"The most important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become"
-- Charles Dubois, Belgian Naturalist
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Never have the old ways been so tired as our media sucks away at the fumes of cultural exhaustion, the strained credibility of stodgy institutions and putrid, goof-faced "trend-followers" ducking around the crevices of "the new economy" like diseased lemurs. Indeed, not enough "fresh air" is circulating through a rather complacent system stuffed on its own crud. . . . . and the life philosophy of the times becomes the question of "the fish-bowl". If it's turned upside-down, then the oxygen is slowly running out and we choke on our own fumes like gasping guppies. However, if it's set in the healthy, natural manner and metaphorically avoiding the pitfalls of modern angst, then it's an open system and "the candle no longer burns at both ends" as we avoid the fate of Virginia Woolf drowning herself in a pond with stones in her pocket. Our 24/7 media/internet world isn't helping where the rudest possible light is cast upon personalities and objects without remorse, robbing them of their luster-- something once magnificent that has slipped away and only adding to the sense of futility and decay.
A sterling reputation can be likened to a palace bejeweled with precious stones that have been mined out of the earth through hard work or deeds of valor, when once hoarded, you feel the right & privilege to majestically recline on "the throne of self" without "having to work as hard" and coast right along as others respect you as a known quantity. However, if the palace is not polished and "firmed up" like a living, breathing body, the glories will fade with time and you will soon be forgotten as "jewel thieves" run off with the booty like vandals. Many personalities and institutions aren't keeping themselves "fit" as they should be, not "hungry" like they were in the old days when they did put in an heroic effort. That leaves an opening for the young and ambitious. . . . . the tomb robbers.
As Oscar Wilde once wrote: "The world belongs to the discontented". Not only that, but having an enemy sharpens you and keeps you on your feet when you feel the urge to swoop in from behind and totally destroy them. What I would say to my theoretical enemy, or anyone who has grown complacent, or even myself when I had fallen critically behind at certain points in my life, is that fate will pull you down if you quit taking intelligent risks, or fall for a narrow strip of a notion that seems like apparent "genius" but in a larger context, with history as your witness, is foolishness of the worst sort. More tragic yet, refusing to accept negative feedback to correct your dubious course of action as you fall for "the confirmation bias", or tending to believe information that you only agree with anyway as you surround yourself only with people who nod along pleasantly to your every stray thought, leading to more errant thinking.
To me, what I do up here is like a heavy metal concert and I'm the performer. If revolutions-- the discontent of the masses-- comes up from below, then I'm your man.
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"You want a-nuther song? Well I ain't plain' one mutherfuckin' note until someone comes up here and puts sum money in my god-damned tip-jar! You know I only came here for one purpose. . . . . to take yor fuckin' cash! Why, I could make more profit puttin' out my meth-head neighbor's asshole and ringin' a bell, hollerin' 'Man for sale! Man for sale!'
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(Rheeee of Crickets)
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("I heard that, Missy!")
© 2008 by Insufferable Industries
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