Blogging. I once heard it described as the internet equivalent of smelling your own farts. From some of the blogs I’ve read – I have to agree. Sometimes it feels like the world is pondering the question: “If something happens in your life, and you don’t post it to facebook or blog about it, does it even matter?” Kind of like the old tree-falling-in-the-forest with no one around adage. Despite the fact that writing this may be a testament to narcissism, I’m going to nonetheless.
Why? I’m not entirely sure. Partly, because engaging in some meaningful discussion within the allotted words per comment strictures on facebook is growing old, and frankly – it’s depressing. I can appreciate facebook, however. It’s good to see conversations taking place with multiple participants where this would be impossible otherwise. And you can’t deny the role of social media to incite incredible change. Egypt, and other Middle Eastern uprisings are evidence of that. But, the minutiae of facebook can drive a person quickly insane. My method of dealing with inane musings is with sarcasm, or the new face of sarcasm among the young adults: snark. It’s like sarcasm with a real mean-streak. I am not proud of this, and it's gotten completely out of hand. Which brings me to the second reason for doing this: my growing disappointment with my generation. I dislike sweeping generalizations, and I do try to avoid them. But we’ve earned our reputation as the generation of “me!" All around, I see examples of people entrenching themselves in what they think they know best – themselves. But, this devotion to individuality is deceiving. How much of this uniqueness is actually just modeled after norms perpetuated through media and good old-fashioned peer-pressure? I see this, based on my experience, in the name of being open-minded and liberal and it’s anything but. If you’re not conforming to the latest non-conformity, then you’re obviously intolerant. Oh, how I loathe this mindset. The ability to have a civil discourse has vanished and been replaced by using “The Daily Show” quips as actual arguments. As much as I adore Jon Stewart (I mean, seriously – adore. I’d marry him were he single and willing), you can’t out-argue someone by simply linking a YouTube clip from the last episode to a facebook thread. The argument is: I’m right and you are obviously a cretinous moron. I’ve evolved, you haven’t. My choice in television viewing confirms this fact.
Politics, or any argument, can’t be won by condescension. And my generation – we’re giving it all we’ve got in trying to do just that. I have undoubtedly been guilty of this myself. (Calling Mike Huckabee “Hickabee” immediately springs to mind. Sorry, Mike. Not that you’ll ever read this.) Recognizing the problem is the first step to overcoming it. Let’s back up – what do I mean by “my generation”? I don’t know, precisely. I’m 28. So that’s definitely included. I want to say the 25 to 34 bracket, but it’s expanding in both directions. This is going to be an evolving definition. I’m thinking generally unmarried, urban/suburban, college-graduates, who spent at least some of their youth watching “South Park.” (I realize this definition sucks. Give it time to grow, mmmkay?) I mention “South Park” because on that show NOTHING is sacred, which ultimately leads me to believe that Trey Parker and Matt Stone put their faith in a similar kind of nothingness and devotees of the show do so to some extent as well. Where nothing is sacred and we just laugh at it, a generation of nihilists is blossoming. And when “In Nothing We Trust,” we’re arguing for the sake of arguing. And holy shit, is it exhausting.
What to expect from this? I don’t know. A few caveats: I will likely contradict myself. I will not be overly concerned with grammar and punctuation – so just save it. I will not attempt to carefully craft my arguments. I do this day-in and day-out in my regular non-internet based life, and I won’t do it here because I can. Whenever something strikes me as relevant, I’ll post it here. I might write a few words. I might not. I might deviate from my stated focus. (If you can call it a focus.) Who knows. Work in progress.
As for a little about me, which may explain some of the awareness of this (or not): I’m a single-parent. (to an absolute gem of a child who restores my tattered faith in humanity daily.) A divorcee. A graduate student. (Post-grad grad student. I do not recommend it.) A budding environmentalist, a vegetarian flirting with being vegan. I’m called a liberal, and I refer to myself that way sometimes, although I’m not entirely sure what this means. I have attended school with some of the most privileged among us, but I was raised in a tiny town built around a paper mill in North Carolina. On top of this, I just started attending church again. Not just any church, but The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Commonly referred to as the “Mormon” church. (It's a lifestyle, not a weekly church date.) Apparently, it’s about 75% Republican, statistically. But I am enjoying it quite a bit. This has been the reawakening in my life that “I” don’t come first. Perhaps there is something bigger than all of us that supersedes our duty to ourselves and illuminates the duty we have to each other. Again, a work in progress. But what does this all mean? It means that I don’t “fit.” Or, at least I don’t feel that way. Most of us probably feel that way to some extent. So why are we arguing like it’s all black and white? It’s the old US v. THEM mentality and I think my peers and I are perpetuating it, and solidifying it in a dangerous, and disturbing way.
So, that was long. Thanks for reading if you stuck with me. I’m just hoping to learn something here and maybe have some kind of catharsis. We shall see.
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