SBOTD - Good Boy! aka. Things You Don't Need to Hear

[LHX]

Although it is not quite the standard, there is no shortage of people who dissent against the status quo of developed nations.

A large proportion of people, as they go through their teenage years, develop a outlook on the state of affairs where they see that things are either not going right, or that things could be better.

There are some mechanisms in place to keep dissenters at bay. Although some of these mechanisms are blatant (punishment or confinement), some of them are crafty and subtle.

Most 'dissenters', 'anarchists', and 'subversive thinkers' are kept in line even when they don't recognize it. It seems that one of the keys to this is tied into the rewards system that gets established and impressed upon people as they grow up.

No matter how much a person is displeased with the current system, it seems that many people are still stuck looking for the same rewards that are only seen in the current system.

The voice of dissention that wants to be known when he walks down the street as the voice of dissention.

The guy who buys the Che Guevara shirt in the color that nobody else has.

It is not against the law to carry a sign and holler in the street. It may be fun and look cool.
But, the truth is that carrying a sign and hollering in the street accomplishes approximately nothing.

In short, the person whose motivations are personal gain within the status quo rather than personal gain by changing the status quo is doing nothing but shooting himself in the foot. Possibly even the kneecap.

At the end of the day, the system stays in place - likely even stronger due to that person's contributions.

That isn't to say that the path toward A Better Tomorrow,Ñ¢ isn't thankless -
Although you may hear words of encouragement as you venture forth, and although people may make you offers that put you in a better physical situation, and although the insightfulness you develop may make a woman's panties moist, and although little kids might look up to you and want to be like you, these things should not be your motivation.

As long as they are your motivation, the Powers that Be,Ñ¢ have everything they need to dangle a carrot in front of your face. And even though you may not be afraid of them - even though they won't have you on the run - they will still have you chasing something.

As long as they can make you move, they will make you move. Jumping through hoops and making compromises that result in you coming up short in the long run.

You will never shake that feeling of lack, except for short periods of time.

That emptiness will linger.

If you see that things need to be changed, then change them. Don't get comfortable just because somebody tossed you a treat when you showed them a better trick.

[LMNO]

Fucking hell.


y'all are setting the bar pretty goddamn high with the writing quality on this one.



Dammit.


LMNO
-back to the drawing board.

[Jenne]

Yes, keeping the lack makes you go a bit insane, but shaking it off causes deeper, worse wounds in the end run.

Awesomely said, and much more food for thought than I needed today. 

, LHX

[Jasper]

Food for thought?

I am stuffed, yet no overindulgence of this 'food' will leave me sated.

LHX has done it again. 

People have rebelled in the past not because they were morally shocked at the state of things, but because thier leaders were making things uncomfortable.  The western world is so comfortable that no matter what rulers do, people will never openly revolt.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Shit yeah.

[Jasper]

So how do we convey the urgency and requisite paranoia?

[LHX]

what do you say to people who see no urgency in the situation?

there are some who exist

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

[Jenne]

People have rebelled in the past not because they were morally shocked at the state of things, but because thier leaders were making things uncomfortable. The western world is so comfortable that no matter what rulers do, people will never openly revolt.

Is that why they did it?  I'm not so sure.  People have accepted tyranny through the ages and never did a damned thing about it.

I think it comes more down to a shared piece of information--that revolt is not only possible but also has potential for success.  The idea has to be introduced, explained and then SOLD.  If the conditions are indeed "uncomfortable" (interesting choice here of describing what led to past coups/revolutions/insurgencies), then the selling points are made all the easier.  If people are, indeed "comfortable," then yes, the selling points get much much harder to, well, SELL.

People don't just need an angry mob to get them going...they sometimes need a reason WHY they are going to fuck shit up and put themselves in the way of something they generally try to avoid all their lives (getting entangled with the "law enforcement" aspects of the government/ruling class/regime of the day).

[AFK]

what do you say to people who see no urgency in the situation?

there are some who exist

repeated airhorns approximately 1 inch from the ear?

on the writing btw. 

[hunter s.durden]

One of the most intersting things I see along these lines are people who reject "commercial rock" music as they smoke cigarrettes and chow down McDonalds.
I find the smokes so interesting because, unlike food, you do not need them to survive, and you line the pockets of some very corrupt people.

Hunter S. Durden-
smoking since 12

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

what do you say to people who see no urgency in the situation?

there are some who exist

I say, "look out assholes," hit the accelerator a bit and put my illegal police lights on the roof.

[Mourning Star]

What about the corporate funded "dissent" bands that are actually encourage by their fat fucking corporate labels to put out songs about how the system is fucked and society is fucked and to fuck it all, because the kids who wanna hear that and think that way are just another marketing demographic...

this is just one side of what you were talking about, but it's one of those things that bothers me...

Sure, Pennywise sings about "Fuck Authority" but they're being paid incredibly well to do so, and the kids line up and buy tickets and submit to security searches on their way in, obeying authority, just to listen to a band sing about how much authority and society are working against them...

Hell of a nice message when seen from the outside...


And unrelated to the rest of this post, how about Phillip Morris and R.J. Reynolds funding anti-smoking ads?  What kind of doublethink bullshit is that?  I don't want the rich assholes that're providing me with my daily dose of suicide turning around and telling me to quit just because of some bullshit "moral obligation" imposed on them by new laws...

Cheers to LHX for the amazing post, it's good brain food.

[LMNO]

Pennywise is making a lot of money?

[Mourning Star]

Pennywise is making a lot of money?

Sorry, they WERE in the late 90's when I graduated from high school...  The music scene today is flooded with Emo and stuff that just isn't applicable to me as a person, so I've kinda tuned out.  But I was mostly using them as an example...  There's all sorts of bands, and companies and clothing lines and product lines, that make their money on the so-called "counterculture"