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Our generation is screwed up. Our country's former focus on individuality and strength has been sold out and everything now is about a self-gratifying lifestyle. Every trend and pop icon is marketed and sold out and we are left with nothing truly original or legitimate. Everything is an imitation of imitation. Why have style when it can be purchased at Hot Topic and Urban Outfitters? It's not just that either- our generation is self-obsessed and vain. Our lifestyles are being advertised to us by means of text messages and pop-up ads and billboards. Why soul-search when you can imitate the hipsters dancing in the ipod commercials? If you aren't in the vacuous world of fashion and trends, you are looked down upon and alienated. If you don't buy in and sell out, then you are left with nothing.
The narcissism is everywhere, from myspace to youtube, and McDonald's "have it your way" campaign. It's all about us. We must have instant gratification. We must have broadband instantly delivering useless information to us overt the Internet. Everything else is "so dial up". We must be constantly connected to it too. We are naked without our phones. The great iron y of all these networking social-networking sites like facebook and myspace and these phones that keep us constantly in contact and online is that they were meant to bring us together and "network us", but in reality all it did was isolate us even more. It stole the human part of interaction from us. Now it's sterile and cold with "ily's" and "<3's" and other meaningless, empty abbreviations representing nothing.
The digital media are what is bringing down our generation. We sit in living rooms where we do the total opposite of living. We vegetate and we decay. Our bodies go to waste as we eat our TV dinners and tune into the latest gossip regarding Paris Hilton. If we are not constantly entertained, we change the channel. If the movie is not packed with explosions and sex, it's a bomb. We are constantly marketed to and selling ourselves simultaneously. Very few people in our generation can hold a coherent conversation in regard to philosophy, but nearly everyone can tell you if Lindsay Lohan is in rehab this week. No one wants to ask any real questions about life. That kind of thing is difficult and confusing. With media, we can cling to the surface and ignore all those troublesome things. Why this digital obsession? Why are all the kids crowded around the interactive screens at a museum instead of looking at the actual exhibits? Why are video game graphics becoming so incredible that within a few years they will look like live action movies? Because people are scared of something. They are scared of living. They are cared of being alone so they watch the TV. They are scared of boredom. They keep themselves busy. It used to be busy work that kept us happy, but our generation is too lazy for busy work. We want entertainment. We don't want to earn it either. It has to be fed to us because of our apathy. And why? It's a distraction we all support. You aren't thinking about life when watching the Hollywood buddy cop movie. You aren't question yourself and challenging yourself to grow when you watch flava flav yell one of his trademark phrases on TV. The concept of the individual is all but dead. The struggling individual who reads Bukwoski and tries to engage everyone is pseudo-intellectual bullsh*t they feel is poignant is just as clichéd and unoriginal as the kids who dress according to the fashion tips of celeb magazines.
Don't get me wrong here-I'd be a hypocrite to say that I'm not guilty of the majority of these things, but it is rapidly going too far. Movie theaters were originally such a huge hit because they came out in an era of great suffering. Stock markets had crashed on black Tuesday in 1929 and the country's economy fell between 40 and 60 percent almost instantly. The great depression had stolen everyone's spirit and the theater was a form of escape. It was one of the first large establishments to have air-conditioning and it was a place for people to pay a few dollars and escape the heat and the problems of their lives for 90 minutes. The difference now is that entertainment is no longer a reprieve, but a lifestyle. Without constant entertainment and superficial "aesthetics" as dictated by people paid to come out with seasonal fashions to sell clothes, we are left with nothing. If we are concerned with what we are going to wear tomorrow, then we don't have to be concerned with the bigger, tougher questions. We can distract ourselves all the way to death- having learned nothing and having contributed nothing.
What do we do then? We are hopelessly ensnared in marketing campaigns and flashing signs and bullsh*t "global warming" hippy-resurgence nonsense (whatever urban outfitters, al gore, and every ex scene kid pretending to care about anything beyond themselves). I think the only respite is for people to realize this. Personally, I've changed what I spend my time doing. I don't entertain idiot notions of being some enlightened teacher who is thusly given license to condescend to everyone. I'm well aware that there are many who have come to the same conclusions I have. Much of my realizations regarding all of this came from my career at boarding school. I was forcefully removed from technology and placed on the hill in the middle of nowhere. I had to camp in snow several times a year and all of it gave me a different perspective on life and technology. Boarding school pushed me to see things I wouldn't normally have been able to. I was ripped form my "life in the fast lane" attitude and "young Hollywood" narcissistic attitude and I couldn't be more grateful.
"I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center."
