Posted on 01/05/2009 9:16:03 AM PST by AngryCapitalist
Often while we are engaged in our daily business we are jolted from the concentration devoted to our task by that curious species of human, the freak. There they are, presented before you in all of their grotesque spectacle assuming any manner of guises; those who exist for mere shock value bedecked in metal studs placed strategically about the face and body to illicit the most exaggerated of responses from passers by; the renegade hipster who deals liberally in profanities and arcane dress while refusing to shower out of a self proclaimed respect for his mother Earth; the village idiot who uses his body as a sounding board for any two-bit, so called, artist who is in possession of a scrap of wire and a bottle of India ink covered by failed attempts at adroit expression. Their sole objective in life is to shock, to offend, those who they view as members of accepted and traditional social groups, in hopes that they will stand apart from the rest of their fellow men and as such they will be remembered. It must be stated that the overwhelming majority, if not the entire population, of these self inflicted social outcasts adhere to the failed collectivist ideologies as if it were a religion of sorts, and that their overt attempts at invoking shock is a form of uniform worn by this sorry lot. When prodded as to the impetus of their dress or adornments they are quick to cite the expression of their individualism and a distain for accepted social norms as their source of motivation, feeling quite proud in their ability to stand apart from you and me....
More at: http://www.hostileopposition.blogspot.com
(Excerpt) Read more at hostileopposition.blogspot.com ...
just.. wow.
tattooed freeper ping.
Photo of a senator? May God have mercy on us...
nice rant!
Bookmark to watch the fireworks...
~Arlo Guthrie
A bit too much reliance on spell-checker.
Mostly, as you point out later in the article, these people do not wish to offend other individuals, but to be accepted by a peer group whose collective identity revolves around offending non-members. That is the real upshot of a collectivist mindset - tribalism. One on one they tend to be exquisitely sensitive to disapproval, which accounts for a certain brittleness within the culture. Why? You state it yourself:
...this is what is to be expected when one becomes so engrossed in the drive for a personal identity [and] is confined by the restrictions of a collectivist ideology.
The art community in particular is risibly populated by followers, not angry individualists, else we would hardly see groups of them gushing over canvases filled with nonsense or with nothing at all. The real fruit of collectivism is a population of sheep led by celebrities within whose approval they most desire.
That isn't, of course, to suggest that anyone sporting a tattoo or a piercing is either a collectivist or a sheep. These remain a means of self-expression whatever the motivation of the individual for doing so. Mores truly have changed with regard to those, my FRiend, and it behooves us not to be overly judgmental by outward appearance. The fiercest individualists I have ever met look like bankers - or soldiers. A thing to ponder.
"Ward, I want a nipple ring. And Wally's bi-curious."
"That's OK dear, I'm sthuping Eddie Haskell's mom."
"Being named Beaver Cleaver is gonna mean decades of therapy."
I don’t know which hurt my eyes worse. The lack of paragraphs on this page, or the white on black on the link page.
No offense, good article.
Argh. Hopefully it’s early enough in the day to not cause bad dreams!
Thought I'd give him a chance and not judge him. He's a friend of a friend.
He's a twat.
I revel in the disdain of cowardly conformists. Just keep letting your mommy dress you how she likes and keep an eye on your girl when you step out to the bathroom.
The only “non-conformists” I know of still live with their parents.
You should get out more.
Been there done that.
I like the 80’s! ha ha
I think the author has a serious bug up his ass.
I’m with ya. Had blast back then.
I enjoyed the 80’s too. I wonder if living through the 70’s had something to do with it?
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