Empty Cage

This should be good, there’s about a 90% chance this blog will get lost in the abyss, when I move, but I’ve just had a hit of bitchy, and I can’t help myself. As for the contents of this blog, I’m not going to pretend I’m not just as guilty as the next guy on this one, but I just need to get some stuff off my chest.

Why is it that everyone on the Internet has such a healthy hit of self entitlement? Everyone seems to wield knowledge like a weapon, when it has so many other uses. It’s absolutely obscene to watch “help” forums on the internet. Are we all so small and petty that when someone asks for a minute of our time to give them a hand we slap them in the face.

And I know. I know, read my blog entries and people will get to thinking I actually have a heart because I’ve hit this topic before. My problem here though is that so much the snobbery today is people trying hard to emphasize their perceived “uniqueness” It’s a bit nauseating. I’m obviously not pointing any fingers, this is a by product of the hyperconnected society.

Throughout elementary school and high school you will be told a couple hundred times a day that you are completely unique. That no one on this entire planet is anything like you, and everything you do is special. I am very naive and I like to believe that to some degree this is true. I like to believe at our core we are each at least slightly different. As a Philosophy Major, I cringe at the words ‘I like to believe’ because as far as I’m concerned that’s code for ‘I can’t prove a damn thing’

The thing that troubles me is of course that for being ‘unique’ we sure as hell hate to act unique. And I know this rant has been given a million times: “Counter culture is culture, you dumbasses.” I’m a counter culture kid but at least I have the guts to call a spade a spade on this one. And as someone wise once pointed out to a very innocent me, who was trying to decide if she should get a tattoo for no good reason except that she would fit in with the other Goth kiddies “You are unique, just like everyone else.”

I love turning that sentence over in my head, it never fails to stop me in my tracks.

And I’m not surprised at the rise of depression, and, (in only the most shallow people), it’s links to goth, emo, or whatever other group you may be a part of. I have dealt with depression, I have been a goth, and to be fully honest about this all, I still like the goth lifestyle, and have no problems “gothing it up”. But being an insider looking in, as well as an insider looking out it’s so easy to see why we are the way were are today, this massive addiction to not being okay.

Look at it this way, on the internet pretty much everyone in the western world can instantaneously see almost anything they like about us. In this blog alone essentially anyone can read this entry (I mean, mind you they’d have to find it either by looking for it or happening upon it) but, for the sake of argument anyone who wants to know my thoughts on things can access them with ease. And despite my bellyaching it’s not all that difficult to do. In fact, dare I say it, anyone on the entire internet who views my website is more than capable of also making their own website, be it livejournal, geocities, or a domain, it’s not as though only the elite can throw together a website. Anyway now, unlike 10 or so years ago when the only people you had to tell about your life was your best friend now you can tell someone on the other side of the world about your life. In only a few mouse clicks. As soon as I click Publish to my right there this blog, too will be available to people across the globe. And this hypercommunication causes a bit of a problem.

Suddenly, the old phrase ‘you are unique’ starts to lose meaning, because at any given time I can find someone who feels the exact same way as I do. In fact, with the right keywords, I bet I could find someone who has written a journal entry with an extremely similar concept to this one. People can now look around and feel lost in the internet, their problems don’t seem that impressive and in many cases people even find that their problems are eclipsed by the problems of others. Sadder than you syndrome starts to form. People start to hope for, or lie about misfortune in order to command the attention of everyone, where before having your cat get hit by a car would earn you some sympathy, now your entire family has to be killed in a shoot-out to win you much attention. And, god, what people won’t do for attention. I’m doing it right now by writing this blog.

This massive selfishness wouldn’t be a problem if it didn’t lead to agressive flocks of people who think they are the most important people in the world. That what they have to say is a million times more important then anything anyone else could ever dream of saying. This self-importance easily turns fairly agreeable people into a popular phrase online today “attention whores”, though it also breeds “elitists” it really depends on the person. Elitists take out their need for attention on others, being agressive to people they believe to be below themselves, attention whores just try to make everyone pay attention to them, whether we give a shit or not.

Haaaa~~ Just needed to get some of that out.