-Kurt Vonnegut
Being pushed to the edge several times in my life, I was able to realize much of what I valued was completely worthless. It's not worth spending time on aim when you could be out with friends. It's not worth giving up the human part of interaction. It's vital that our generation makes a change. With the amount of horrible things occurring worldwide on a daily basis, it is tragic people spend their money on things like $90 tank tops and manicures. American teenagers are being shot to shreds in Iraq, but for people here, having the latest clothing and hairstyles is still paramount. Our standards for life need to change or else a new regression will hit our country- and if that happens, nothing will matter. The world would not be missing out on a damn thing if we were to die. By that point, it'd be too late anyway.
"We have no great war or depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives"
Chuck Palahniuk
The narcissism is everywhere, from myspace to youtube, and McDonald's "have it your way" campaign. It's all about us. We must have instant gratification. We must have broadband instantly delivering useless information to us overt the Internet. Everything else is "so dial up". We must be constantly connected to it too. We are naked without our phones. The great iron y of all these networking social-networking sites like facebook and myspace and these phones that keep us constantly in contact and online is that they were meant to bring us together and "network us", but in reality all it did was isolate us even more. It stole the human part of interaction from us. Now it's sterile and cold with "ily's" and "<3's" and other meaningless, empty abbreviations representing nothing.
The digital media are what is bringing down our generation. We sit in living rooms where we do the total opposite of living. We vegetate and we decay. Our bodies go to waste as we eat our TV dinners and tune into the latest gossip regarding Paris Hilton. If we are not constantly entertained, we change the channel. If the movie is not packed with explosions and sex, it's a bomb. We are constantly marketed to and selling ourselves simultaneously. Very few people in our generation can hold a coherent conversation in regard to philosophy, but nearly everyone can tell you if Lindsay Lohan is in rehab this week. No one wants to ask any real questions about life. That kind of thing is difficult and confusing. With media, we can cling to the surface and ignore all those troublesome things. Why this digital obsession? Why are all the kids crowded around the interactive screens at a museum instead of looking at the actual exhibits? Why are video game graphics becoming so incredible that within a few years they will look like live action movies? Because people are scared of something. They are scared of living. They are cared of being alone so they watch the TV. They are scared of boredom. They keep themselves busy. It used to be busy work that kept us happy, but our generation is too lazy for busy work. We want entertainment. We don't want to earn it either. It has to be fed to us because of our apathy. And why? It's a distraction we all support. You aren't thinking about life when watching the Hollywood buddy cop movie. You aren't question yourself and challenging yourself to grow when you watch flava flav yell one of his trademark phrases on TV. The concept of the individual is all but dead. The struggling individual who reads Bukwoski and tries to engage everyone is pseudo-intellectual bullsh*t they feel is poignant is just as clichéd and unoriginal as the kids who dress according to the fashion tips of celeb magazines.
Don't get me wrong here-I'd be a hypocrite to say that I'm not guilty of the majority of these things, but it is rapidly going too far. Movie theaters were originally such a huge hit because they came out in an era of great suffering. Stock markets had crashed on black Tuesday in 1929 and the country's economy fell between 40 and 60 percent almost instantly. The great depression had stolen everyone's spirit and the theater was a form of escape. It was one of the first large establishments to have air-conditioning and it was a place for people to pay a few dollars and escape the heat and the problems of their lives for 90 minutes. The difference now is that entertainment is no longer a reprieve, but a lifestyle. Without constant entertainment and superficial "aesthetics" as dictated by people paid to come out with seasonal fashions to sell clothes, we are left with nothing. If we are concerned with what we are going to wear tomorrow, then we don't have to be concerned with the bigger, tougher questions. We can distract ourselves all the way to death- having learned nothing and having contributed nothing.
What do we do then? We are hopelessly ensnared in marketing campaigns and flashing signs and bullsh*t "global warming" hippy-resurgence nonsense (whatever urban outfitters, al gore, and every ex scene kid pretending to care about anything beyond themselves). I think the only respite is for people to realize this. Personally, I've changed what I spend my time doing. I don't entertain idiot notions of being some enlightened teacher who is thusly given license to condescend to everyone. I'm well aware that there are many who have come to the same conclusions I have. Much of my realizations regarding all of this came from my career at boarding school. I was forcefully removed from technology and placed on the hill in the middle of nowhere. I had to camp in snow several times a year and all of it gave me a different perspective on life and technology. Boarding school pushed me to see things I wouldn't normally have been able to. I was ripped form my "life in the fast lane" attitude and "young Hollywood" narcissistic attitude and I couldn't be more grateful.
"I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center."
-Kurt Vonnegut
Being pushed to the edge several times in my life, I was able to realize much of what I valued was completely worthless. It's not worth spending time on aim when you could be out with friends. It's not worth giving up the human part of interaction. It's vital that our generation makes a change. With the amount of horrible things occurring worldwide on a daily basis, it is tragic people spend their money on things like $90 tank tops and manicures. American teenagers are being shot to shreds in Iraq, but for people here, having the latest clothing and hairstyles is still paramount. Our standards for life need to change or else a new regression will hit our country- and if that happens, nothing will matter. The world would not be missing out on a damn thing if we were to die. By that point, it'd be too late anyway.
