mmoa_writes

This is rantage, rantage. Not pseudo-philosophical ramblings...



Before I go on, I am just really annoyed right now, so if you disagree with me on anything but don't mind me snapping back at you and possibly insulting you, then reply all you want.

On Subcultures: Stereotypes and over-arching generalities just get to me. Nothing riles me more.

I'm just so fed up of hearing middle-class teenagers trying to get all world-wise and cynical when actually they're just being close-minded idiots. Can't be bothered to properly examine their own ideals and sympathies to the extent that they can afford the same treatment to anyone else's.

Look, I'm sympathetic to the Goth subculture. *shrugs* It appeals to my aesthetics, what can I say? I like it.

So understandably it pisses me off when I hear one person (over and fucking over) whining away, "ooooh, those Goths think they're so original... they all say how unoriginal the rest of us are when they're part of a group too, aren't they? How original is that? They all dress the same, they all listen to the same music..."

Hm. So, my little ditsy art student from Wimbledon, how many Goths do you actually know (and the last part of that statement certainly suggests rather few)? As far as I know, yes, Goths are definitely dismissive of the rest of culture both sub. and norm. which is just typical of such groups, so no surprises there, but never for the reason that 'everyone else is so unoriginal'. Most just get pissed off with the stereotypes of Goths as suicidal, or kids trying to rebel against their parents (though considering how serious the Goth culture tends to be, rather mature in terms of it's general outlook on things like sexuality and religion which most youth subcultures don't quite seem to be able to achieve...) whatever the fuck that means.

The same goes for the way I can never talk about the sort of music that I like to the same extent that other people can with theirs because someone will go ahead and put it down as the queen bees of knowledge that they undoubtedly are. It's like in one particular conversation, trying to get across the let-down most Gothic bands are live, one of my friends goes 'that's because they all live with their parents' and that was the end of that.

Jesus. Fuck you!

Maybe I'm just stupid but aren't most of the Goth bands around a little old to be living with their parents? As for the Satanic and Vampire bands, well, let's just say whatever to that excellent throwaway analysis. We're talking about the bands, here, not their stupid little fans. In either case, it's no different to any other reject wannabe hippie - whoops, I meant, 'indie'- band and their gazillion acolytes. Why the hell was such a close-minded put-down actually necessary?

No wait. Because of course Goths are just so much more stupid/pretentious/weird/etc. than any other subculture. Oh yes, I completely forgot!

[EDIT: And I was trying to get across the fact that the music is so full of different layers and instruments, that it's very hard to get that sound across when it's played live, especially in open air. Most modern venues have shite acoustics for such music - you need traditional opera halls, for fucks sake! lol]

On Buddhism: Oh this has been a long time coming. No, really. To be honest, I don't know what's made me rant about this now, but I suppose in for a penny...

So. Where to begin?

It's that whole reputation it has int he West as some 'cutesypie', meditative and inherently beautiful and perfect religion, mainly because people really don't know jack.

"I've never actually met a fundamentalist Buddhist..." Yeah. Because Western culture is of course, essentially of a Buddhist background. Yup. Good ol' Siddhartha and his pals made it across the seven seas to spread a spiritual version of atheism across to all the world (and yes, it is actually atheism that Buddhism preaches, not the more pluralistic - dude, the Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of the Buddha himself yet is worshipped as a god. A fucking god. Yay for screwing up the essential message! Man, ranks higher than that Jesus-religion we've got going over here...). Fuck that. Having met such a plethora of Buddhists... look, it's like me saying "I've never actually met a fundamentalist Christian/Muslim/Jew. Screw the fact that I read about them, all the ones I know are just so darn nice!"

Pisses. Me. Off.

Believe me, if you want fundamentalist Buddhist (and by this, most people mean hotheads who want to kill everyone) go to the countries where Buddhists are typically oppressed, or countries where suicide bombing is taken as a norm for expressing one's political opinions and you will find them (interesting documentary a few months ago...). Well, if you can be bothered to let go of your own little delusions and condescending Western attitudes to other religions.

