Killing Tomorrow Today

[AFK]

Okay everybody, do you really, really want to have an impact on the future of this hunk o rock?  I mean, of course, besides taking up bandwidth on an internet forum?  Well, this may sound very psa-cheezy but here it is, mentor a child.  Seriously.

We asshats here at pd.com have come to the conclusions that part of why everything is so fucked up is because people have forgotten how to think for themselves, or how to be themselves.  Fuck, many never learned in the first place.  And the scary part is, these vapid, empty kids are growing up and having kids.  And they are only teaching them what they know.  So, you can see how this train can get away pretty quickily. 

Children are growing up in our schools in a way that leaves a lot of them hollow.  Sure, they go through the paces.  They do their arithmatics, they write their book reports on Poe and Shakespeare, they make the obligatory baking soda volcano for the science fair, but they do all of this because they have to.  Meanwhile, the void within many of them grows.  Perhaps they are having a hard time connecting with other kids.  They can't find the right clique to join.  Maybe their school has cut our music and drama and the only extracurricular activities involve athletics.  All of this can lead to isolation.  This isolation then can beget more emptiness and a loss of identity.  And so, in acts of desperation, to belong, these kids are looking for something, anything that will fill in the holes.

This is where drugs come in.  This is where girls are having their second child at 14.  This is where tomorrow becomes more tenuous. 

And our society continues to feed this.  We make little or no effort to reach these kids.  To find ways to make them feel whole.  We don't go to the School Board meetings and scream and hollar at them for cutting out their arts programs.  We don't encourage our school systems to develop activities to reinforce self-esteem.  To maintain the integrity of the individual.  To learn how to want to always learn and grow.  To see school as more than just the thing you do before you go to college which is the thing you do before you get the Accounts Payable job at the big Insurance or credit card company.  To understand, the more they lose themself during these formative years, the less of a chance they have at finding and realizing their dream, instead of chasing the white-picket illusion concocted by the naivety of our governments. 

Because, here is the reality folks.  Once we lose them in school, we have lost them.  Habits die hard.  It is very, very difficult to tear down a false self-image at 25.  And it's even tougher to rebuild a new one that will sustain itself into the future.  Our children put a lot of stock into what we tell them and teach them as they grow up.  They count on us to set the standard for them to follow and to consider as they make their way through the years.  We can't continue to allow them to partake in the shadow dance.  Apathy will beget more apathy will beget more apathy.  And those are the ones who don't die in a pool of their own vomit. 

[LHX]

when you make a warning to people, it is easy to brush it off


people seem to have a 'what the hell does he know?' file folder that they can easily shift information into

if they dont put it into that category, they can easily shift it into the 'it wont happen to me' file


there is another category too: the 'let them do something about it' category


even on this board itself there is people that will tell you that you are taking the situation too seriously


the 'crash and burn' perspective



every 'crash and burn' person i ever met crashed and burned, but they burned longer than they expected
and the burning sensation was different than what they expected

it burned in places they didnt realize it could burn, and it burned longer than they had prepared themselves to handle

no amount of repression or suppression or whatever defense mechanism people try to employ to escape this situation will be sufficient



only time will tell how accurate your observation is
but if i was a betting man - i would say that anybody that doesnt take heed to the OP in this forum is in for something something

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

Discordian Mentoring Syllabus

Professor Asshat, PhD

Our mentors will guide children through counter-productive shit-flinging exercises utilizing the computer.  Children will learn to antagonize their peers with images, audio, and textual propaganda.  The participants will also study the practical uses of distraction in moving discussion away from application and personal relevance. 

Mentors will strategize and piss and moan on the interwebs.  Children will gain understandings of interboard dramatics, professional standards in lail rope, and when to change their pance as it relates to pretense of rebellion.  At the completion of this mentoring program, children will be able to:

,Ä¢ construct a functional browser bomb
,Ä¢ vandalize a toilet
,Ä¢ cause formatting problems within the forum environment
,Ä¢ ignore well thought out posts
,Ä¢ use appropriate terminology when lambasting their classmates

[Triple Zero]

RWHN, you are very right.

and your writing has made me think of something. if children get wasted away in their young lives and old habits die hard, then what does this say about us? we all ended up here, does that mean we all got a fresh exciting interesting and stimulating childhood? (note that i did not necessarily say "good" or "happy".)

also, Net: lol

[P3nT4gR4m]

Discordian Mentoring Syllabus

Professor Asshat, PhD

Our mentors will guide children through counter-productive shit-flinging exercises utilizing the computer.  Children will learn to antagonize their peers with images, audio, and textual propaganda.  The participants will also study the practical uses of distraction in moving discussion away from application and personal relevance. 

