The Rant
Let me let you in on a few things that have been on my mind for a while now. I think there's a problem with the world. No, seriously now. Things are just kinda fucked up, and not showing signs of getting much better. And I'm not just talking about the middle east- though that is a big part of things on my mind these days, given who I am and what I do currently for a living. But no, I'm thinking of just us, "we the people" there's something wrong with us. But I'm not quite ready to blame us completely. There's things at work that just have a much stronger influence than we're ready to admit. We're conditioned pretty much from birth to listen to certain sources. Sources that have changed in priority over the years.
I think we're all entirely too worried about the wrong things. We're all so hung up on "feeling good" that we're missing the reasons we're feeling bad. I want to talk to you all about greed. Because that's really what this is about. It's about money. Am I building up too much before paying off, have the attention spans been exhausted yet? Mine almost has, and I'm the one writing this, yet as I sit here clacking away on the keyboard, my mind keeps rolling over to what my next distraction might be. But nevermind that. Let me ask you something, something important. What are you driving? What car gets you from a to b right now? I don't care about emissions and use of fuel. That's not why I'm asking. Why are you driving that particular car? And what did you drive before it? Now, more importantly, why did you get rid of one in favor of the other? Did one break down? Did you just trade up for the next-bigger-better? I'm curious. I'm not really wanting to talk about your choices though. I'm not too worried about you. You seem ok, I kinda like you. You seem like good people. Here's what I'm worried about. Are you happy? Right now, in your life, how do you feel? Are you depressed? Why do you feel depressed? You know what makes me depressed? Commercials that ask me if I'm depressed. That's what bothers me. Worries me. Keeps me up at night actually.
Really, look at half the commercials on TV right now. "Are you feeling..." "Do you suffer from..." On it goes. And then it ends with "Ask your doctor if ___ is right for you." The commercials are telling you to go to your doctor and ask them about drugs. Your doctor is quickly becoming a whore for the drug companies. And you already know all the "symptoms" to complain of, because the commerical briefed you on what to say first. Does anyone remember the days where if you really felt like you had a problem, you went to the doc, said exactly what was wrong with you- without prompting- and then the doc would tell you (not the other way around) what needed to be done to fix it? There's something wrong with this picture.
And here's a thing to think about. You want to know what'll really stop your depression or whatever that ails you? Stop watching the commercials that come after the drug commercials too. Because they all show you stuff you don't have, and tell you that you should. Well guess what- most of us are living closer and closer to the American standard of a poverty level these days, and so we can't afford everything. We can't have everything, and so we spend the brunt of our days trying to get these things, and feeling unfulfilled when we can't get them. And we're breeding our children to expect to get it all. Look at the younger generations of stars parading around the globe these days. Spoiled, skeleton thin, coked up, drunk, lazy, self-indulgent, and able to get away with everything. Then watch the shows being marketed to younger kids- mostly girls. "My Super-Sweet 16" is one of the biggest offenders. Pathetic excuses for human life complaining on and on about how big and amazing their birthday party needs to be so they can look better than those who had something smaller. And you've got parents, who in the misguided quest to give their children EVERYTHING they never had, take out morgages, lones, advances, and other crap trying to make their little girls happy. But it's wrong, because we're teaching them to expect to get everything they want, and with a minimum of labor involved. Then look how they dress, with words like "juicy" "spoiled" "slut" "daddy's little girl" "princess" and the like on their not yet formed stuffed bra-ed chests and asses. It's wrong people, and I know I'm not the only one who sees it. And to everyone who is founding companies like "Juicy Couture" and "Baby PHAT" with their marketting plan being to put their names and phrases in these places- they should all be arrested for child-pornography. Because that's basically what they're creating a culture of. You know what I want the grand statement and warning against this shit to be? I want all these spoiled superficial pop-starlets to have their heads removed, preserved, and put on stakes. Then I want those stakes to go on a massive tour of all the malls in America. It'll be like in the 80s when mall tours were all the rage for popstars. Only this time they'll be dead, and on stakes. And all the little pre-pubescent brats who want to gripe that their folks aren't spending enough money on them, will be dragged kicking and screaming to pose for photos with all these severed heads.
Cruel, maybe. But effective.