Who cares that Buddhism was a religion that only succeeded by being spread across the Asian continent? By absorbing the traditional religions and cultures that stood in it's way (sound familiar, btw?), that it was denounced by traditionalist Japanese Shintoists, particularly around the period of the Second World War, and by communist party members (so that gets in the way of that whole 'Buddhism isn't a proper religion as it doesn't have a pantheon/specified deity to centre itself'. Whatever. It was enough of a 'religion' for the communists to want to abolish it on the grounds that it went against one aspect of the socialistic model of humanity ie, everyone being equal (before and after death, so no Nirvana, thanks!) Then again, the communists went all weirdzo, so that's not such a hot example. Still, it just shows that Buddhism is no fucking different from any other religion... except for their cute little laughing Buddhas and the ones that look like opium sots doing Tantric Yoga...*snorts* It's a sad day when we judge a religion on it's mantelpiece artefacts that we can get cheap from Chinatown...)

Buddhists cannot fully endorse abortion or homosexuality (against the essential philosophy of the importance of life eg. homosexual partnerships cannot create life in one sense and abortion destroys it). Not that different from most religions too old for their own good. Buddhism, again like other religious '-isms', succeeds in one creating another view of reality for one to deal with actual reality. Don't become attached to anything! Learn to let go! Only then can you find peace! Well, duh! But why is that sort of self-denial so much better than the stuff we have to put up with in Western philosophy/theology? So. Much. Bullshit.

*sighs*

However, don't get me wrong, as religions go, I quite like Buddhism. But then, I like Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Heathen/Hellenistic/Roman/etc. paganism... some more than others, true. But I am at least a little objective. At least. I am just so sick of the pathetic and immature love-affair we seem to have with Buddhism. Gets to me. Really does.

On Vegetarians: I'll admit, people are hypocrites about their food. That doesn't make vegetarians morally superior to us omnivores (not frickin' carnivores!). Just fussier.

We get our meat package-wrapped and mass produced in horrible factories and we slaughter them cruelly, (yet at the same time getting really het up when a predator eats a human. Ass-hats), but going all vegetarian/vegan doesn't stop that. If anything, we've gotten so used to seeing our prey as skinned, characterless bags of rotting flesh that it's no wonder we're so out of touch with where our food comes from and thus we allow the meat industry to continue in it's wicked ways. But hell, that's what free-range produce is for. Get over yourselves.

Reading in some shitty little student magazine about ethical make-up/fashion (OMFG! Oxymoron?) and there was some stupid immature comment about how fish-scales are used in lipstick (something along the lines of 'ew!'). I was like, good thing too! Back to nature and all that shit. Besides, it's not like we don't eat the fish... Idiots.

On Living in Harmony with Nature crap: The main reason why humans are having an adverse effect on the natural world is because there are so fricking many of us. We actually behave like any other species, the problem is that few other species of our size reproduce like we do (so w00t, for homo sapiens!). Other species can soak up all the resources in the area but don't have to worry about what happens later: there are few enough of them around that Mother Nature can replenish herself in time for the next massacre. Not so with poor ickle humans. We're like rabbits, only, you know, not so fluffy. And bigger. And our eyes are in weird places. And then there's the whole ears issue...

The way forward for humans is not, in fact, to live in harmony with nature, but rather in doing our best to live without it because when we do try to get on with Nature, we just end up destroying it, (what can I say? We rock at it). Unfortunately, people don't find the idea of eating recycled waste too hot, so maybe we'll just have to keep on with our usual archaic ways...

Anyway, basically I really dislike that neo-hippy crap. Treading on the heels on Global warming (a worthy cause) which represents scientific evidence, always comes the loopiness (harmony? For fuck's sake we're talking about the continuity of life and ecosystems not a fucking overture...) and people not thinking straight. Aaargh!

On anti-Chavism: You know what. I'm fed up. I feel sorry for any group of kids who society take a dump on. Chavs are bad enough, but they don't deserve the unwarranted scorn we pour upon them. I mean, what exactly is so wrong with them? Uneducated - yeah, because that's their fault, right *snorts* - they dress funny - like punks, goths and townies don't? - whatever. The list goes on.

It's become more than a passing joke now. Now it's not actually funny anymore. Now it actually pisses me off (which is saying something as I like a good joke based on stereotypes as the next person...)



Philosophical question for all you dudes: Can something without a beginning have an end? Now, obviously ( obviously, heh) the answer is no, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Another question: I only saw one magpie today (ie, without it's mate). What happened to the other one (and no metaphysics please. I don't take ornomancy particularly seriously...)? Discuss.