On Cain's Rants, Rehashing Arguments, and Beating One's Head Against a Brick Wal

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

Well that was the second one I ever posted. And when I did post it I expected much more intense critique. Now I don't really get anything but mittens. Which, you know, is awesome and all...

Trans-thread 

[tyrannosaurus vex]

It's an era of disenfranchisement, of the individual losing his grip on whatever illusion of power he has left over his life. Whether we even have a TV or not, we are bombarded with stories of despair and failure, crisis and calamity. Many of the people here are probably already occupied with keeping that shit out of their actual lives. That drains creativity to begin with. And personally, I'm just not very interested in having big long discussions about anything "Important." I mean, after a few years talking about it, making posters, hanging flyers... and seeing that no matter how strongly you believe the world is fucked up, the world is going to continue to be fucked up... why talk about it?

Why is it a surprise that there is little thirst for the Big Picture right now? We can't even hang the Little Picture straight right now.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

What was that old Carlin quote? "You can't change things, anybody who thinks they can is part of the problem." Something like that.
It's no reason to shut down because you can't change the big stuff, though. If somebody gets fucked buying a car, tell them how to get the attorney general on the dealerships ass. If somebody says their work conditions are dangerous and they don't know about OSHA, tell 'em. There's a whole world of people who don't know shit out there and somebody counts on that to continue the fucking.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

What was that old Carlin quote? "You can't change things, anybody who thinks they can is part of the problem." Something like that.
It's no reason to shut down because you can't change the big stuff, though. If somebody gets fucked buying a car, tell them how to get the attorney general on the dealerships ass. If somebody says their work conditions are dangerous and they don't know about OSHA, tell 'em. There's a whole world of people who don't know shit out there and somebody counts on that to continue the fucking.

I'm not shut down... And I don't think PD is a dormant volcano, either. I think it erupts with good shit once in a while... just because we're in an extended dry spell lately doesn't mean anything unless we allow it to mean something. Right now it just feels like we're wallowing in our own bullshit a little too much, because we have no collective object of hate (or accomplishment). And that's normal.

Besides, PD has always been the kind of place that would simultaneously pioneer groundbreaking philosophy like Black Iron Prison and push the limits of logic and argument based on scat fiction.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

What was that old Carlin quote? "You can't change things, anybody who thinks they can is part of the problem." Something like that.
It's no reason to shut down because you can't change the big stuff, though. If somebody gets fucked buying a car, tell them how to get the attorney general on the dealerships ass. If somebody says their work conditions are dangerous and they don't know about OSHA, tell 'em. There's a whole world of people who don't know shit out there and somebody counts on that to continue the fucking.

I'm not shut down... And I don't think PD is a dormant volcano, either. I think it erupts with good shit once in a while... just because we're in an extended dry spell lately doesn't mean anything unless we allow it to mean something. Right now it just feels like we're wallowing in our own bullshit a little too much, because we have no collective object of hate (or accomplishment). And that's normal.

Besides, PD has always been the kind of place that would simultaneously pioneer groundbreaking philosophy like Black Iron Prison and push the limits of logic and argument based on scat fiction.

Maybe PD is just getting backed up and we'll get EXPLOSIVE SPEW when it happens.

[Don Coyote]

Well that was the second one I ever posted. And when I did post it I expected much more intense critique. Now I don't really get anything but mittens. Which, you know, is awesome and all...

sucks deep down in side?

[P3nT4gR4m]

"You can't change things, anybody who thinks they can is part of the problem."

This! A million times this. This is the reason I've never stuck a sticker or a poster up in my life. Saving the world is not my bag. How the fuck am I supposed to laugh at the whole thing going up in smoke if I'm too busy putting the fires out? I get the distinct impression that some people round these parts are still holding on to the vain hope that something can be done about it. Maybe this is part of the frustration?

PD for me has always been funny as fuck. Edgy, cynical, smart, educational, sure, it's all those things but so are a lot of other places, it's the "harr harr" that keeps me coming back here. Discordianism? I have no idea what the fuck that even is, let alone what it's meant to accomplish or do with itself. It's not a religion, if it was I wouldn't be here. It's not political, because it sees right through politics. I think, for me, discordian is just something written over the door so I know where I am.

Agenda? Not me guv. My agenda is to laugh. Laugh at shit working out and laugh at it all going south. I'd be the first to admit I'm pretty fucking shallow that way. I'm going to die some time in the next couple of years. The more time I can spend, between now and then, laughing and having fun while the world around me repeatedly kicks itself in the nuts, all the while bitching and whining about how it's nuts hurt and there's no way to prevent it, the more I'll feel like I've lived a rewarding and meaningful life.

Others want fame and fortune, a statue or a pyramid in their honour. To be remembered. To make a difference, to leave the world a better place than they found it, and a whole bunch of shit like that. Good on them. I'm not like them at all. You expect or demand more of me? Good luck with that.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

"You can't change things, anybody who thinks they can is part of the problem."

This! A million times this. This is the reason I've never stuck a sticker or a poster up in my life. Saving the world is not my bag.

You don't save the world with stickers.  You just give the rubes a little sneak-peek at what it is they've been screaming for.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Stickers and posters make me laugh

HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Stickers and posters make me laugh

HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?

HERETIC!  APOSTATE!  THROW HER OUT!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

 

[P3nT4gR4m]

Stickers and posters make me laugh

HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?

If that's true then my advice is - keep doing it! 

[Placid Dingo]

Of course you can change things; but you need to be realistic and pragmatic about the extent of your impact.