"We have no great war or depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives"
Chuck Palahniuk
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Given copied walkthroughs are allowed to win, not sure why copied forum posts shouldnt receive the same benefit.
so what happens next? Has anyone told this to the mods?
is it?
where was it copied from?
where was it copied from?
haha this was copied and you let it win. same old freeola
I'll admit now I only skim read that because I have to get going.
I gave up caring about what other people did a long time ago. Be who you want to be and sod anyone else. Friends, family, sure, I care about them. But I'm not going to go out of my way to 'educate' other people because they can do what they like, and besides, that's a terrible attitude to have.
The great distraction nation, hurray! Oh aren't we all terrible blah blah
People are on the whole, idiots. If you want to further yourself, do so. Read more, travel, experience the problems of the world where people are struggling and get yourself involved in a way that can help even in the smallest of places.
If people want to impress others by having expensive ding-dongs and whatsits, then fine, but I won't care. All that matters to me is soul and intelligence, and the people who hang on to that tiny inch of their own self respect, dignity and fortitude to do what they think is right, instead of what everyone else is doing.
What I'm basically trying to say here is: You're going at this from the wrong angle. Yes, people are idiots, yes, they do spend too much time on an identity with no real worth and distraction to the highest extreme. Are you going to do that? Do something worthwhile instead and don't waste time on worrying about the seemingly majority of people, because you will find people, like yourself, that don't buy into this crap and you'll be much better off for it.
Let your anger at this encourage you to do things that are worthwhile. Everyone dies, everyone rots the same, so you might as well do something good on this damn planet before we all end up the same way.
I gave up caring about what other people did a long time ago. Be who you want to be and sod anyone else. Friends, family, sure, I care about them. But I'm not going to go out of my way to 'educate' other people because they can do what they like, and besides, that's a terrible attitude to have.
The great distraction nation, hurray! Oh aren't we all terrible blah blah
People are on the whole, idiots. If you want to further yourself, do so. Read more, travel, experience the problems of the world where people are struggling and get yourself involved in a way that can help even in the smallest of places.
If people want to impress others by having expensive ding-dongs and whatsits, then fine, but I won't care. All that matters to me is soul and intelligence, and the people who hang on to that tiny inch of their own self respect, dignity and fortitude to do what they think is right, instead of what everyone else is doing.
What I'm basically trying to say here is: You're going at this from the wrong angle. Yes, people are idiots, yes, they do spend too much time on an identity with no real worth and distraction to the highest extreme. Are you going to do that? Do something worthwhile instead and don't waste time on worrying about the seemingly majority of people, because you will find people, like yourself, that don't buy into this crap and you'll be much better off for it.
Let your anger at this encourage you to do things that are worthwhile. Everyone dies, everyone rots the same, so you might as well do something good on this damn planet before we all end up the same way.
pb wrote:
> We're certainly finding it hard but value our kids above
> anything else. But I think there is a balance you can reach, if
> we had a bit more help then we could afford a decent sized house
> (possibly) which is the only thing we really need that we don't
> already have.
You've shown pics of your kids before, they're happy and healthy. Its fine to want better but honestly from what i've seen and what you've said you're doing great, even if it is hard work.
> I'd agree that there are others who would want
> more, but I don't really know whether to suggest that most people
> think this way or that there are more people who think this way
> than, say, 20 years ago. Mind you, go back 20 years and you get
> to the 80's...
Even going back 20 years, the majority attitude was still mum stays at home and most were happy with that because no-one was fostering this idea of having more. I dunno, i understand wanting more but i think people should be happy with what they've got. Unfortunately thats not the culture we live in anymore.
> We're certainly finding it hard but value our kids above
> anything else. But I think there is a balance you can reach, if
> we had a bit more help then we could afford a decent sized house
> (possibly) which is the only thing we really need that we don't
> already have.
You've shown pics of your kids before, they're happy and healthy. Its fine to want better but honestly from what i've seen and what you've said you're doing great, even if it is hard work.
> I'd agree that there are others who would want
> more, but I don't really know whether to suggest that most people
> think this way or that there are more people who think this way
> than, say, 20 years ago. Mind you, go back 20 years and you get
> to the 80's...
Even going back 20 years, the majority attitude was still mum stays at home and most were happy with that because no-one was fostering this idea of having more. I dunno, i understand wanting more but i think people should be happy with what they've got. Unfortunately thats not the culture we live in anymore.
Nin wrote:
> pb wrote:
> Yes, I'd agree that this is one of the contributing factors,
> but
> I see it as being because of the pressure for mothers to go
> back
> out to work so soon. The kids grow up with different figures
> who
> don't assert the same authority as the parents would and in
> more
> and more cases both parents don't even see the kids for 90% of
> the day.
