Tag: philosophy

Don’t Adhere to THEIR Schedule

conformity

This little excerpt here was a rant I went on during a Q/A at a lecture I attended about the American Dream. An individual at the lecture depressingly attempted to propose that the college system is taking away all creative value from it’s disciplines. That students are meant to do busy work and there’s no furthering of the person. I agreed with her but disagreed with her pessimistic tone. I believe that we hold the key to furthering ourselves, and it starts with removing ourselves from the masses.

So often nowadays we go through life following suit with everyone around us. Like sheep we walk blindly behind one another into an Apple store to purchase the next iPhone or iWatch, despite the lack of noticeable differences with the one currently in our pocket. Why do we do this? This is a question of conformity.

We’ve been taught since we were young that we have to go to school, graduate with a good degree, and some of us have been taught to then go to graduate school and eventually get a job, a wife, a decent house, some kids, maybe a dog or a cat, a nice car, and then call it quits. Coast lazily along through a life full of merely contentness, lacking of any variety. This is the American lifestyle we’ve chewed up, swallowed, regurgitated, and spit up into numerous generations. Yet, no one seems to notice or even more importantly,
no one seems to care.

What we need to do is realize the following:

We don’t have to follow this dull, overvalued schema. We can travel the world or go live on a farm. We can experience new things daily and constantly challenge ourselves. Who cares if all our Bros from high school have already graduated from school and have hot pregnant wives. While it’s awesome for them to reach those events in their lives, it shouldn’t put pressure on us even a little bit. We live in our own vessels, with our own thoughts, why should we adhere to what everyone else is doing? It’s a trick question, we don’t.

Take the time today and ask ourselves:

Have we been living on a schedule constructed by the masses of society? Are we existing among a line of individuals striving for the same systematic life? Or are we living each day out of our best interests, becoming more enriched as each day passes, without regard for how the people around may perceive us? If not, are we really living?

What Are You Voting For?

I despise politics. It’s full of greedy, attention-seeking, big-pocketed scumbags advertising themselves as a means to bring change. But my disdain goes deeper than the politicians; I hate voting for a system I consider to be broken. Every 4 years, our nation panics and casts their votes for their favorite candidate, and then their votes are discarded and replaced by an electoral college vote.

My parents, however, see things differently than I; and my mom has practically been begging me to vote for her precious Democrats because God forbid another Republican enters office and ruins the world, while my dad constantly complains to me about whatever bullshit Trump did yesterday or the day before that.

Ok that’s enough ranting; by this point you understand that I think politics are dumb. I think voting is dumb. I think my parents are dumb for voting.

When I really thought about it though, what does it mean to vote?

To vote is to asserverate (declare) a belief you hold to be true and important. When we vote, we are telling the world, “I believe in this and think it matters.” So the simple truth is, we are voting constantly. We are never not voting.

Every day, when we wake up and get dressed, we vote. Our clothes are a statement on what we believe a person (ourselves) should wear. When we show up to class, we vote for the importance of whatever subject is being taught, or we vote for the importance of the degree we’re pursuing. Either way, if we didn’t believe in class, we’d skip it. When we’re driving, and there’s a fork in the road, and we go left instead of right, we voted for going left.

Every action we take is a statement. Every sentence we speak is a statement. Every statement we make is a vote for that statement. When we make a decision, adopt a new lifestyle choice, etc., we are casting a vote and declaring that what we do is worthwhile.

So there it is. 7 billion people voting constantly, just trying to prove that what they do is worthwhile.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a part of the winning side of a vote. What’s important is that we vote for ourselves, not for others.

I say this, after I just promised my mom I’d vote in her precious midterm election. Well guess what bitches… This midterm vote of mine won’t be a vote for the Democratic party (literally it will be, but figuratively…) it will be a vote for my mom, because I love her!