Tuesday, January 3, 2012

American Youth Propose A "RADICAL NEW APATHY!!!"

[A letter from the editor]:
    A new cultural and social movement has been struck up amongst the world's working class, aged 18-35. A revolutionary style of living and interacting with our peers, marked by a total lack of of willful momentum. Teens and young adults of the world's wealthiest nations have never before been more content to sit in our chairs, play video games, and allow fast food and cable television to slowly turn our bodies and minds into toxic mush. It seems that many of the poor have decided to behave just as simply lazy and ignorant as the (Rich, White) powers that be have long proclaimed them to be. People are disheartened because it turns out that less than one percent of the so-called '99%' of the oppressed in America actually showed up to the Occupy movement's protests and rallies. Of that, most  were unemployed and had nothing better to do. Others only showed up on their lunch breaks from menial, low paying jobs in corporate behemoths to eat a Subway sandwich and snap a quick photo with their iPhone to prove that they were "there when the shit went down." It seems that most of us were depending on our friends and neighbors to go down there and get shit done for us. I was hoping for something with a lot more push. It seems that the latest manifestation of our collective anger and resentment towards a corrupt and dysfunctional system amounts to nothing more than typing in all capital letters and adding unnecessary exclamation points when communicating via privacy raping social media. Yelling really loudly about a personal mish-mosh of proto-anarchist tripe whilst guzzling down trendy beer at crowded bars in hip metropolitan areas has replaced any sort of informed political process. Stay indoors. Stay tuned to watch your favorite "programs." Post your every movement to the web. Twitter is the new "News." Your only real "friends" are the ones you interact with the most online or via text message. I, the author, I am only a ghost. Just a disembodied voice composed by a human, but filtered through the circuits and protocols of the machine. I am not even here with you anymore. Moved on. Need I  remind you that every decision you make has power? Reality isn't shaped by intangibles like morals and economics. It is created with every choice we make. Every dollar we choose to spend dictates the operations of the giant global conglomerates. The brand names on our sneakers are written in the blood of decades of cruel labor practices. The meal on our plate is genetically modified, unrecognizable, and probably going to kill us. Our cars, our computers/electronics, and our garbage is fucking ruining the only planet within any universe that we have found inhabited by life as we know it. We, as living thinking humans, are a one in a billion shot, and we are acting as if the threats being waged against our very existence are not dire and immediate. I suppose that this is all some kind of bummer. It doesn't have to be though. The children are not the future, don't leave it up to them. Educate yourself, now in the present. Act according to your beliefs, regardless of public opinion. Establish yourself as model of human excellence by following your passions. Be generous when you can afford it, you'll find yourself with many a helping hand when you are in a pinch. Read books - real ones, printed on paper. Knowledge is truly the greatest treasure one can acquire. Spend time in the real world, preferably outdoors, with people you love. Tell stories. Create art. Spread knowledge through whatever means you find most enjoyable. Write a song that will change the world. Make a stranger smile. Fuck somewhere you're not supposed to. Fight the police. Grow your own food. I for one shall refuse to modify my behavior according to any codes of conduct established by any authority outside of my own intellect and intuition. We already have all the power we need, if we have each other. Fuck the system, but good. - RyGar

(For putting up with me, here's a very funny album by one of my favorite people of all time, Mr. Bruce McCulloch. )
"When you're fat, and alone, and nobody loves you."

(DL HERE)