Mentors will strategize and piss and moan on the interwebs.  Children will gain understandings of interboard dramatics, professional standards in lail rope, and when to change their pance as it relates to pretense of rebellion.  At the completion of this mentoring program, children will be able to:

,Ä¢ construct a functional browser bomb
,Ä¢ vandalize a toilet
,Ä¢ cause formatting problems within the forum environment
,Ä¢ ignore well thought out posts
,Ä¢ use appropriate terminology when lambasting their classmates

RWHN, you are very right.

and your writing has made me think of something. if children get wasted away in their young lives and old habits die hard, then what does this say about us? we all ended up here, does that mean we all got a fresh exciting interesting and stimulating childhood? (note that i did not necessarily say "good" or "happy".)

also, Net: lol

Interesting theory. Here's my formative years in a nutshell:

0- Born... Earliest memory Mam and Dad screaming at each other cos I'd shit my nappy (srsly I musta been a couple of months old)

3-5 Most other memories - Mam and Dad screaming at each other, plus Imaginary friend - monkey in cowboy outfit

6 - Moved to another town, 2nd year of school - was sure all the other kids were wierd copies of previous schoolmates ... more screaming

7- Mam left and took sister with her ... for some fkin bizarre reason this upset me, maybe cos they got to stay at grans

7 1/2 - Mam came back for a couple of weeks ... Screaming² ... was glad when she left but that didn't last long

8-10 Dad became real surly bastard ... me caught in the middle of occasional screaming matches betweeen him and Mam

10-12 Began to wonder if the world was some kind of elaborate practical joke at my  expense

13 Discovered Hash, trips, alcohol and female schoolmates - nevar looked back

That's perfectly normal right?

[LHX]

Discordian Mentoring Syllabus

Professor Asshat, PhD

Our mentors will guide children through counter-productive shit-flinging exercises utilizing the computer.  Children will learn to antagonize their peers with images, audio, and textual propaganda.  The participants will also study the practical uses of distraction in moving discussion away from application and personal relevance. 

Mentors will strategize and piss and moan on the interwebs.  Children will gain understandings of interboard dramatics, professional standards in lail rope, and when to change their pance as it relates to pretense of rebellion.  At the completion of this mentoring program, children will be able to:

,Ä¢ construct a functional browser bomb
,Ä¢ vandalize a toilet
,Ä¢ cause formatting problems within the forum environment
,Ä¢ ignore well thought out posts
,Ä¢ use appropriate terminology when lambasting their classmates

o dear sweet mother of god

Net outdoes himself ITT

2 of the best posts i have read recently in the same thread


from both sides of the spectrum

[Jenne]

Eh, what I wrote here sounded like shite to me after I wrote it.  So never mind.

Let's just say, I know where you're coming from, and I hope folks listen to it.  Kids, ain't an easy equation.  And I feel for ya, Rev, when you have to do what you did today...that ain't easy, either.

[Idem]

I'd agree with that rant, actually...

I live in a very small town, but still, the same elements are showing up...

[Cain]

Rev, would you say there is a problem of alienation in society?  Not in the strict economic sense of being removed from what it is that makes you your living, but in a more social sense?  Get up at 7, be at work for nine, have half an hour off for lunch, go home, watch tv, have OK sex then go to bed.  Rinse and repeat, forever.

I don't want to sound like some fucking conservative, but there does seem to be a problem when it comes to the average person and the lack of grand narratives and community in modern life.  Personally, I couldn't give a shit because I get along just fine without these things.  But a lot of people do seem to need them, and without them will buy into any half assed shit that makes them feel part of something.   Xenophobic nationalism.  Extremist movements.  Religious nutwingery.

[Triple Zero]

Rev, would you say there is a problem of alienation in society?  Not in the strict economic sense of being removed from what it is that makes you your living, but in a more social sense?  Get up at 7, be at work for nine, have half an hour off for lunch, go home, watch tv, have OK sex then go to bed.  Rinse and repeat, forever.

sort of seems appropriate:
http://www.funfreepages.com/flash/i_love_death.php
(hope i have the right movie -- flash no worky here yet. but you all know it i guess)

I don't want to sound like some fucking conservative, but there does seem to be a problem when it comes to the average person and the lack of grand narratives and community in modern life.  Personally, I couldn't give a shit because I get along just fine without these things.  But a lot of people do seem to need them, and without them will buy into any half assed shit that makes them feel part of something.   Xenophobic nationalism.  Extremist movements.  Religious nutwingery.

grand narratives? what do you mean?

[Cain]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_narrative

[LMNO]

Silly, whatever happened to that monkey in the cowboy suit, anyway?

