Saturday, July 09, 2005
"what about something normal, like eating garbage?"
Most people who interest me have a book or two that changed their live, for me it's the journal, the Baffler. My brother bought me a subscription for my 17th birthday and it was the best thing that every happened to me.
Following the example of the Baffler and it's editorial suspicion of youth culture and rebellion I have begun, relatively recently to completly embrace the idea of identifying as utterly mainstream. I am mainstream, I have the values of the kindergarten classroom. I want people to share their toys and be nice to each other and think of other people and have fun. I just want everybody to be happy and no one to hurt anybody else.
I've been floating this idea of how mainstream I am to a couple non-internet people. They have found the concept hilarious. "Look at your home!" they say, "What are your opinions on the government, anyway?"
I was never really comfortable being a member of any subculture, anyway, not like I was a beautiful unique snowflake but like I was never good at it. I'm too big a dork. Through no fault of my own, however, I embraced a political idealogy that is not only extreme but comes complete with it's own (loud) musical genre and style of dress. I don't really mind. The music is catchy and the fashion is low maintence. Now fast-forward four years or so and I live in such a subcultural bubble that I can legitimatly think of myself as mainstream because I still think eating roadkill squirrel is weird.
I think the fact that I can live comfortably in my bubble without noticing is* a sign that we are moving, slowly but surely, beyond being just a subculture with a musical genre and way of wearing our pants to a full blown culture culture with values and taboos and ways of interacting that are holistic and workable. I like my culture; after all this I'm still convinced we can save the world.
*besides a reminder of how socially awkward I am
Following the example of the Baffler and it's editorial suspicion of youth culture and rebellion I have begun, relatively recently to completly embrace the idea of identifying as utterly mainstream. I am mainstream, I have the values of the kindergarten classroom. I want people to share their toys and be nice to each other and think of other people and have fun. I just want everybody to be happy and no one to hurt anybody else.
I've been floating this idea of how mainstream I am to a couple non-internet people. They have found the concept hilarious. "Look at your home!" they say, "What are your opinions on the government, anyway?"
I was never really comfortable being a member of any subculture, anyway, not like I was a beautiful unique snowflake but like I was never good at it. I'm too big a dork. Through no fault of my own, however, I embraced a political idealogy that is not only extreme but comes complete with it's own (loud) musical genre and style of dress. I don't really mind. The music is catchy and the fashion is low maintence. Now fast-forward four years or so and I live in such a subcultural bubble that I can legitimatly think of myself as mainstream because I still think eating roadkill squirrel is weird.
I think the fact that I can live comfortably in my bubble without noticing is* a sign that we are moving, slowly but surely, beyond being just a subculture with a musical genre and way of wearing our pants to a full blown culture culture with values and taboos and ways of interacting that are holistic and workable. I like my culture; after all this I'm still convinced we can save the world.
*besides a reminder of how socially awkward I am
# posted by leah @ 12:13 AM 
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I need to do a couple studies or something and then come visit. I feel mainstream, too. Bouge. But wait oh shit: I am.
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