09.22.07
Systems
Pompous, presumptuous, pretentious, okay. Let’s go.
I used to be, and still am (though to a lesser degree… I stopped caring so much), obsessed with systems. How do you function? Why do you believe what you believe? Why are you standing there talking to me?
The most fun I’ve had in college so far happened on the day I found a communist behind a table on the street. This was fun. Yes, fun.
I got into an argument with the man. No, I wasn’t trying to change his views, or shoot him down. I wasn’t even angry or frustrated with him. I just wanted to know what the hell would drive him to spend many hours in the hot sun on the streets of New York standing behind a table angrily waving fliers in the faces of passersby.
In the end, I figured out two things:
1. He wanted to replace the greed incentive with the survival incentive (which is regressive and stupid)
2. He was stuck, trapped, blinded, whatever whatever whatever, by his system
Those are always humiliating realizations, no matter how many times I re-realize those things. Observe:
1. It’s silly to claim that I’m a virtuous person. I’m fucking greedy. At best, I can be disciplined, but not capital G Good. And even if I was not greedy, the only other alternative would be desperation, in order to survive. Still, not a Good state to be in.
2. As trapped as that man is in his mode of thinking, I might be trapped in mine.
Why do I even care about this shit? Even as I try to escape, I’m trapped by my desperate efforts to do just that: escape. It consumes me.
Ahaha, catch the irony in that? Of course, it’s pretty obvious.
Yesterday, I ran into two people angrily waving fliers in the faces of passersby in Washington Square Park. They wanted my e-mail and they wanted me to go to their website and register and fill out a survey about pills and how often I popped them.
Why? Why do they care? African children are dying and they choose to care about something as insignificant as the chemical pollution of American youth?
Granted, it’s not that insignificant. But how can you decide that one cause is any more worthy than the next? How do you choose what to fight for? How can you be so stupid as to be so prideful and angry and self-righteous, and how can you believe that you have a right, a duty, and responsibility to prioritize one thing before a sea of other, just as worthy causes?
Why is it that no one remembers to be humble?
And before you start criticizing me, go back and think about why my words irk you. Then question it. Otherwise, you’ll forever be trapped in your system.
Oh, yeah. Qualifier: all of the above is complete and utter bullshit. I do not profess to believe in anything.
You may be justified in your criticism; that might be the case. Whatever whatever whatever.
p.s. art is anything and everything. a pattern on a piece of cloth may be art. art is anything that someone had to design, with a goal in mind. a work of art is different though. a work of art has historical, technical, and aesthetic significance. uh… which is something i’m really not qualified to be a judge of.
squidink said,
September 23, 2007 at 12:07 am
Honestly, I think arguing about the things that make something art is useless. It’s interesting, really; I consider myself an artist, yet prefer not to discuss the specifics of it.
Varies said,
September 23, 2007 at 6:32 am
An interesting read as umm… usual (post more1)
I would agree with your commentary about those silly activists. I liked the alliteration as well, but that’s just meee. Literary devices aside, your post does prompt me to make some comments.
First of all, it sounds like that communist guy was rather misguided. What’s the survival incentive behind political activism? Shouldn’t he be putting his efforts into… survival? Of course, survival should never be the driving force behind any society. It should be more or less a given once a society has reached a certain point in its development. Whether or not “greed” is the goal that naturally follows would be issue for me. I don’t think that we necessarily need to move our efforts onto making as much money as possible because I wonder if we’re at a point where “greed” itself is regressive (to use your words).
If you want to escape your system of beliefs, it takes more than talking to a soap-box communist and trying to understand his point of view. I suppose it’s nice that you recognize that you’re stuck, but if you really want to escape, Varies (chief advocate of change) advises you to put some effort into it!
Now something that I found amusing was how you cited dying children in Africa and implied that they mattered more than pill-popping teens. It would be bad rhetoric for me to focus in on this point and treat it like the crux of your argument, but I feel I must address it! Does something happen to you every time a child in Africa dies? Is your life altered in some way? I have a mosquito bite that bothers me more than the countless civilians who are dying as I write this. On the other hand, pill popping teenagers lead to all sorts of idiotic bureaucratic regulations that end up costing us extra money, wasted time in legislature, and maybe a few overdoses here and there. While I’m sure that we spend all sorts of money trying to stop the civil wars in Africa, I think the impact of chemical pollution of America’s youth is a more important issue.
That said, I agree. These activist types are pompous, presumptuous, and pretentious. I would add deluded and maladjusted, but those don’t begin with the letter P. It really would be nice if they were a little more humble, but they’re just doing what they gotta do given the way our society works. It’s all about the grass roots!
A final comment about art (unless you choose to pick at the scab at a later date): I think that your opinion of a composition’s merit does matter. It’s fine to look at something and say, “I don’t think that’s art,” but it’d be nice if everyone would follow that up with “but I can see how someone else might.”
Again, good stuff. I’d comment more on other people’s things, but I often can’t think of anything to say.