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Civility
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08-28-2009, 09:23 AM
Omegawrath
E pur si muove!
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Oh, for...!
Posts: 1,306
I wrote this a year ago for another site. It's not directed at anyone in particular.
One of the things that strikes me about net posters is that a lot of them use sarcasm as a way to justify saying any poppycocking balderdash that comes to mind. That way they can say that they were kidding thus excusing them from any responsibility to be civil.
Again, this is a meditation, not a high-and-mighty tirade.
CYNICISM-ROFL!
Remember Dennis Leary? Dennis Miller? Ever watch Lewis Black?
These guys made careers out of being cynical and funny.
You're not them.
I'm a big fan of skepticism. It peels away the layers of bullshit and leaves the sometimes ugly core of truth, but it doesn't sway toward the positive or the negative. It gives you the true, clear, hi-def picture of the way things are, warts and all, for better or for worse, etc, etc...
But cynicism is a bitter, ugly thing. When we see comedians go on insane, hyperbolic tirades it's funny. Usually they have some important point to make and they dress it up so that it's easier to swallow. Laughter and sugar make the medicine go down.
The fourth edition of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines cynicism as: An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others.
Scornful and jaded. Cynics proceed from a place of negativity. It's the foundation of their attitude.
Cynics seem to think that all the people around them are blind, naive or generally don't know what the fuck is going on. How can you understand the world and what's happening and NOT be cynical?
Politicians are corrupt, lawyers are slick talkers out to get your money and the world is run on corruption. Most people are going to hell and it's the end of days. Your dog only loves you because you feed him. The opposite sex is driven purely by evil motives and the Earth is doomed to crash into the sun anyway. What are you smiling at?
Well, when you're like me, the attitudes of those around you can affect you. An attitude is like an odor. It wafts off of you and the others around you will sense it. It will mingle with their own scent and, if strong enough, overpower and eclipse it.
I've said before that if someone tries to hand you a big pile of shit, you don't HAVE to take it. However, if that shit is all over their shoes and you live in the same area, it's going to get everywhere and it's going to be a presence in your life whether you want it or not.
Cynics are funny to watch because they both thrive on one another's negativity and constantly try to outdo one another. I wandered around for a large portion of my life spreading my own shit around. I wanted people to see how hip and smart and dissatisfied with the world I was. It didn't matter that I wasn't actually taking any actions to improve things. I just wanted them all to know.
And that's the problem. Cynics would rather complain and cry about how hopeless everything is and how it's useless to try because the world isn't going to change with them, so any attempt to change their attitude would just be shovelling shit against the tide.
Thing is, if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. (Cliches are cliches for a reason, people.) Cynics decorate their world with their own negativity. They don't improve it. They revel in it. And they attract more cynics and perpetuate the cycle until their whole world is just one "We're smarter and cooler than you" pity party.
I'm too young to be this tired. I have too much life left to be this disgusted with the world I live in. Maybe trying to make things better is a full time job. Maybe you're fighting your brain chemistry or the attitude you've inherited from a parent and you can't see anything past the fog of your own negativity. Maybe trying to keep a positive outlook, or at least see the positive as well as the negative is a constant fight. Maybe you have to live for the fight if that's all that you've got.
Attitudes have a gravity. I become uncomfortable when surrounded by sheep, but I don't feel any better when I'm surrounded by wolves. Balance is key. Seeing things, again, for what they are rather than how bad they can be or how good we'd like them to be. Once you have a clear picture of what is, you can begin to build towards what you would like it to be. It's a slow and perhaps insurmountable task, but if you don't try, you're as guilty as the ones you detest.
__________________
"I'm one of those people that finds heavily moderated or utterly uncritical places to be unbearable. The idea of posting on a website where every new release is met with enthusiasm fills me with dread."
Omegawrath
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