Comments on: The Enlightenment Card http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/ public domain playground. friendly entities welcome. Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:42:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: The Simple Dollar » Seven Nifty Tactics Credit Card Companies Use To Get Into Your Pocket - And How To See Right Through Them http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-84606 The Simple Dollar » Seven Nifty Tactics Credit Card Companies Use To Get Into Your Pocket - And How To See Right Through Them Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:01:56 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-84606 [...] Trying to tap into your spirituality and politics. The Enlightenment Visa is a points-based credit card that directly targets … well, environmentalists and Buddhists. The rewards catalog for this card features some impressively overpriced and focuses entirely on tchotchkes of direct appeal to what I often describe as the SUV environmentalist crowd or, perhaps more commonly, metrospiritualists. I have no problem with someone who authentically subscribes to such a spiritual worldview, but it seems to me that such a worldview shouldn’t be expressed through use of a Visa card. Yet it apparently has appeal to people seeking out a “socially conscious” credit card. [...] [...] Trying to tap into your spirituality and politics. The Enlightenment Visa is a points-based credit card that directly targets … well, environmentalists and Buddhists. The rewards catalog for this card features some impressively overpriced and focuses entirely on tchotchkes of direct appeal to what I often describe as the SUV environmentalist crowd or, perhaps more commonly, metrospiritualists. I have no problem with someone who authentically subscribes to such a spiritual worldview, but it seems to me that such a worldview shouldn’t be expressed through use of a Visa card. Yet it apparently has appeal to people seeking out a “socially conscious” credit card. [...]

]]> By: schplog » like, OM my god, it’s totally enlightened http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-33707 schplog » like, OM my god, it’s totally enlightened Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:04:28 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-33707 [...] By the way, should you feel the need to mock VISA personally you can visit their site at www.enlightenmentcard.com and if you want an excellent description of what the card is about and why it should be disdained, avoided and generally abhorred please read Tim Boucher’s wise words on the subject. He gives an apt parody of the way large corporations jump on the “LOHAS” (ew, ew, ew) bandwagon. [...] [...] By the way, should you feel the need to mock VISA personally you can visit their site at http://www.enlightenmentcard.com and if you want an excellent description of what the card is about and why it should be disdained, avoided and generally abhorred please read Tim Boucher’s wise words on the subject. He gives an apt parody of the way large corporations jump on the “LOHAS” (ew, ew, ew) bandwagon. [...]

]]> By: Nat’s Rail Travel Trip Review and Road Trips Ideas » Blog Archive » http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-29268 Nat’s Rail Travel Trip Review and Road Trips Ideas » Blog Archive » Fri, 22 Dec 2006 13:27:19 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-29268 [...] The Enlightenment Card The Enlightenment Card At the local grocery store, they have a free magazine called Conscious Choice. The magazine appears in a few cities from what I can tell, and it… [...] [...] The Enlightenment Card The Enlightenment Card At the local grocery store, they have a free magazine called Conscious Choice. The magazine appears in a few cities from what I can tell, and it… [...]

]]> By: laura jane http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19147 laura jane Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:06:44 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19147 HILARIOUS. truly amazing. there can be no end to this. a credit card with a glowing sanskrit OM. we've crossed some kind of line here, collectively. HILARIOUS. truly amazing.

there can be no end to this. a credit card with a glowing sanskrit OM. we’ve crossed some kind of line here, collectively.

]]> By: Ronin http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19130 Ronin Thu, 17 Aug 2006 19:45:16 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19130 Hmmm...its not that credit cards are "innately evil," its just that the system is set up to cripple people into a financial slavery. Miss one payment on one card and bamn! the apr on every card you have is suddenly 30%...I mean 30% itself is like old-school loan-shark "I'm gonna break your knees" kinda interest...Hell, I don't think the mob even charged 30%. Under the current administration (and possibly the previous one, though not as much) the credit card companies have pretty much been able to rewrite the laws into thier own favor. bankruptcy laws, credit reevaluations, linked interest rates,etc. And personally, its not so much the materialism or credit or consumerism or whatever--I can deal with that--its the fact that the industry always promises freedom and security at face and then swoops in when no-one's looking to put shackles on your arms and legs. Ronin Hmmm…its not that credit cards are “innately evil,” its just that the system is set up to cripple people into a financial slavery. Miss one payment on one card and bamn! the apr on every card you have is suddenly 30%…I mean 30% itself is like old-school loan-shark “I’m gonna break your knees” kinda interest…Hell, I don’t think the mob even charged 30%. Under the current administration (and possibly the previous one, though not as much) the credit card companies have pretty much been able to rewrite the laws into thier own favor. bankruptcy laws, credit reevaluations, linked interest rates,etc.

