What American decline? The iPhone X is here to save the day! Teen, Mark, and Chris talk about the strong nationalistic religiosity behind the Apple brand.

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The following are edited excerpts from “The Ideology of the iPhone X”, the 6th episode of Plan A’s podcast, Escape From Plan A.

I don’t like the notch. There were some leaks of an OLED phone that had a notch, the Essential Phone… When it first came out, maybe it was the Verge, they were just like, “Oh my fucking god, you’ve gotta be kidding me. You’re gonna put out a phone with a notch? That’ll spell instant doom for this phone.” Funny thing is, I haven’t been able to find that article again.

— Teen

Just to disclose, I use a Macbook and I have an iPhone 7. . . . I think we’re all fans of their products. They’re fine products. We just despise the religous aspect of Apple.

— Chris

We’re entering into this new phase of commerce where we have these “hero companies”. At least with Wal-Mart, they were dominant, but everyone knew to resist them. With McDonald’s too. They were bad things. People were willing to read stuff and resist Wal-Martization or McDonaldization. They were pejoratives. But now, with companies like Apple and Amazon, people WANT these companies to invade their lives.

— Teen

When the coal companies set up these mining towns, you didn’t actually get paid in real dollars, but instead in company money. This is something we eradicated because it was bad. Because it created a de facto indentured servant class. You became an employee of these places and you were just stuck there and they controlled your life forever. Now, with Google and other places, they have buses that only their employees can use, they have all the services at their headquarters, and then you go home and come back and you’re in that bubble. And it’s celebrated!

— Mark

These companies like Apple and Amazon are the shining, perhaps even last, symbols of American greatness. If you look at cars, America’s nowhere the top in making cars. We hear about how China is taking over green technology. So all these big-ticket industries, the leaders are elsewhere. So for Americans, it’s always Apple and higher education, like the Ivy League schools and those equivalents. Those are the two brands that America still has a dominant lead on. And even for anti-nationalist leftists, they still have this investment in these last remaining points of pride.

— Chris

It’s not just that you buy your phone from Apple. Your identity is wrapped up in their success. How America goes, Apple goes. Or how Apple goes, America goes.

— Mark