I find myself exhausted and weary with the thought of our staggering dysfunction as a society. It’s everywhere…
Mean-looks on the streets, socioeconomic prejudice, individual dysfunction and a system divided internally and doomed for inevitable collapse. Sadly, Halifax is a glaring and loud example of our deepening crisis- the loss of human solidarity. That spark that was snuffed out through fragmentation through time. Opinions are the spent shells of this silent social war and sham we call North American culture, which is being far too generous in definition…
Imaginary ugliness and mythological imperfection haunt everyday people to varying degrees. I see streets soaked with piss and fear. The glimmerings of some nameless and dreadful armageddon. The incessant static of negativity destroying ourselves and our world is reaching its critical-mass point. You can’t even say ‘Hi!’ to someone walking by anymore. Even clerks in businesses are rude. The meaness in this world is deluging everyday life… I remember a different world, before the cold-steel of antisocial-technology, where there was a warm and old solidarity and a fascination with strangers, friendly and nonjudgemental. The advent of the internet, though a miracle in many ways, strangled organic social culture to DEATH!
Sure, the scene is not some desolate post-nuclear devastation, but, in a way, the fire has gone out in the world, the Spirit of our kind dead.
The rot will spread gradually outward, the end a stark certainty… —Watching the End Unfold between the lines and below the surface…
This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2015.
Dear OB
You need to move out to the country. Sure there are a lot fewer people out here. So your ability to interact with them becomes more limited the deeper into the woods you go …. B U T , when you do come across a neighbour or other person out here, they’ll more often than not be friendly & polite as well. Nor sure why, perhaps its just because interaction isn’t taking place with hundreds or thousands of people you don’t know each day & can be limited to days without seeing anyone but your spouse, or even just your own smiling face looking back at you when you shave (or brushing your teeth …if shaving isn’t something you do.)
Good luck , being alone doesn’t have to mean yer lonely
I’m pretty sure we were blind, fearful and hateful before the internet. But, it is undeniably ironic that an innovation designed to enhance communication and the the exchange of ideas has created an easy Balkanization of those with like-minded outlooks, combined with the perceived need, on the part of some, to police these self-imposed ghettos.
Evolution, or devolution, I’m ,at times, torn.
Doesn’t stop me from being polite, or friendly though.
Perhaps those have become the truly subversive acts in this new society.?
My God, it’s good to hear an unashamed optimist for a change!
1. staggering dysfunction as a society.
1a. industrial revolution england
2. mean looks on the streets
2a. stalin era in moscow
3. socioeconomic prejudice
3a. marie antoinette ‘let them eat cake’ there’s a doozy.
4. individual dysfunction
4a. the 80’s
5. system divided internally
5a. into what & what? could be anytime, anywhere
6. doomed for inevitable collapse
6a. please see life of brian
7. the loss of human solidarity
7a. the nature of man is to compete, not cooperate, we never had it.
the internet, and our obsession with trivia, is vehicular. in the ‘good old days’ it was over the fence/water cooler gossip. same obsession with the minutiae of other’s doings.
8. opinions are spent shells…social war
8a. nice metaphor
9. imaginary ugliness and mythological imperfection
9a. imaginary and myth means it isn’t.
I got exhausted and weary …….
Someone had time on their hands during this snow day. Perhaps shovel out the old lady living on your block to make better use of your time and be exhausted and weary with the thought of your staggering good deed. Help you sleep better too.
Misandry. It’s all a result of misandry.
Once the gals realize Big Daddy does a better job, all will be well with the world again. BTW, I like blueberry pie Toots.
I shoveled my snow and my two neighbors’ snow.
I have fond memories of those days of solidarity too OP however that was well before the internet, more like before man discovered he could tame fire. On the positive side, two of my New Year’s resolutions are to deal with imaginary ugliness and mythological imperfections.
hello crispy, missed ya
hey crisp! blessings be upon thee, o millennial cockroach!
AND YET . . . in the very depths of the Hell that you describe you will find brilliant souls everywhere bringing moments of happiness both small and life-alteringly large to people of all walks of life.
The oldest stories in the world remind us that we humans should know by now not to expect Paradise. According to the legends, we were all kicked out of Paradise at the dawn of time. That means our “job” as human beings is to do whatever we can to try to build Paradise for each other.
A more recent story describes a scenario a number of people found themselves in Hell, and the punishment was to be seated at a beautiful banquet, but all the forks and spoons far, far too long for anyone to feed themselves with–so everyone was doomed to perpetual longing for food they could not have. Just down the hall, however, was another room, marked “Heaven,” where the exact same banquet was served, however, everyone was in utter joy, using the ridiculously long forks and spoons to feed EACH OTHER.
You don’t have to believe in a literal “Heaven” or “Hell” to understand the message that happiness for one’s self comes from being of value to others.
Every human being has lived in some version of “The Dark Ages.” SOME people, however, find a way to bring a little bit of light into their corner of it.
Start by acknowledging the humanity of everyone you meet, and grow from there.
Sounds a lot more fun than the room where everybody’s standing up to their waist in dung, drinking coffee…..
Thanks Painey, missed you too! Millennial cockroach? That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. (sniffles)
Well if you don’t like it here, you can always go to one of those “worker’s paradise”. You know Cuba, North Korea, China.
