Sometimes I wonder if my life is some kind of ironic cosmic joke.
In this mad "modern" era, I find that I'm as out of place as a democracy in the Arab world.
How can I find a place in an age where books and reading are regarded with almost universal contempt; where my favorite hobby as a writer is dismissed as an almost obsolete art-form, like tap-dancing or silent movies? How can I survive an age where the sanctity of the written word has been defiled by CGI graphics and mediocre screenplays in high budget movie adaptations... where spending a night indoors reading a book -a favorite pastime for tens and hundreds of generations of the literate- sadly now discounted as an unworthy waste of time?
How can an aspiring guitarist and rock music-fan still survive in the age of Justin Biebers and Nicki Minaj's, where all musical scales and skill are out of the equation; to be replaced by cold, synthetic noise, auto-tune, and baring enough skin to qualify as soft-core porn? How can a man who fails to understand the enjoyment an entire generation derives from getting dressed up to stand in a group of hundreds of sweaty, energy-drinks-and-sex-hormone-fueled, drunk teens/young adults, vigorously convulsing in place to the tune of irresponsibly loud, repetitive dance "music"; hope to maintain a social life when everyone else is so radically different?
How can I find a place in this age, where we've been taught -by the unprecedented level of ultra-consumerism humanity has embraced- that if it's broken, you can just throw it out and buy a new one? In a world where our capitalist, growth-driven economic system has somehow managed to allow a small portion of humanity a life of luxury they could never have imagined a few decades ago; while simultaneously dooming the rest of the undeveloped world to share the bill for environmental destruction and global warming, how can we claim to be "civilized"? Are we so narcissistic that we can't see our impact on the world beyond humanity as a species? How can a pacifist environmentalist participate in this charade of "progress"and "development", knowing full well that we cannot sustain this and that sooner or later, humanity will have to stop fighting for made-up reasons and start fighting for food and water when they're all but gone?
How can I find a place in this age where the same consumerist attitude has inspired short-lived meaningless friendships, to be disposed of and replaced at the first disagreement/when we're bored? No longer do we have life-long companions, but a few casual visitors in our lives who we spend time with when we want to and ignore when we don't. The age where a friend was a rock for you to lean on in your hard times is over... friends are now a mere audience to show off to on Facebook and glare at your smartphones somewhere vaguely in whose vicinity when you do decide to "spend time together". How can a well-meaning loyal friend find a person who truly cares about them and does not secretly wish them ill, in this nightmarish, cynical century?
How can a hopeless romantic hope to find his soulmate, in the age where devotion is extinct; emotion is dismissed as weakness and romance is viewed as cheesy... where trust has give way to suspicion; pride to humiliation; passion to lust; love to logic; sincerity to manipulation; chivalry to "equality"; jealousy to indifference? Can we not see that ordering a hook-up online on an application is proof enough that we have lost our humanity? How can a living relic of a bygone age where love was cherished and nurtured for decades still hope to find a meaningful connection in an age where you swipe left to banish a person from your life, for the crime of not looking attractive enough on their display picture? In the age of "Last Seens" and blue check marks, how can we hope to foster intimacy rather than mistrust? Gone are the days of passionate mail correspondence and chests of old letters kept in the attic; to be replaced by these soulless attempts at creating artificial connections where there are none.
How can I find a place in this world, where religion is blamed for all of humanity's problems when it is clearly humanity's greed and politics that pit us against each other and enforce this us VS them mentality upon us? Why can't we all accept that there are other people who have different beliefs and perhaps worship a different God, or don't believe in a God at all? How can a man who views his religion as a moral framework to maintain his integrity, beliefs and principles hope to avoid being cast as a regressive simpleton who does not have the mental capacity to comprehend atheism? How can a truly peaceful person accept being viewed as a villain because of a global wave of Islamophobia, driven by the actions of a few uneducated extremists who were never taught real Islam?
Even in food, I find no respite. In an inter-mingled, globalized world, a man who strives for authenticity would find it increasingly hard -to name just a few examples- to find truly Italian pizza in an age where Pizza Hut is the most recognized "pizzeria" in the world; where truly authentic American cheeseburgers are giving way to fake, pseudo-fancy "gourmet" burgers with weird ingredients and weirder tastes. Real food has given way to fast food; and where meals were once important social activities where we bonded and discussed our daily lives; they are now little more than choirs... something to get over with so we can pay attention to more "important" things. Humanity is being fed slop in a trough, and it seems that very few people have noticed, or care.
In short, the old-fashioned and traditional no longer have a place today. This is not to claim that my beliefs and preferences are necessarily the correct or moral way to live; this is simply my own realization that I most certainly was not born in the right era. Moreover, as I take a look around and see all the conflict and hate being promoted instead of peace and understanding, I find it increasingly hard to call this world my own when I fundamentally disagree with almost every aspect of our existence.
This post is an acknowledgment to any/all like-minded individuals who might be reading this. Although we are a dying bread, there are still some of us left... take solace in that, as you go about your lives and try to conform as best you can to this unholy horror of a life we share.
You are not alone.
Also if you're a hot girl, hit me up some time.
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