Cynics Anonymous

Woohoo! It's the weekend! Yes, the weekend, that oh so wonderful part of the week where I can actually concentrate on wasting time instead of being interrupted by things like school and homework. Yes, I can do nothing for two straight days! Let the people rejoice! Well, hopefully I'll get motivated and get started on some epic novel or something. If not, I've got to at least get the "Elegy of Easterly" done which will not actually be an elegy since she is not dead, despairing, or in horrific pain. But you gotta aim for that alliteration! (WARNING: The following excessively long rant may contain cynicism and pessimistic qualities. It may be horribly flawed and over exxagerated for effect or because it seems that way from the writer's chair. Those who have fragile world views or optimistic viewpoints may find the contents disturbing. This is probably my darkest and longest rant yet. When I put off posting long enough, it gets built up and I really let an entry fly. Therefore viewer discretion is advised. You have been warned.)

As for today, it was fine, as are all days. The most eventful part wasn't actually that eventful in and of itself, but was rather distressing and disheartening to me. As I watched the 40minute long advertisement for Pop-culture or whatever it is you punk kids like nowadays, I was once again reminded at how little any of these organizations, or even society, understand what is going on or how to fix it. The billions of dollars and years of time being spent on trying to get people (especially teens) from drinking and doing drugs are used to simply dance around the actual problem. It's like trying to clean up the radiation of an atomic bomb instead of stopping the bomb from going off in the first place. The radiation isn't the primary problem(even though it rapidly becomes a pressing concern), it's the reason the bomb was set off and how you can prevent it from happening again that should be targeted. And drinking/drugs don't even give you neat mutations and superpowers. I mean, if I'm going to flirt with death and danger, I may as well do it with something I can gain from!

Anyway, I don't think the scare tactics all of these organizations use are working, and they shouldn't work. They're just like terrorists trying to inspire fear and dread throughout masses of people. They believe they're doing the right thing, but either the point is lost because their methods are too extreme or their methods work and create another zombie. I've yet to have a school assembly about the meaning of life or to have a guest speaker tell me that even though the world is a corrupted, messed up place where even the society many so revere is just a by-product of a religious group that has all but died out, there is still hope out there for happiness and a better future. Problems like love, stress(school, extra curricular, etc.), overwork, ignorance of the world around you, despair, hopelessness, and all of that good stuff are all ignored. And there appears to be no way to bring them up and try to fix them. The cynics who seem the problems are all too pessimistic and lazy to actually try to change them, thinking it's either too much work for something that doesn't concern me or it simply won't work. The happy intelligent (a somewhat rare breed) are content with thier stock in life and are trying to make the most of it, generally unaware of the real problems that many people face. The "ignorant" masses, who really aren't so ignorant but are just treated and indoctrinated to think they are that way, either don't have ability to pierce the veil or are too consumed in their own problems to look at the big picture. It's a problem no one wants to tackle, and can anyone blame them?

Think what the world would be like if we had campaigns to "Pay Attention to Your Country, Your World, and Yourself: Read a Newspaper. Watch the News. Actually consider every single action you take and why you are really taking it. Think." Now, I know I said thinking is wrong earlier this week, but as you can see, it really becomes very depressing if you do too much. Thinking is a sport that should be all or nothing. Either everyone should think, or no one, because that will leave the most people happy. No one campaigns against apathy. I've yet to be told by a speaker "You can enjoy life, and here's how!" No, they merely criticize the masses who try to eek some fun and excitement out of this depressing farce by partaking in substances that alter the mind and free them of all the stress, despair, and depression that has been thrust upon them. Then they get caught. Do the police say "Well Johnny, I didn't realize you were so unhappy. Let me show you what it feels like to help someone and make the world a better place like I do it everyday!"? Do the motivational speakers say "And this tragedy of a youth killed in a drunk driving accident served as a wake up call to the entire community. Kids started playing board games at parties, writing novels, taking walks in the park, getting out of the house more, and celebrating every second of life. The entire community is now so much safer and happier."? Do the teachers say "You know, this history is good to learn, but let's apply it to our society and learn from it instead of learning it for the sake of learning. Let's not worry about grades, just do your best and try to improve, I'll help you every step of the way. I don't want to know what you've learned, I want to know if you know how to use it and how it can help you."? Do the advertisements say "Change the world, make it a better place."? Some of them do, but far too many don't. Instead, there are zillions of "Your babies will die, parents will hate you, and the family pet will swallow you whole, spit out your chewed up remains, and then annihilate your soul if you do marijuana."

MADD and company don't tell you what to do instead of drugs and alcohol, they just tell you why you shouldn't do them. They don't have a campaign for "Telling the people you care about how much they really mean to you everytime you think about it." Nor do they have a "Be nice to others, pain and suffering never feel good" seminar. Instead we're treated like a bunch of mindless slaves, succumbing to our bestial urges. It hasn't occurred to them that people might drink or get high because life is so hard for them to cope with. It never entered their minds that maybe that form of altered reality feels so very good that the actual reality shouldn't exist unless it meets that standard (Really I'd say this is exaggerated, but I'm attempting to justify something I know very little about, having never done it or discussed it intensely before, so toss me a bone, will ya?). No, we're just irresponsible, hormone/peer-pressure driven, ignorant kids.

