Reply #47: See How Deep the Fucking Rabbit Hole Goes [View All]

[Cats Against Frist]

I smoke. I am ashamed of it. I intend to quit by Nov. 23.

However -- and I was thinking about this today -- why is it that people who always complain about stuff like this, seem to be just as wrapped up in the consumer world?

It is not just giving money to tobacco corporations that is the problem. Supporting any corporation who makes gadzillions in profits, or ones that outsource, or ones that use prurient advertising, or ones whose advertising supports dumb shows -- is going against the progressive cause.

What about pop culture? Most music -- even music that people think is pretty good (like college radio) -- is really just fucking three-chord whinny ass dogshit that serves to dumb down the appreciation for better music that is much more obscure and less commercial. What about popular books -- fantasy books, Grisham, Crichton, all that crap? Most movies are narrative, recycled bullshit that are nothing more than vehicles for star worship.

A lot of the celebrities that are helping the left are just as vacant and greedy and oblivious as anyone else. They might be on our side in a culture war, but how many of them are producing something worthwhile in return for all that money. What the fuck has Jennifer Anniston ever done or acted in that she deserves all that she has -- over a social worker or a teacher?

Everything one participates in has a political cost -- every time you eat or buy anything made or sold from a national chain has political cost.

Why do you bother to have more than one outfit? If you're so "individualistic," be a fucking Libertarian. Why do you look at "pretty" men or women? Should anyone ever be judged for their looks? Why would you buy anything new, when there's tons of stuff for $.75 sitting on the shelves at Houseworks and Goodwill? Why would you collect Chick Tracts or King Kong Lunchboxes or buy records that cost $500? Why would you pay any money for anything beyond its practical value? Better yet -- why use money at all?

What about believing in "God?" We dump on the Christian Right all the fucking time -- for being crazy fundamentalists. Why the fuck is it any less crazy to believe in a God with fewer rules? No one knows why we're here -- no one knows anything. People still cling to their mysticism, which I would argue steers us in the wrong direction, toward absolutes and constructs that are just not there.

Let me tell you a little something about this "smoker." I am in good physical health, I have three black dresses that I wear, and throw on one of two cardigans in the winter. I haven't been inside a Wal-Mart or a Burger King for years. I have gone to a shopping mall exactly five times in the last four years -- three of those times were to take my son on the merry-go-round, one time was to see the Easter Bunny, and another was to get an emergency pair of glasses at the Lenscrafters -- the only place open on Sunday. I very rarely eat foods that are not organic or are processed. I shop at thrift stores, and try to stock up on things at the farmers' market or festivals where artisans are selling things. I have trained myself never to care about physical attractiveness or ability. I almost always walk or take public transportation.

I am addicted to smoking, and have never even had the desire to quit, until now -- but the point is that myself, yourself and everyone has things that they will and will not do, for the cause. There's no end to how ascetic or puritanical that someone can become -- and I'll tell you -- I'm just about farther out there than anyone I know.

I don't mean to be hostile, but I am weak. Where my addiction to smoking starts, the cause, yes, takes a backseat. But in my estimation, just about sticking your nose out of your house -- even SHOWERING and FLUSHING THE TOILET waste resources.

If you want to have a "whose the best" warrior contest -- I'm game. But I'm warning you, I'm fairly far out there...:)

****edited to add, this is a rant in general, not directed at you, Ducky -- I believe you were just asking, I'm simply projecting...:)