The wise spag blends in...

[LMNO]

Dear Jack,

You may have made a false conclusion.

Speaking out against the Machine™ is not the problem.

Being noticed by the Machine™ is what gets you into trouble.

Like krill into a Baleen whale, The Machine™ doesn't give a rat's ass what it swallows up.  Your appearance doesn't really matter.  Sure, some of the more "extreme" costumes will cause Authority® to seek you out and beat you down, but at the same time, that "extreme" costume will also have you immediately labled and parceled and ignored, thanks to the immune system of The Machine™.  It knows how to deal with obvious outsiders, and they eventually become subsumed, packaged, and resold at Hot Topic.

On the other hand, it doesn't matter what you look like if you actually pose a potential threat to the Machine™.  Completely "normal" looking people have been utterly destroyed by it, simply because they got noticed.

As it says in Chapter 2,

Therefore Order and Disorder produce each other,
Reality and Illusion trick each other,
Authority and Freedom define each other,
Love and Hate fuck each other.

So the wise spags look for balance,
and stick their wrench into the Machine™.

They organize, but they do not Order.
They break apart, but they do not Disorder.
They act, but they Keep Their Fucking Mouths Shut.
And so are able to act again.

[Dimocritus]

Dear Jack,

You may have made a false conclusion.

Speaking out against the Machine™ is not the problem.

Being noticed by the Machine™ is what gets you into trouble.

Like krill into a Baleen whale, The Machine™ doesn't give a rat's ass what it swallows up.  Your appearance doesn't really matter.  Sure, some of the more "extreme" costumes will cause Authority® to seek you out and beat you down, but at the same time, that "extreme" costume will also have you immediately labled and parceled and ignored, thanks to the immune system of The Machine™.  It knows how to deal with obvious outsiders, and they eventually become subsumed, packaged, and resold at Hot Topic.

On the other hand, it doesn't matter what you look like if you actually pose a potential threat to the Machine™.  Completely "normal" looking people have been utterly destroyed by it, simply because they got noticed.

As it says in Chapter 2,

Therefore Order and Disorder produce each other,
Reality and Illusion trick each other,
Authority and Freedom define each other,
Love and Hate fuck each other.

So the wise spags look for balance,
and stick their wrench into the Machine™.

They organize, but they do not Order.
They break apart, but they do not Disorder.
They act, but they Keep Their Fucking Mouths Shut.
And so are able to act again.

Boo-YAH!

[Dr. Paes]

Whole lot of win.

Boo-YAH!

This.

[E.O.T.]

SO

          I'm looking at some jail time in a few weeks

AND

          I'm wondering if I should stop shaving my balls right now. Do you think it'll make me stand out? In a bad way?

[Freeky]

Whole lot of win.

Boo-YAH!

This.

Seconded.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

SO

          I'm looking at some jail time in a few weeks

What

I assume you're joking.

[Jenne]

When i was in austin smoking a couple years away, i started to grow my hair out.  then when i was in university i let it continue to grow, so it was pretty well down my back.  i liked it.  actually easier to maintain, and when i had my beard out, i would have random people ask to have their picture taken 'with jesus'.  sometimes i'd oblige, and a couple times, i waited for the camera's preflash and say through my smile, 'jesus was black.'  that had good results.
anyways. after i graduated university, i went out to seek a job in the wide wide world of the dallas/ft.worth area.  most engineers work for the military industrial complex here, and that's indeed what i fell into.
upon going in for the interview, i figured i'd probably better look pretty clean cut.  so off went the hair and on went the tie.
i got the job (still working at that place, for now)
within the first week i realized that there were at least half a dozen guys that i worked with that had long hair.
plenty of them are obviously ex hippies.
there are plenty of drug and party jokes that fly around tongue in cheek.

just saying that The Machine has long hairs in it plenty enough.

Don't take this personally, but I often wonder how "Discordian" you actually are (eta: not that it actually matters, really, just an idle curiosity about you).  Maybe because I mostly read what you say in AD (which doesn't tell fuckall about anyone, I realize)...but THIS post was teh awesome and I have to say FUCK YEAH.

That's all.

[Jenne]

Whole lot of win.

Boo-YAH!

This.

4th'd

[Iason Ouabache]

Jack, what part of the country do you live in? Long hair IS Establishment, here. Aging hippies, yay.

That's one of the big things you notice when you get older. The Establishment looks just like you. The Man is a middle-aged fat man that looks vaguely like one of your uncles. Right now, the man has long hair. (Specifically, that weird look where he's bald on top with a long pony tail in the back.) In twenty years, The Man will have tattoos all up and down His arms. That's the strangest thing to learn: The Man is just a man. The world isn't ruled by a powerful cabal of Illuminated Ones or alien Reptiloids. This planet is ruled by a bunch of dumb stinking apes.