So what causes the state society is currently in? I think a lot has to do with the constant competition we're subjected to every day. Everything is a race to gain "pride", to be better than someone else and to let them know it, to outdo/outlast/outplay your coworkers and friends so you remain on top and get that promotion/girl/fame/fortune/recognition/sense of accomplishment that everyone else strives for. I know that this too is slightly exaggerated, and I can't present a real alternative that seems likely to work (but I am a cynical pessimist if you haven't noticed, so most of my ideas are immediately scrapped), but if you actually look around you, there is a real problem.

Another reason might be the "intellectual elite." They understand part of the problem, but they choose to ignore quite a bit for their own reasons. Many like being better than their fellow man. Others fall into that cycle I mentioned earlier that said why no one wants to tackle the problem. Some misinterpret the real reasons behind our actions. For instance, I read a satire the other day in English about football players and how much they're paid and attention they get. It argued what every semi-intelligent person already knows about football players getting overplayed and overhyped. But it didn't address why they're like that. It neglected to mention that some people like to get wrapped into an epic struggle of two titanic forces, played out on a battlefield where the stakes are high and no one is ever insured a victory. It's just escapism, like most entertainment, but when reality is like it is, who can honestly blame people for trying to get away from it? The satirist didn't propose any alternatives for people who have slaved away at stressful, competitive, monotonous jobs all week long who simply want to relax and take part in something bigger than themselves that all they have to do is watch to participate. Teachers, intelligence, and the like aren't rewarded because they all so aptly remind us of reality. Movies, TV, music, sports, etc. all take us away into something that really doesn't matter, but certainly feels exciting and enthralling.

Now I realize I'm doing much the same thing, pointing out flaws without clear alternatives, but I don't have a problem with people acting incorrectly or hypocritically as long as they know and acknowledge it. It's the ones who don't that just aggrivate the problem.

Drugs and alcohol aren't the only problems that society misinterprets. For instance this whole Janet Jackson debacle. The media plays it up as some travesty, when all it is is a breast. In this day and age, they're not so hard to find. I think many people forget that most children have one thrust in their faces in early childhood, even though they don't have the capacity to remember them. Both the drugs/alcohol issues and nudity merely fall into the "forbidden fruit" category.

I've got a pretty Puritan moral system myself, but I know that my leanings are wrong. I consider me not cursing a detriment to my character, because curse words too are just labeled as such by society. Take away what society makes them, they're the same as "banana", "frito", and "chihuahua"...ok, maybe not chihuahua because that's just a fun word to say, spell, and mispronounce, but you get my point. Violence and lies are supported by our very political system (this isn't just a Pres. Bush jab, it's the whole thing in general), and I consider both to be infinitely worse than nudity, cursing, or small doses of alcohol/weaker drugs. Yet they're tolerated as commonplace or ignored(for the most part) while a single breast, something over half the country sees everyday and something that most of the others probably think about everyday, is a firestorm. Some people see this state of affairs at least partitially for what it is, but the outraged section of the country gets the media to hype it all up even more. For some reason, they don't seem to understand that the way they're handling it just plays right into the hands of those who want to be "shocking" and get more publicity. But this is all to be expected from the same society that condones violence in all forms of entertainment, as long as the actual creation process of life isn't shown. It's turned into something foul and dirty, and therefore more people are attracted and intrigued by it.

Such is the world we live in. Or at least the country. People often forget that we're just one nation in a planet of billions. It's simply horrific that we are the most successful, prosperous, and powerful country and still not every single person is happy and content. Not even the majority are. Life's a constant struggle, against others, time, yourself, whatever. Ideally, there is no reason why anyone in America should be miserable, depressed, or bitter. No reason why anyone should be. Yes, this is a highly utopian, ideallistic vision, but when you compare the amount of good things in our lives to the amount of bad, it's astonishing that anyone can be unhappy. So many things are right or not wrong that you would think they would outweigh the few cons. But instead a few minor issues bring down the entire structure. Few people think to themselves "I am well. I'm not blind, deaf, broken, have a cold, horribly poor, unloved, oppressed, or in horrible, constant pain." For many that some of those conditions apply to, life seems that much more enjoyable and prescious because they can appreciate all the other things not wrong with them. The fortunate majority who are so blessed should always try to help those who are afflicted by those ills. Instead a very few things that really don't matter get to all of us. Is this innate? Have we learned this? Or has it been instilled by the same principle the anti-drug/alcohol people seek to take advantage of? Are we all so constantly concerned about the future that we forget to enjoy the present? We don't consciously do it, but it's ingrained. You have to worry about college. You have to try to do well in school. You have to succeed and make money at work. You have to try to be the best. You have to do something, because no one else will do it for you and if you don't you'll fail. And failure is the greatest crime you can commit. Such is the state of affairs. And I haven't even gone into philosophy (which I will spare you of, for now).

So that's about all, this time. See what happens when you Think? Like I said, thinking alone is generally counter-productive and should be avoided. But then, I haven't had a school assembly to show what happens to people who think too much and the horrible consequences of their actions. There aren't any associations that warn people about getting ideas. No videos showing mangled corpses and paralyzed teens after they gave the world some thoughts. But from the results of thinking, perhaps there should be. At least you get a buzz from intoxicants. Reason is a cruel drug to swallow. Might I suggest you go outside and take a walk or read a nice fantasy instead? You get to work on that. Until next time...