And personally, its not so much the materialism or credit or consumerism or whatever–I can deal with that–its the fact that the industry always promises freedom and security at face and then swoops in when no-one’s looking to put shackles on your arms and legs.

Ronin

]]> By: Gina Bass http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19124 Gina Bass Thu, 17 Aug 2006 11:55:54 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19124 <blockquote> I have never owned one and do not intend to. </blockquote> Fair play to you Prunes, may your life continue to be one of simplicity without the evils of credit cards, or mortgages. But the good news is there is discernment among us, we're not all cash strapped sheeple who buy into the very first advert we see in a mainstream magazine or TV commercial. one can choose to use credit responsibly, or like you not at all. I, myself chose the evils of a mortgage to purchase a farm far from the city, for others renting a flat in the city may be fine, but it was not my dream. Although I applaud your idealism, with every brilliant sunset and every repair bill I pay on my few acres of paradise. Cheers

I have never owned one and do not intend to.

Fair play to you Prunes, may your life continue to be one of simplicity without the evils of credit cards, or mortgages. But the good news is there is discernment among us, we’re not all cash strapped sheeple who buy into the very first advert we see in a mainstream magazine or TV commercial. one can choose to use credit responsibly, or like you not at all. I, myself chose the evils of a mortgage to purchase a farm far from the city, for others renting a flat in the city may be fine, but it was not my dream. Although I applaud your idealism, with every brilliant sunset and every repair bill I pay on my few acres of paradise.

Cheers

]]> By: silverelf http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19118 silverelf Thu, 17 Aug 2006 03:10:29 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19118 hmmm smells like a sendup to me. no information on the backing bank, pages missing from the website, etc. hmmm smells like a sendup to me. no information on the backing bank, pages missing from the website, etc.

]]> By: Michael http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19114 Michael Wed, 16 Aug 2006 20:19:37 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19114 Tim, you could write a killer screenplay: Tim, you could write a killer screenplay:

]]> By: jill http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19110 jill Wed, 16 Aug 2006 19:30:56 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19110 LMAO LMAO

]]> By: Andre http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19107 Andre Wed, 16 Aug 2006 15:50:52 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19107 A little off topic. I ran across a few things you might find interesting, unless of course you've already seen them. <strong>Surviving the Singularity</strong> Ray Kurzweil in the <em>Singularity is Near</em> argues that science and technology are creating change so dramatic that it qualifies as a ... all » singularity or point at which all the rules change. <strong>video here </strong>-> http://tinyurl.com/hfyek <strong>Augmented Reality</strong> http://tinyurl.com/ewakn You can type Augmented Reality in Google Video to come up with others like it, but few are as good or as creepy as this one. A little off topic.

I ran across a few things you might find interesting, unless of course you’ve already seen them.

Surviving the Singularity

Ray Kurzweil in the Singularity is Near argues that science and technology are creating change so dramatic that it qualifies as a … all » singularity or point at which all the rules change. video here -> http://tinyurl.com/hfyek

Augmented Reality

http://tinyurl.com/ewakn You can type Augmented Reality in Google Video to come up with others like it, but few are as good or as creepy as this one.

]]> By: prunes http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19106 prunes Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:00:06 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19106 <blockquote>or just necessary in the way the world is structured today?</blockquote> I have never owned one and do not intend to.

or just necessary in the way the world is structured today?

I have never owned one and do not intend to.

]]> By: Gina Bass http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19104 Gina Bass Wed, 16 Aug 2006 11:20:49 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19104 It only gains the importance you assign it, isnt that how most spiritual people would feel about something so innane and obvious? But if I'm understanding u correctly you aren't against the idea of the card and its convenience, merely the marketing devices attached to it. So are credit cards innately evil? or just necessary in the way the world is structured today? It only gains the importance you assign it, isnt that how most spiritual people would feel about something so innane and obvious? But if I’m understanding u correctly you aren’t against the idea of the card and its convenience, merely the marketing devices attached to it.

So are credit cards innately evil? or just necessary in the way the world is structured today?

]]> By: zacharius http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19101 zacharius Wed, 16 Aug 2006 05:15:08 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19101 what was it rene guenon said about the counter-initiation? <em> "however far it carries the imitation, will never succeed in being anything but a parody, but it will be the most extreme and the most gigantic of all parodies, and we have only so far seen, despite all the falsification of the modern world, some very partial “trials” and some very pale “prefigurations” of it; something much more formidable is in preparation for a future considered by some to be near, and the growing rapidity of the succession of events today is an indication of its proximity".... </em> what was it rene guenon said about the counter-initiation?

