Hilariously, in a twist of fate that Matthew Good could scarcely have imagined himself, the title of this song has become a reality! Government Acquisitions Incorporated is now providing squad cars to police departments nationwide for the low low cost of one dollar. The cost is subsidized by local companies who pay for the privilege of having their corporate logo painted on the car.
In the current American economy with state government deficits in the billions, this seems like a winning proposition for law enforcement. On the one hand, selling out the police seems like a small price to pay for the possibility that those additional cars could save lives. On the other hand, the police are supposed to have a moral authority placing them well above the typical capitalist squabbles of business men seeking to line their pockets. All in all it strikes me as one of those choices that you never want to be presented with.
This whole scenario strikes me as very symbolic of the current state of America, where the recent convergence of the Science of Mass Media, Capitalism, Democracy and Greed have given rise to a unique populace-sanctioned oligarchy. The typical hypocrisy, corruption, and greed endemic to all government (ie. power) is masked by a relative prosperity for the masses. I wonder if people will simply accept cop cars with ads, or if it will trigger a realization of where our country is headed and why we don't want to go there.
Source:
MPR: Cop Cars for ads. Minnesota Public Radio. December 12, 2002.
< http://news.mpr.org/features/200212/10_druleyl_squadads/> | 
