Monday, October 04, 2004

Owning the fuck up... damnit.

I am tired of thinking about it. Really, I am. Too much to consider. Too much humiliation to own up to. Lazy, that is what it really boils down to. And you cannot really apologize for being lazy. You can admit it though. But admitting such fault really sucks donkey nards. Yes, I said nards. And I mean it too. I need to barf up a wandering rant concerning something I have no right to rant about. Yes…

Why bother? I am just some random guy. Things have always “happened” whether I got involved or not. Shit went down long before my arrival. I can only assume that they will continue long after I pass. My day-to-day life is enough for me to deal with, really. I don’t need the extra headache of monitoring the activities and decisions of people/bodies so utterly abstracted from my daily life. It all seems terribly complicated, and I am far too busy to get wrapped up in the mess of it all. Leave that to the professionals…

Ah yes. Stoned and worthless apathy. That little bit of “whatever man” that allows us to pull ourselves through our little bit of day. So easy. So tempting to just let it all roll right off. Water from a duck’s ass, eh? Yes. Soooo easy. Just watch cable instead. Truck on down that path of least resistance. Why try to tough it out?

Screw it. I’m taking that easy path instead.

Or… am I?

It seems to me: that particular path has the least amount of resistance for good reason. There is a-lot of control in the hands of a relative few. Would it stand to reason that they follow the same path as every other shmoe out there? Every sad bastard and their sad sense of entitlement has plowed down that shitty path-of-the-popular, wallowing in mediocrity and anonymity. That trail of self-importance (over social consciousness) is well marked. Well traveled. Even recommended, secretly, by those who benefit most by persistent indifference. It was blazed by our laziest ancestors. And they were the majority, I guarantee. The duped majority. The “middle class” that always foots the bills and rarely REQUIRES representation. That portion of the population that simply says to themselves: “well shit man, I guess this is how things are” without ever wondering how they got to be that way in the first place. That portion of the population that has been brow-beaten to the point where they wave a white flag when confronted with the possibility that they will have to ACT in order to be heard. “Someone else will pick up the slack…”

No. They won’t. Not for your sorry ass, anyway. Why should someone look out for you and your interests when you are perfectly capable of taking care of that yourself? What stake would anyone else have in maintaining your apathetic existence? What stake is there in that, anyhow?

This country has typically been controlled by a two-party system for the majority of its (rather brief, thus far) existence. But they have not always been the same two parties that we have today. In fact, the two parties of today have only persisted through time in name only. Their policies, politics, and platforms have consistently changed (contrary to what they might have you believe). Smart money would predict changes going forward. Change will not occur to your benefit without your input. If you don’t participate, then you are guaranteeing that you and your interests will be left out. That doesn’t mean just voting. You have to actually think about what you want, and what the system can/cannot provide. Then you have to work toward speaking up for yourself and your interests, or finding a proper representative to do this work for you. You must be diligent in your efforts to promote change and sincere in your desire to affect betterment. Get off of your shoulder-shrugging ass.

Otherwise, your apathy will be rewarded in the form of a system and government, which will be as indifferent to your situation as you are to it. You will reap what you sow. Your elected officials will only feel the need to consider YOU as much as you consider THEM. Your apathy toward them\their decisions will earn you as much in return. You and your future genetic material (“invented”, cloned) will be left out. You and yours will fade away into that nameless void of apathetic middle-class. Neither successful, nor revolutionary, and certainly not courageous. A formless watermark on the pages of the intentional, action-driven, winner-written history of mankind. An accidental, not-even-footnoted existence. Wow. How impressive.

Your forefathers worked for you to be better than this. Your children deserve better from you.

Or just ignore the Drink Story guy, and go back to slugging away for a fist full of nothingness. Why not? After all, I am just some random guy.

2 comments:

ladykaen said...

i was always amazed, or perhaps bemused is more accurate, when travelling this wide world of ours, of the insidiousness of americana, the ultimate in non-culture. grab a burger and a coke, sit in front of the tv, and shut the fuck up already. i don't get it... is sitting around feeling bloated and lonely really so much "easier" than sitting around talking philosophy with friends? it sure ain't as gratifying...
yet i also have hope, as you seem to. for example, friendly ol' blogger here. sure the internet is littered with standard lowest-common-denominator fare, but it also has people like you reaching out, screaming out. and with the impending vote, i hear a lot of americans freaking out, waking up, shouting for their lives.

shout on brother.

(although i think it's water *off* a duck's ass, not from... ew.)

Fist of Trueness said...

Very good of you to notice the crafty misuse of cliche, Ms. Kaen. Kudos to the astute!