Whacked Stream
i think we all contradict ourselves daily. so much, that we get caught up in our own confusion, and then get defensive when others point it out to us.
we like to think that we're compassionate because we give money to bums on the street, or because we cry when we see sally struthers with third-world-country children on television. and yet, we burn our parents' money like it grows on trees, on unnecessary items we could very well do without. we talk to other people about the idea of helping the less fortunate, but we can't even lift a finger to do the act ourselves. we can't even help our own peers, our own best friends, quit drug addictions or smoking habits, or drinking binges, or whatever - in fact, we stand around them and do absolutely nothing simply because, "bah, they're free to do whatever they want," so while our apathy lives on, we slowly die in front of each other.
we talk about racism and prejudice with such contempt that we may as well pass ourselves off as activists, in some form, to other people. yet we glorify elitism and think we're special when we find our niches in society, and pity those who haven't, as if we're better human beings than they are, as if we have a right to turn out noses up to people who have the same strengths and weaknesses we possess. because we're better, yerno, 'coz we're wearing purple and they're wearing green so yeah, we're better. we talk about having pride in whatever ethnic background we come from, completely forgetting the fact that our lives are all intertwined, and our struggles are similar.
we love to believe that we are nice people, because we have family and friends who trust us and whom we trust. yet we can't even say hi to the lady at the toll booth who's probably been there for a good seven hours, we can't even crack a smile - for free! because all we're concerned about is handing our three dollars, wham bam thank you ma'am, lift up that yellow-and-black-barrier of a log so i can drive through and be on my way. we're actually proud of the friends we already have, and make public declarations about not wanting to make any more.
we claim to be open-minded, but we can't even forgive those who have wronged us. we get pissed off when our apologies aren't accepted, yet are willing to let grudges go on for years until we take it to our graves. publicly, we get offended when others make fun of the handicapped, black people, white people, yellow people, orange people, fuschia-or-whatever people. in our own little cliques, we make fun of them, find nothing wrong with it, and justify our words with, "i'm just kidding, dude. i don't even know where that joke came from."
we're one screwed up world, really.