Be who you are! Think for yourself! Be a cog in no System! Admonishments, exhortations and calls to authenticity such as these, whose value once seemed beyond argument, have become so prevalent in Western culture, and now emanate from such dubious sources, so that they not only ring false, but have about them the X-ray glow of their own inverted meaning. We're told to think critically by looming, spotlit billboards erected by companies whose product is at best unnecessary, and at worst a direct link to human suffering. The language of resistance is owned and trademarked.
—Ken Babstock, Canadian poet, The Globe and Mail, October 19, 2002