>
> Having known such a couple with great kids, it is workable if
> you put the effort in but i'm going back to that have-it-all
> culture. The message today is this idealistic notion that you can
> be a good mum and work, i certainly dont disagree that it's
> possible but honestly, is it ideal?
We're certainly finding it hard but value our kids above anything else. But I think there is a balance you can reach, if we had a bit more help then we could afford a decent sized house (possibly) which is the only thing we really need that we don't already have. I'd agree that there are others who would want more, but I don't really know whether to suggest that most people think this way or that there are more people who think this way than, say, 20 years ago. Mind you, go back 20 years and you get to the 80's...
> pb wrote:
> Yes, I'd agree that this is one of the contributing factors,
> but
> I see it as being because of the pressure for mothers to go
> back
> out to work so soon. The kids grow up with different figures
> who
> don't assert the same authority as the parents would and in
> more
> and more cases both parents don't even see the kids for 90% of
> the day.
>
> Having known such a couple with great kids, it is workable if
> you put the effort in but i'm going back to that have-it-all
> culture. The message today is this idealistic notion that you can
> be a good mum and work, i certainly dont disagree that it's
> possible but honestly, is it ideal?
We're certainly finding it hard but value our kids above anything else. But I think there is a balance you can reach, if we had a bit more help then we could afford a decent sized house (possibly) which is the only thing we really need that we don't already have. I'd agree that there are others who would want more, but I don't really know whether to suggest that most people think this way or that there are more people who think this way than, say, 20 years ago. Mind you, go back 20 years and you get to the 80's...
pb wrote:
> Yes, I'd agree that this is one of the contributing factors, but
> I see it as being because of the pressure for mothers to go back
> out to work so soon. The kids grow up with different figures who
> don't assert the same authority as the parents would and in more
> and more cases both parents don't even see the kids for 90% of
> the day.
Having known such a couple with great kids, it is workable if you put the effort in but i'm going back to that have-it-all culture. The message today is this idealistic notion that you can be a good mum and work, i certainly dont disagree that it's possible but honestly, is it ideal? Now if i was to go out and randomly make this suggestion to mothers that maybe they need to get their priorities right and stop trying to have it all, i'd probably end up in hospital because it's seen as a backwards notion to even suggest that maybe you cant have that perfect life you see in the magazines.
> Yes, I'd agree that this is one of the contributing factors, but
> I see it as being because of the pressure for mothers to go back
> out to work so soon. The kids grow up with different figures who
> don't assert the same authority as the parents would and in more
> and more cases both parents don't even see the kids for 90% of
> the day.
Having known such a couple with great kids, it is workable if you put the effort in but i'm going back to that have-it-all culture. The message today is this idealistic notion that you can be a good mum and work, i certainly dont disagree that it's possible but honestly, is it ideal? Now if i was to go out and randomly make this suggestion to mothers that maybe they need to get their priorities right and stop trying to have it all, i'd probably end up in hospital because it's seen as a backwards notion to even suggest that maybe you cant have that perfect life you see in the magazines.
Nin wrote:
>and it's the breakdown of that system which is
> causing problems. Now as for why that system is breaking down?
> Various reasons really but mainly i think it's to do with the
> culture we live in.
Yes, I'd agree that this is one of the contributing factors, but I see it as being because of the pressure for mothers to go back out to work so soon. The kids grow up with different figures who don't assert the same authority as the parents would and in more and more cases both parents don't even see the kids for 90% of the day.
Now there are obviously issues with back-tracking on this idea, many mothers want the right to work, which is good, but wouldn't it be nice for the government (that same government that is trying to beat the problem of wayward kids) to support families so that the mother doesn't need to go to work if they want to look after the kids, even more so with single mothers.
Yes, it can be abused and there are those that would have kids just to sit around and not look after them, but there are ways and means of assuring this doesn't happen in a lot of cases.
>and it's the breakdown of that system which is
> causing problems. Now as for why that system is breaking down?
> Various reasons really but mainly i think it's to do with the
> culture we live in.
Yes, I'd agree that this is one of the contributing factors, but I see it as being because of the pressure for mothers to go back out to work so soon. The kids grow up with different figures who don't assert the same authority as the parents would and in more and more cases both parents don't even see the kids for 90% of the day.
Now there are obviously issues with back-tracking on this idea, many mothers want the right to work, which is good, but wouldn't it be nice for the government (that same government that is trying to beat the problem of wayward kids) to support families so that the mother doesn't need to go to work if they want to look after the kids, even more so with single mothers.
Yes, it can be abused and there are those that would have kids just to sit around and not look after them, but there are ways and means of assuring this doesn't happen in a lot of cases.
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