our sick society *cough cough* April 4, 2008

My friend stephen wrote a piece on Social Networking becoming the sticky web that it is and instead of uniting networks of people (as intended), it’s fended them off and made people guarded (and rightfully so).

I agree.
I dont blame social networking as I dont blame the car the drunk driver used to smashed into the family crossing the street. It’s one of the many tools or advances is our technology and networking abilities that has been abused to a pulp. Craigslist ride share, couch surfing- all great ideas that conceptually will be awesome if we could all just play by the rules. But unfortunately it seems it’s only a matter of time before our demented consumer society crushed any innocent blue-sky idea for the sake or hype, exploitation, profit, and any other one-up they can squeeze out of it at the small cost of integrity. It’s not evil, our people are just paying dearly for it’s choice of tactics.

What the fuck is wrong with the world these days? The part that makes me the most squeemish about it, is that nobody really seems too worried. We all have this hazey understanding that things arent as they used to be, but somewhere between connecting the dots as to why and living their lives to reflect such understanding, people seem to somehow drop off, get distracted, or just lose interest in being bothered to think about it.
I dont blame people. We’re just a product of our surroundings and dont really know any better. There no bad children, just bad teachers- and I think over the years our teachers have gotten more and more sloppy- with eyes glazed over by the shiny twinkle of ’success’ (which means ‘being rich’ for those of you who’ve been living in a hole and didnt have the American Dream jammed down your throat your whole up bringing). We’re smart creatures- and we learn to develop and thrive whatever we learn will benefit us the most in life. It used to be integrity that was the most important- whether driven internally, spiritually, or through a scare tactic that you  are constantly being watched by a higher power that you can have no secrets from. But I feel that somehow, over time, that importance has slowly shifted a bit more towards this ’success’ idea- like if we dont achieve it, our life is a waste. Shit dude, that idea would scare anyone into doing things they’re not proud of- cutting any corners they can to scamper up the hill. It’s especially stressfull when we’ve got this voice of the media and advertising telling us we’re not quiiiiiite good enough- we’re fallin behind (no matter where we are actually, we could be better). No doubt the result of this system has created some industrious little fuckers. With all this hard work, we’re an advanced little society! But we’re a little bit broken on the inside. At this work driven by shame, insecurity, doubt, stress…. it’s taken a toll on our bodies and our minds. Who would have thought that all those corners we cut because nobody would see (but would get us ahead!) was actually being documented and recorded in our very own minds? Every choice we’ve made along this shaky path to ’success’- where a shiny forbidden fruit was dangled and we took it when no one knew, where we had to make a choice that may have benefited ourselves at someone else’s expense (perhaps when they didnt know it, so we justified the action), when we did something that maybe we were not proud of, where we did what we had to to get ahead…. that all of those memories actually didnt get tossed out of our minds like a 10th grade math test. And now here we are, years later: DEPRESSED. EMPTY. and of course overmedicated, because we thought it would help. Not even sure WHY we’re depressed. We did everything right- we worked our fucking asses off. We’re respectfully successful, surrounded with the fluff of everything we were trained to want and everything we were taught to value in life. What is this empty feeling? Why am I so causios of the rest of the world? Arent they just people like you and me? Why would they want to hurt others? ….why? Because they, as we’ve all felt to one degree or another, care more about ’stuff they want’ than how the feel about doing it. They, as we’ve done ourselves, numbed ourselves to that feeling of guilt or shame- they’re just gotten better at it. We all did it cuz we had to! It’s a defense mechanism our adapting brains developed to protect ourselves from this harsh society telling us we’re not good enough! We flipped that sensor off to get thru life and to do as we’re told and do what we gotta- to ’succeed’ and feel afloat in a sea of ‘not good enough’.
So after years of crying wolf- here we are, with a broken down sick society of murder, hate, and (rightfully so) fear.
I’ve never been a fan of religion. I think its often used as a tool for control, and often in the hands of the power-hungry. Like the blind leading the blind, escaping from one trap into some sort of other marketing scheme that is ironically filling somebody’s pockets. At the same time though, maybe we need to be on that leash? Maybe we all really ARE just a buncha little kids that just realized we are home alone.
I think we learn that we only have to deal with the consequences of our actions if we get caught….. but I dont think it’s true, and I think understanding that is the key to reactivating that ‘do-bad feel-bad, do-good feel-good’ sensor that our society has helped us desensitize. If thinking god is always watching and THAT is why you have to behave, great. I think that only until we pay attention to that ‘do good’ sensor, and start letting it play a bigger role in the way we live our life, will we be on a better track. I dont know if the vast majority doesnt realize that or just doest really care- and I’m not sure which answer scares me more.