And The Machine isn't even a machine. The Machine is us. We are the Machine. Every single one of us is a slightly off balanced cog in The Machine. There's no way to get out of it. Eventually we will all end up ground down by the normal wear and tear of everyday use. And the worst part is that there is no way to destroy the Machine. It will just replicate itself with even more broken-down people. There is no escape, make your time.

[MMIX]

Jack, what part of the country do you live in? Long hair IS Establishment, here. Aging hippies, yay.

That's one of the big things you notice when you get older. The Establishment looks just like you. The Man is a middle-aged fat man that looks vaguely like one of your uncles. Right now, the man has long hair. (Specifically, that weird look where he's bald on top with a long pony tail in the back.) In twenty years, The Man will have tattoos all up and down His arms. That's the strangest thing to learn: The Man is just a man. The world isn't ruled by a powerful cabal of Illuminated Ones or alien Reptiloids. This planet is ruled by a bunch of dumb stinking apes.

And The Machine isn't even a machine. The Machine is us. We are the Machine. Every single one of us is a slightly off balanced cog in The Machine. There's no way to get out of it. Eventually we will all end up ground down by the normal wear and tear of everyday use. And the worst part is that there is no way to destroy the Machine. It will just replicate itself with even more broken-down people. There is no escape, make your time.

this is the finest post in the known universe; succinct, insightful and full of "hell yeah"

[Elder Iptuous]

right on, Jason....

[Dr. Paes]

Jack, what part of the country do you live in? Long hair IS Establishment, here. Aging hippies, yay.

That's one of the big things you notice when you get older. The Establishment looks just like you. The Man is a middle-aged fat man that looks vaguely like one of your uncles. Right now, the man has long hair. (Specifically, that weird look where he's bald on top with a long pony tail in the back.) In twenty years, The Man will have tattoos all up and down His arms. That's the strangest thing to learn: The Man is just a man. The world isn't ruled by a powerful cabal of Illuminated Ones or alien Reptiloids. This planet is ruled by a bunch of dumb stinking apes.

And The Machine isn't even a machine. The Machine is us. We are the Machine. Every single one of us is a slightly off balanced cog in The Machine. There's no way to get out of it. Eventually we will all end up ground down by the normal wear and tear of everyday use. And the worst part is that there is no way to destroy the Machine. It will just replicate itself with even more broken-down people. There is no escape, make your time.

Fuckmittens.

[Elder Iptuous]

Don't take this personally, but I often wonder how "Discordian" you actually are (eta: not that it actually matters, really, just an idle curiosity about you).  Maybe because I mostly read what you say in AD (which doesn't tell fuckall about anyone, I realize)...but THIS post was teh awesome and I have to say FUCK YEAH.

That's all.

Hey Jenne,
i just noticed this post.  it wasn't a rant or anything, but thanks. 
i'm curious what you meant by your first statement.  i'm pretty sure i know the gist of what you mean, but if you would indulge me, i'd like to hear you articulate it. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Jack, what part of the country do you live in? Long hair IS Establishment, here. Aging hippies, yay.

That's one of the big things you notice when you get older. The Establishment looks just like you. The Man is a middle-aged fat man that looks vaguely like one of your uncles. Right now, the man has long hair. (Specifically, that weird look where he's bald on top with a long pony tail in the back.) In twenty years, The Man will have tattoos all up and down His arms. That's the strangest thing to learn: The Man is just a man. The world isn't ruled by a powerful cabal of Illuminated Ones or alien Reptiloids. This planet is ruled by a bunch of dumb stinking apes.

And The Machine isn't even a machine. The Machine is us. We are the Machine. Every single one of us is a slightly off balanced cog in The Machine. There's no way to get out of it. Eventually we will all end up ground down by the normal wear and tear of everyday use. And the worst part is that there is no way to destroy the Machine. It will just replicate itself with even more broken-down people. There is no escape, make your time.

Hell yes.

[BadBeast]

Jack, what part of the country do you live in? Long hair IS Establishment, here. Aging hippies, yay.

That's one of the big things you notice when you get older. The Establishment looks just like you. The Man is a middle-aged fat man that looks vaguely like one of your uncles. Right now, the man has long hair. (Specifically, that weird look where he's bald on top with a long pony tail in the back.) In twenty years, The Man will have tattoos all up and down His arms. That's the strangest thing to learn: The Man is just a man. The world isn't ruled by a powerful cabal of Illuminated Ones or alien Reptiloids. This planet is ruled by a bunch of dumb stinking apes.

And The Machine isn't even a machine. The Machine is us. We are the Machine. Every single one of us is a slightly off balanced cog in The Machine. There's no way to get out of it. Eventually we will all end up ground down by the normal wear and tear of everyday use. And the worst part is that there is no way to destroy the Machine. It will just replicate itself with even more broken-down people. There is no escape, make your time.

Hell yes.

Yeah,  You can't fuel me, I use "N00b Lube"  So get a haircut, Hippy! Then maybe your cog nisance will balance better. Machine abuse makes useless lumps of metal out of us all!