[P3nT4gR4m]

Silly, whatever happened to that monkey in the cowboy suit, anyway?

Funny you should ask, he turned up in a dream I had a couple of years ago. I posted this on the board I was frequenting at the time.

I had a good dream last night. I dreamt I was looking after my friends chimpanzee. I had just got a new snake, since I got the primate. I had forgotten all about the chimp and hadn't been near it for three or four weeks. I suddenly remembered the chimp (mid dream) and when I went into the bedroom, where I was keeping it, I saw the cage. It was the most ramshackle, loads of cupboard doors and bits of MDF and planks, nailed together, hell pit of a cage. Totally dark inside. I felt a sensation of panic. I'd left a highly articulate primate, in a dark six by six cell, for three weeks, with no food or water or cleaning out or anything!!! How the hell could I do this? I was thoroughly appalled.

When I opened the cage the stink of urine hit me like a punch in the teeth. The chimp was lying, wrapped up, like a baby, in a white blanket. It wasn't moving. I picked it up. It was cold and stiff. Then it slowly began to wake up, the way a reptile wakes up when it's been sleeping in a cool spot. Slowly, it came to life. I remember thinking - "It'll be completely insane". but it wasn't. When it got warmed up I fed it and it just sat there, happily scoffing down a carrier bag full of fruit. Then we played and walked around the house and in the garden. I felt pure joy in the companionship of this furry little friend.

Then we went back to the bedroom, which became the factory where I work. The cage was down at the far end and, as we approached, the chimp became agitated. He knew I was going to put him back in the cage. He started to fight with me, pulling away and biting my hand and fingers. I was fighting the chimp to try and bundle it into the cage. I was grief stricken, myself, at having to do this but, for a reason I don't understand, I had to. Eventually myself and the guys at work managed to get it inside the cage. I felt deep sorrow at what I had done and sat on my own, on some steps at the far end of the factory. I knew I was going to get shit for this, I didn't have a DWA license to look after chimps and It was going to get taken away.

So I'm despondent, and I look up, and there's a man from the council walking toward me, with a clipboard. He hands it to me. I look at it. There's a yellow sheet sellotaped onto it. Black letters, Something along the lines of - "the people around you have noticed you seem to be suffering from the symptoms of a nervous breakdown. they have brought this to our attention and we've come to take you away...etc" Then I noticed a little logo at the bottom of the page, a cartoon profile, laughing and the words - "Joke Email". Then the guy told me to turn the board over. I was looking at the wrong side. On the other side was some meaningless bureaucratic bollix and a bit for me to sign. I signed it and gave it back to the guy, who left. Then I woke up.

Here's my interpretation -

The chimp was my subconscious, more particularly, that deeper facet of imagination from which springs my inspiration. Monkey Muse. When I was just tiny and 'ickle I had an imaginary friend. His name was Sherrif. he was a chimpanzee, wearing a cowboy suit. If you ever saw the Ronnie Raygun movie, called "Bedtime for bonzo", or something like that, you get the picture. The dream was reminding me that, at some point in the past, I had put Sheriff in a cage, in a cold, black part of my mind, and forgotten about him. I'd put my best ever link to my subconscious genius zone, in a shitty, ramshackle prison and left him to rot.

The nervous breakdown stuff related to when I went completely nuts and ended up locked up in a looney bin. These events had occurred because Sheriff had wanted to play a joke on me, to remind me what I'd forgotten about. But it had backfired on him, as it made me "lock up" that part of my mind, even tighter, giving him less chance to communicate with me. I've had to build this personality up from scratch, in order to interface with the people I work with, have dealings with, and normal people in general. And, in doing this, have become the hollow mask which I wear as "silence". All I need to do to resolve the situation (get rid of the council guy) is to turn the mask around and sign the back. Nice one!

This is my interpretation. Any one have any other ideas, building on or contra to this, I'd be interested to hear 'em.

[Triple Zero]

ok, i skimmed the grand/meta narrative wiki page. what i got from it is that it's like "the big story" (as in "the big picture", only with a story) of where history has come from so far, where we are now and where it is going to. unsurprisingly this story is often strongly tied in with people's belief systems and world views.

you say you get along without it just fine. how is that possible, how do you do it? especially since you are a history student, i would guess you must have a pretty clear view on where we came from and were we're going to.
or do I misunderstand the concept of grand narrative now?
does it have to be something "special" (for ex. religious) you can really feel "part" of?

i would myself say, if your grand narrative sort of makes sense and doesn't get you on crusading against some random other part of humanity, i'd think it's a good comforting thing to have one.

[LMNO]