I be cuttin’ my eyes and givin a lotta mean looks out on da skreet! When you’re big and tall and beautiful, people have a tendency to eye-fuck you. You know when you feel like someone’s watching you, .. you can see in your peripheral vision that they’re facing you and you feel the eye-fucking. Then you look up and meet the person’s eyeballs…and confirm. I deal with this CONSTANTLY. All eyes on No Fool, All the Time. It’s gets a tad annoying when you’re just trying to go about your day, so I start giving “mean looks”…
Oh honey, if looks could kill. I’m not into socializing with strangers… Talking about the weather, fine. But people think it’s cool to get too personal…commenting on my looks, asking me if I’m single, asking for my number or even trying to solicit me for sex! You can say ‘hi’ and strike up a conversation, but you ain’t entitled to make comments about my appearance. Like the time I was on a crowded bus, it was full so I had to stand, and these 2 college boys felt it was cool to size me up… looking me up and down and saying loudly, “she must be at least 6 feet!”…and then the rest of the eyeballs on the bus were on me…. to which I replied, “What are you boys gonna be when you grow up?”
I agree about the cell phones, this is the end of days…it says so in Revelations. Ya’ll need to get away from dem damn cell phones, they the mark of the beast!
‘ Like the time I was on a crowded bus, it was full so I had to stand, and these 2 college boys felt it was cool to size me up… looking me up and down and saying loudly, “she must be at least 6 feet!”…and then the rest of the eyeballs on the bus were on me…. to which I replied, “What are you boys gonna be when you grow up?” ‘
“Dentists” they replied in gleeful unison. “Do these Chinese knock-off Manolo Blahniks smell like chloroform to you, Lurch?” And the bus roared with laughter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QblkQ-J6zi…
Yes, solidarity has come and gone. O’ how we look upon those days and say “it was better then”. You know: the days of slavery; the days when only those who owned property could vote; the days when women were banned from doing much else besides being a housewife; the days when colonialism was at its peak, inducing famine by forcing colonies to grow profitable crops instead of food; the days when Jim Crow laws were still around; the days when a black person counted as 3/5 a person when determining population (still might be in the US constitution, maybe it was 2/5); the days when opposing sides of a street fought bloody battles because of the type of Christians they were. Those were the days when humanity was at its best.
Or maybe, you’ve got your head in the sand, and are incapable of seeing the good in the world. I pity you OB, take off the negativity glasses and see the good in the world.
Welcome to HALIFAX OB!! all kidding aside, i dont know what world you live in. I like your rant though…did you need to remove your tinfoil hat and your protection blankie to type all of that out? I smile and greet people politely. out of spite. if i get a sour greeting in return, i just say “or not!” they wont take me down their path. Im not a particularly cheerful person either…i just love pissing off already pissed off people. that brings out an even BIGGER smile from me. its like twisting a hot knife under their fingernails slowly. however, on several occasions ive met some really REALLY nice people who sort of snap out of their funk, and thats a big plus too. The world is fucked up for many reasons…a lot can be sorted out by simple, inward reflection. Once you fix you, then the world cant touch you. By the way, it IS mental health awareness day today!! Go get help if you need it folks.
As within, so without. I agree with both sides and I have thusly conluded: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
BEAUTY & THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
The Fox (2:35PM)
But if, as you say, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” then, like beauty, all judgements about anything are necessarily relative to the one who beholds them. But if all judgements about anything are necessarily relative to the one who beholds them, then on what grounds do you make what is clearly a universal (non-relative) objective (non-subjective) claim, i.e. that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder?” Do you see contradiction – and incoherence – here?
Write back soon.
A pleasure as always,
Cheerio!
I believe this bitch was written by my cousin Henri who is the only other computer literate cat I know of. He has an outlook that is as black as the fur on his back. I find him a little depressing but you can be the judge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q34z5dCmC4…
i love henri with his ennui
<< the coolest cat around. sir booger-nose
Bro Tim, the Bovine University alumni office called. They said, ‘shut up.’
OB, you think you have it bad? I just coughed up a hair ball as big as a watermelon, I’ve been fed the same tuna flavoured mush every day this week, and I can’t find that last bit of catnip left over from the stupid Christmas stocking – the one that ended up stuck on my head. Sheeesh!
… The Cat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OycX3XhC17I
North American culture is too competitive. This over competition causes people to end up socio predatory. They have to know where they “stand” and will put others down if they feel down.
It’s a mess.
Recline and watch as this shabby matchstick so-called civilization corrodes from inside, putrid rot spreading through its already sickened and weakened body, sagging in decrepit mess until its no more than a distant memory in the violent mind of some post-apocalyptic scavenger tribal warrior sauntering through a world of radioactive debris…
Actually, regardless of what Hammer Fall scenario crushes this pathetic world( pick one! ), one can see, with the utmost amusement, the decline of humankind today. The endless fragmentation and divisive movements only lead downward and deeper. So sit back, put on your 3D Horror Show glasses, stuff your disgusting human orifice with equally disgusting buttered popcorn and watch the Feature Presentation.
Looking upon humanity I can only smile as chaos covers the face of the world like lice ravaging an ailing body in some Death-Camp and think ‘Looks good on ya, humanity…. what a bunch of hapless losers!’
I mean, look at the Human Wall of Shame… the death of this species is obviously for the best, for itself and for the physical universe afflicted with it.
Cheers!
With impeccable taste, as always:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaxvqEQjUT4
What a blow-hard.