I'm currently watching Comedy Central, enjoying a new stand-up comedy special from a stand-up comic that I've never heard of before. He's both hilarious and not the subject of this diary. Instead, the subject of the diary is a commercial that I just saw that is truly disgusting. It was a commercial for a product from the National Collector's Mint. Follow me below the fold for the truly disgusting information.
What is being offered is a silver certificate minted by the Liberian mint (that country that everyone forgets we helped found with freed slaves) worth twenty dollars (Liberian) in commemoration of September 11th. It has a picture of the skyline with the World Trade Center on one side and the skyline with the proposed Freedom Tower on the other side. For those of you who aren't truly appreciating how horrible and disgusting this is, please click this link. I think the worst part of it is that this is apparently the first piece of currency to divide the amount of the certificate into two separate numbers, so instead of representing 20 with the rather logical symbol "20", they've decided to number the certificate with "9" in one corner and "11" in the other.
And now for the part that upsets me more than anything else. You see, the National Collector's Mint is being kind enough to provide these silver certificates at "face value" for the price of $20 (U.S.) (although they are saying they will eventually be sold for $39). However, these certificates are not representative of $20 (U.S.). They are representative of $20 (Liberian). Do you know how much $20 (Liberian) is in U.S. currency. Click this link to find out. If you're too lazy to click it (and let's face it, who isn't at this time of night) I'll go ahead and tell you.
Wait for it.
It's coming.
Are you sitting down?
THIRTY-ONE CENTS! THEY'RE SELLING SOMETHING FOR TWENTY DOLLARS THAT IS WORTH THIRTY-ONE CENTS!
If we have to deal with anyone saying how it's the capitalists that represent what is great about this country ever again, I want you to take one of these silver certificates and beat them about the head and shoulders with it. I'm sure it will be hard enough. This isn't solid silver. It's .999 pure SILVER LEAF! Translation: IT'S GOT A SILVER COATING OVER SOME NEARLY WORTHLESS METAL!
So tell me, is anyone else as disgusted as me that some company is using the death of over 3,000 Americans to sell worthless pieces of metal for $20?
