    Just as Jesus's death was mourned by a weeping Mary as he was taken from the Cross, Kyle's

  • 02:55

    figurative "death" is mourned here by his own weeping mother.

  • 02:59

    Kyle has died.

  • 03:00

    Kyle is risen.

  • 03:01

    Kyle will come again.

  • 03:03

    Not unlike the hero of the New Testament, Kyle sets forth a philosphy which challenges

  • 03:07

    and chastises the accepted norms of the community.

  • 03:10

    But whereas Jesus set forth a religious code of conduct, Kyle sets forth a financial one.

  • 03:29

    His philosphy, known in the real world as faith-based economics proposes "the economy"

  • 03:34

    is us -- and should be trusted, not feared.

  • 03:38

    Since people drive the economy, Kyle argues, we are at one with economy.

  • 03:42

    Forever and ever.

  • 03:44

    Amen.

  • 03:45

    Margaritaville effectively positions the economy as a modern religion unto itself.

  • 03:49

    Throughout the episode, Randy and Kyle's conflicting arguments don't merely demonstrate religious

  • 03:54

    parallels, They spring from some interesting econmonic and social theory.

  • 03:58

    For example, Randy's unforgiving message of self-discpline and self-denial maps well with

  • 04:03

    the ethics described by German sociologist Max Weber in "The Protestant Ethic and The

  • 04:08

    Spirit of Capitalism".

  • 04:09

    For Weber, the Protestant values of austerity and frugality were crucial components in the

  • 04:14

    development of modern capitalism.

  • 04:16

    In other words: work until you die, and don't make any time for any fun.

  • 04:20

    While Randy preaches economic restraint, Kyle offers a very different take one reflected

  • 04:25

    in the work of British economist John Maynard Keynes who proposed consumer spending is what

  • 04:30

    truly keeps the economy humming.

  • 04:31

    If you want economic growth, Keynesian economics argues, you've just gotta keep moving that

  • 04:34

    paper.

  • 04:35

    But, hey, if you didn't know much about these two economic perspectives, South Park is not

  • 04:40

    surprised.

  • 04:41

    Because one of the big ideas tackled in this episode is that economics are deliberately

  • 04:45

    made too difficult for most people to understand.

  • 04:48

    This strategy of linguistically keeping information at arm's length from the everyday citizen

  • 04:53

    is known as technostrategic discourse and it's so powerful and so dangerous, "Margaritaville"

  • 04:59

    dedicates an entire "B" storyline to demonstrating it in action.

  • 05:03

    Take, for example, when Stan visits his bank and is treated to a string of jargon before

  • 05:15

    his money magically disappears without explanation.

  • 05:23

    Of course, we all know economics isn't magic, but most of us don't quite know the intricacies

  • 05:27

    of what economics are.

  • 05:29

    And, as the subprime mortgage crisis of the late 2000s demonstrated, those who are in

  • 05:35

    the know are counting on, and even profiting from, our ignorance.

  • 05:39

    Even if they themselves might be ignorant, too.

  • 05:45

    French Philosopher and turtleneck enthusiast Michel Foucault argued that, in our modern

  • 05:49

    era power was no longer concentrated but dispersed through complex systems: prisions, religious

  • 05:56

    authorities, and as South Park highlights, finance.

  • 05:59

    Unlike traditional conceptions of power, which might imagine a bunch of bankers in smoke-filled

  • 06:04

    rooms conspiring to screw everyone over.

  • 06:07

    Foucault explored how individuals each played their own tiny role in this system of power,

  • 06:12

    often ignorant to complete workings of the system.

  • 06:15

    Power, dispersed in this way, shows up in South Park as Stan climbs up the ladder of

  • 06:19

    helpless bureaucrats: each of them powerless to the rules, or magic, of the system they

  • 06:24

    participate in.

  • 06:26

    In scene after scene, so-called experts sustain and amplify power through the exploitation

  • 06:31

    of confusion.

  • 06:41

    Stan goes to return his Margaritaville at Sur le Table, only for Stan to be shooed off

  • 06:45

    to the finance company.

  • 06:50

    The finance company points Stan to Wall St, the people really running the show, only for

  • 06:54

    Stan to learn from Wall Street that it is ultimately the treasury department who is

  • 06:58

    in charge.

  • 06:59

    The interesting piece here is that, Stan, as he journeys into the world of finance to

  • 07:05

    find who is in charge finds out that no one is really in charge.

  • 07:14

    As the very nature of money is an amorphous abstraction, its source -- and, with it, a

  • 07:19

    source of power -- never seems to be anywhere.

  • 07:22

    Anyone who's turned to a lawyer, to a doctor, or to a computer technician for support probably

  • 07:27

    knows the drill.

  • 07:28

    No matter how dense the language or how straightforward the problem, you're simply expected to trust

  • 07:33

    in the experts.

  • 07:34

    But what's the result of this technocratic babble?

  • 07:37

    According to South Park, the consumer is essentially exhausted into submission, either willfully

  • 07:42

    throwing himself at the mercy of technocrats...or uh, smashing dad's blender on the floor.

  • 07:48

    In matters both relgious and economic, "Margaritaville" challenges the seemingly distant and unknowable

  • 07:53

    forces that govern our lives and fates.

  • 07:59

    If money isn't real, if the powerful deliberately complicate things in order to retain their

  • 08:04

    power, and if the answers we seek don't necessarily lie with the experts or with the divine...

  • 08:10

    whom does South Park suggest we blame in the face of economic or spiritual misfortune?

  • 08:15

    Maybe the answer is found in the Jimmy Buffet song "Margaritaville," in which a drunk man

  • 08:21

    sits in a bar and laments his failed relationship.

  • 08:24

    By the end of the tune, the man gradually realizes his own drinking problem may have

  • 08:28

    contributed to his failure in love.

  • 08:34

    Personal responsibility.

  • 08:35

    It's a hell of a drug.

  • 08:40

    Bottoms up, Wisecrack.

All

The example sentences of PLACATED in videos (2 in total of 2)

randy proper noun, singular preaches verb, 3rd person singular present the determiner economy noun, singular or mass is verb, 3rd person singular present a determiner petty noun, singular or mass vengeful adjective diety proper noun, singular that wh-determiner must modal be verb, base form placated verb, past participle by preposition or subordinating conjunction worship noun, singular or mass .
or coordinating conjunction $ proper noun, singular 2 cardinal number , or coordinating conjunction whatever wh-determiner else adverb , because preposition or subordinating conjunction the determiner low adjective amount noun, singular or mass might modal have verb, base form placated verb, past participle some determiner artists noun, plural and coordinating conjunction

Use "placated" in a sentence | "placated" example sentences

How to use "placated" in a sentence?

  • The gods, after all, are only human, and once their rage has been placated they are perfectly capable of acts of mercy and grace.
    -Thomas M. Disch-
  • Thea was still under the belief that public opinion could be placated; that if you clucked often enough, the hens would mistake you for one of themselves.
    -Willa Cather-
  • A placated bully is a hand-fed bully.
    -Edna Ferber-

Definition and meaning of PLACATED

What does "placated mean?"

/ˈplākāt/

verb
make someone less angry or hostile.

What are synonyms of "placated"?
Some common synonyms of "placated" are:
  • pacify,
  • calm,
  • appease,
  • mollify,
  • soothe,
  • quiet,
  • conciliate,
  • propitiate,
  • humor,

You can find detailed definitions of them on this page.

What are antonyms of "placated"?
Some common antonyms of "placated" are:
  • provoke,
  • anger,

You can find detailed definitions of them on this page.