“however far it carries the imitation, will never succeed in being anything but a parody, but it will be the most extreme and the most gigantic of all parodies, and we have only so far seen, despite all the falsification of the modern world, some very partial “trials” and some very pale “prefigurations” of it; something much more formidable is in preparation for a future considered by some to be near, and the growing rapidity of the succession of events today is an indication of its proximity”….

]]> By: Jordan Stratford+ http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19100 Jordan Stratford+ Wed, 16 Aug 2006 04:47:40 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19100 Damn! They don't have a Gnosticky Abraxas version... Is that baby blood low fat? I'm on this great program... Damn! They don’t have a Gnosticky Abraxas version…

Is that baby blood low fat? I’m on this great program…

]]> By: Gary http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19097 Gary Wed, 16 Aug 2006 01:21:40 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19097 sorry, read hang instead of hand some type of freudian slip i guess sorry, read hang instead of hand

some type of freudian slip i guess

]]> By: Gary http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19096 Gary Wed, 16 Aug 2006 01:18:05 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19096 I would get one - if just for the bitter, bitter irony. I mean, you could hand one of these in MOMA or SAM and people would take pictures of it - art students would come to sketch it. Philly-stines would claim not to get it. Eventually, someone would use the number on the image to buy some porn and the DHS would arrest the artist in question. I would get one - if just for the bitter, bitter irony. I mean, you could hand one of these in MOMA or SAM and people would take pictures of it - art students would come to sketch it. Philly-stines would claim not to get it.

Eventually, someone would use the number on the image to buy some porn and the DHS would arrest the artist in question.

]]> By: skip wiley http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19095 skip wiley Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:14:41 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19095 I agree the AUM is definitely the best. It would probably attract the most meaningful and curious questions (regarding the meaning of the symbol) and will hopefully open up at least a few doors for those interested enough. I agree the AUM is definitely the best. It would probably attract the most meaningful and curious questions (regarding the meaning of the symbol) and will hopefully open up at least a few doors for those interested enough.

]]> By: alistair http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19093 alistair Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:36:05 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19093 we have been convinced that everything is for sale, including our souls. we have been convinced that everything is for sale, including our souls.

]]> By: Ronin http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19092 Ronin Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:03:32 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19092 Oh Jesus Christ...come on, man...this is America...of course you can buy your "enlightenment"...who needs dedicated work/play...just buy yourself the buddha-mind...you even get reward points to chart your progress...Jesus Christ... Is it wrong that I thought the aum card looked kinda cool...god, I hate myself sometimes... "Anybody wanna go drink some fresh baby blood after work?”...hahahahahaha!...genius... Ronin Oh Jesus Christ…come on, man…this is America…of course you can buy your “enlightenment”…who needs dedicated work/play…just buy yourself the buddha-mind…you even get reward points to chart your progress…Jesus Christ…

Is it wrong that I thought the aum card looked kinda cool…god, I hate myself sometimes…

“Anybody wanna go drink some fresh baby blood after work?”…hahahahahaha!…genius…

Ronin

]]> By: skip wiley http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/comment-page-1/#comment-19088 skip wiley Tue, 15 Aug 2006 19:51:03 +0000 http://www.timboucher.com/journal/2006/08/15/the-enlightenment-card/#comment-19088 Ever read <em>American Gods</em> by Neil Gaiman? It is a novel describing a battle between the old American gods and the new. The old gods were those brought to this country by natives, immigrants, slaves, etc -- most all of which are eventually forgotten in place of "new" gods -- things (today) like cell phone, highway, computer and (yup) credit cards. I think this is pretty genius on Visa's part. People don't want to just <em><strong>do</strong></em> things religiously (shopping, in this case) -- they want the conscious reminder that satisfying and worthwhile religion is an actual part of their lives... this being where the different images and symbols on the cards comes in, perhaps. or maybe this will also serve as a badge of sorts: Person #1: "So, what religion are you?" Person #2: [pulls visa card out of wallet to flash symbol] Ever read American Gods by Neil Gaiman? It is a novel describing a battle between the old American gods and the new. The old gods were those brought to this country by natives, immigrants, slaves, etc — most all of which are eventually forgotten in place of “new” gods — things (today) like cell phone, highway, computer and (yup) credit cards.

I think this is pretty genius on Visa’s part. People don’t want to just do things religiously (shopping, in this case) — they want the conscious reminder that satisfying and worthwhile religion is an actual part of their lives… this being where the different images and symbols on the cards comes in, perhaps.

or maybe this will also serve as a badge of sorts:

Person #1: “So, what religion are you?”
Person #2: [pulls visa card out of wallet to flash symbol]

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