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August 31, 2004

w00t!

Off to Canada. I'll post more soon, I promise.

Posted by StephenRauch at 02:45 AM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2004

Sorry if I'm repeating myself...although it's not like anyone's actually reading this...

You know, I'm sure when people started figuring out that all the people who were supposed to have the answers and keep watch over us: our parents, the government, the police, and religious and ethnic leaders – were really liars and thieves and killers and only cared about us as much as our obedience could get them; I bet people felt really betrayed. But it happened; we all know this now.

Which is why I'm always so puzzled when conservative types get so upset when some movie or book or singer says that gasp AUTHORITY FIGURES ARE CORRUPT! Being "Conservative" is supposed to mean you want to keep things the way they are. But when you collectively decide to not see the last 50 years, it requires a kind of willful ignorance that's just dishonest. You can't destroy information, no matter how hard you try. Ask the Stalinists.

I mean, I grew up with this stuff. So did everyone else my age. Not trusting the government or God or the police or any other old and decaying authority isn't a profound statement, it's just how things are. Always have been. It's like when people criticize "American Beauty," because the whole "alienation in suburbia" thing has been done already. Yeah, it all sucks, blah blah blah, but that's only like the first 5 minutes. That barely gets you in the door, and if you need to be told or convinced of that, go ahead and leave now. What they miss is the miracle of the film: how it can start out so morbid and end up so uplifting. You walk out of the theater feeling like God, and unable to get mad at anybody, no matter what they'd done to you – it's impossible when you see they're just scared and trying to get through their lives too. And, like Kevin Spacey's character says, just grateful for everything you've been able to experience. Which is probably the kind of feeling religion was supposed to give you too, back before the mystics got swamped by the bureaucrats. The Smiths have this at their best: most people just see Morrissey going on about alienation, loneliness, and despair, but we're already there; he's just saying "hi." The trick is how he ends up joyful, dancing around in his room with his headphones on, and just totally digging the whole thing.

The question is: what do we do now? You could just forget it all happened. Decide that since our parents tried to free themselves from everything and ended up burning out and selling out, we'd be better off marching back into the hateful, poisoned clutches of the parents big and small who drove them away.

Or start building. Put together a vicious bastard of a philosophy; cut and paste a Bible from the ruins of 5000 years of world culture. It’s all there somewhere in our brains if we need it, anyway. Realize "religion" doesn't have to mean "The Bible," just seeing and loving what's around you. Read some Neil Gaiman. Listen to My Favorite

Because we are the Midwitch Cuckoos (sorry, Grant). And you know what's going to be the only thing left in 50 more years?

Us.

Fuckin' groovy.

Posted by StephenRauch at 05:06 PM | Comments (1)