Of course, I'm also highly in favor of doing away with the normal system of taxes. Here's what I want in it's place. We do away with taxes on anything that fits into the basic food groups. I'm talking on their own fit into one food group. TV dinners- out. Actually individual parts of meals that require preparation- in. Those foods will not be taxed. Clothing will be taxed based on how much it costs. You want to buy a $50 shirt? Fine, you're gonna pay much more in taxes then I will on a $5 one. Basically, I'm saying we need vice taxes. You want to spend rediculous amounts of money for the pleasure of doing so- great. I'm not against that, but if you've got more to spend- then you've got more to give. Hey, I'm guilty too. I'll pay higher taxes on going out to the movies, or buying a new CD (I don't download. fuck you guys.) I'm cool with that. Down with income tax. Up with outgo tax. Can you dig that? Of course, I'm also the guy who wants there to be licenses to breed, but I know we can't trust our government to handle that.
Shit, I don't know. Maybe I'm just really the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I'm all about the end of the world for example. If it happens in my lifetime- cool. It'll be a hell of an event. I hope it works slowly though, at least a week, so people can still talk about all the "Where were you when ___?" shit that we love so much. It'll be the ultimate car-wreck, no one will be able to look away. I'm not saying I want the world to end. I kinda like being alive. I'd like to keep being alive for a long long time. I'd like my friends to all keep being alive too. But, if the world IS going to end- is it wrong to want to see it?
Maybe it'll just be like the REM song, it'll just be "The end of the world as we know it". Cuz I have a feeling the world itself will survive. Hell, look around- it's already trying to kill us faster than we can kill it. And mother nature will win baby, trust me, you ever made your mom mad before, really mad? Dad's always the one you don't want to spank you after dinner or whatever. But mom's wrath? Forget that shit. Flood, Hurricane, Tornado, Earthquake, Fire... the list goes on and on. Biblical type. There it is.
Maybe I'm getting off topic. I dunno. I'm just afraid of the world we live in right now. Look around. I'm not afraid of the things I'm told we're supposed to be afraid of though. I'm afraid of the people telling us to be afraid. Fear is good business. Make the people afraid, and they'll do anything you want them to. Look at all we'll give up in the effort to cut off our reasons to be afraid. We give up our privacy a little more and more each day- to persue the illusion of safety. Again, let me say it, the ILLUSION of safety. Because you're never really safe. There's 9,999,999 different ways you could die- right now! Just sitting down and reading this. And that's just the obvious ones. Not the off-the-wall shit.
You know what else is good business? Ignorance. Why do you think the Catholic church is so rich? Or the conservative christian right-wingers in government. Why do you think they have so much money? It's right there in the bible. They did their homework. Fear keeps people ignorant. And one of the earliest fears referenced in the written word is the wrath of God, and his disappointment in us. Adam and Eve got kicked out of the Garden of Eden for what? Eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. The TREE of fucking KNOWLEDGE!!! God himself wanted us to be stupid. Ignorance is bliss ring any bells to anyone? And that's why more and more people are staying out of politics, and not concerning themselves with the workings of the world. It's better for those in charge to keep people thinking ignorance in bliss and it's better to not be involved, and to keep just looking out for number one, out of fear. Fear and Greed run our day to day. 9/11- hey, America, don't worry, we'll take care of everything- just go shopping. And we'll find a way to spin this behind everyone's backs to plant fictional ties between Saddam, and Osama, and some made up weapons of mass destruction.
The WMDs we should be fearing are the weapons of mass distraction. "Hey America, look over here at this shiny shit while we continue on with our privatization of the country and soon the globe, helping our buddies from college get big money government contracts and run amok over civil liberties, liabilities, and any moral concepts of right and wrong. Don't worry about us- be afraid if we weren't doing all of this- the terrorists would win." The terrorists did win. They're in our living rooms every night. They're on the airwaves. They're holding public offices. The enemy is all around us. Hell, the enemy IS US! We are ruining ourselves, our cultures, and our children. Get a grip, open your eyes, let go of the fruitless pursuit of wealth and stuff. That's not the American dream. It's Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Stop killing yourselves over useless crap. Become educated about the world- it's the only way to maintain your freedom and liberty. And live for the important things in life, the intangible things. Because those are the only real things that will bring you happiness.
I hope I haven't lost any of you.
Thanks.
SMJ 9/29/07