Day #36 - We all need someone to hate right? (Part 3)

I am quite keen to bracket this extended post as I don't want the blog to turn into some kind of manifesto. It isn't. What it is, is explained in the header notes. "Slightly off kilter ramblings". Anyway, yesterday I left it at a summary of how we are collectively quite insecure and how that insecurity is played upon to get us to do certain stuff. Once upon a time Ireland was a country that was quite immune to being manipulated but in some ways this has changed during the past 20 years. A while back there was a guy that phoned into a national radio station to express his views on the state of the nation. The guy said that when he left Ireland during its' last recession in the 1980's it was bleak but it still had an identity that was unique. He lamented the fact that when he was living in Ireland as a young man; "...all the girls were gorgeous with long dark curly hair and great bodies and no makeup...", he continued; "...now it's all anorexic blondes that talk like something off the telly and they all have panda eye makeup!"

The observation was quite acute and was echoed in a question that I was asked by a pair of biker girls that were visiting from Germany last year; "Tell me, why do all of the women dress like...how you say? Hookers?" It is true that many young women have that diet enforced figure with no tone or fitness to them. The fake tan and high heels and broadly they look like clones. Now yes, it is true that many women in days gone by looked similar but they looked IRISH, now there is little difference in appearance between the women here and those that can be found on any housing estate or suburban sprawl in the UK or beyond. Many talk with this strange inflection that sort of rises in pitch towards the end of each utterance. The TV sitcom "Friends" has a lot to answer for. Regrettably many of these young people consider themselves "free and individual". They are not. They are bound by the shackles of conformity. If they look like whoever is "hot right now" then EVERYTHING will be ok. The same goes for the guys but thankfully it isn't so bad. I am though, VERY concerned about the rise of bodybuilding and proliferation of the "juice"*. It is my belief that these uninformed augmentations to the diet of our young men cannot be good when administered by the uninformed and untrained. The lack of aerobic training may lead to all manner of cardio-vascular problems in the future. Getting pumped up is all well and good but if you don't have the aerobic ability to support such a large body then you are asking for it long term. Take a look at the greatest athletes, they don't look like musclemen. Those East Africans that can run for hours are not pumped. I'd sooner have endurance than short term strength. If you ever saw a turf cutter in action then that is the sort of physique that these lads should be after. Anyone that has seen a prime county hurler, oarsman, bi-athlete or paratrooper can use that as a template for quality fitness. Inside and out. I am beginning to digress however. I will end this with the statement that one of the most desirable and fittest women I ever knew was a professional dancer, a real one. I'm getting chest pains just thinking about her.

So. We all need someone to hate right? If we think about it it is pretty obvious. Apart from the reasons that I touched upon in earlier posts, the whole concept of the "other" is about self preservation and comfort. In "1984" during Winston's interrogation, denial was the first reaction. Then, it was an attempt at rationalisation. After that it was acceptance and finally capitulation. There is an important point to remember though and that is the attempt to deflect blame onto the other. In Winston's case it was Julia. In room 101 Winston was confronted by his greatest fear and in a last ditch attempt to avoid it he tried to deflect it onto Julia. People do this all the time when confronted by dire circumstances or even not so dire. In fact in order to avoid anything that might take us out of our comfort zone we will do whatever we CAN to make that happen. I have heard people fabricate the most laughable nonsense to avoid taking responsibility and it seems that such behaviour is instinctively ingrained. We can avoid doing it but more often than not our primal selves appear. To my mind that is a sign of "going backwards" or reverse development intellectually. Sadly we may be "hard wired" with the capacity to behave this way.

The idea of deflecting blame is not the same as deferring blame - deferring blame implies that at some future point we will accept responsibility, but "not right now". I can see no virtue in deferring blame and certainly none in deflecting blame. I believe that deflecting blame is privately admired and considered a virtue by many because the guilty party "got away with it" and who cares about the poor fool that had to "carry the can". It could be summed up in the phrase "I'm alright Jack!". It is at this point that we can examine the role of the scapegoat in it's many forms and guises. We all need someone or some thing to hate right? It makes the hatred easier if there is something different about the object of our hatred. The different always seem to get the worst deal - minorities especiallly. There are though some minorities that KNOW this and use it to protect themselves and guard against suspicion or further scrutiny. Political correctness as it has developed will subliminally colour our thinking and we find ourselves trying to avoid issues that NEED scrutiny and deep examination - in this case we may be avoiding a profound responsibility to ourselves as a unified whole. It is a disservice to the future development of the EARTH and it's inhabitants because we are only interested ultimately, in staying in our comfort zone. We might well publicly declare to have noble aims but it appears that we would prefer to do nothing - that way nothing can go wrong. THAT is what will happen - "nothing" WILL go wrong. It was the 18th century Irish philosopher and statesman Edmund Burke that said; "All it takes for evil to triumph is a few good men to do nothing!". Provided we have someone to hate we are absolving ourselves of the responsibility to do anything worthwhile for ourselves, our planet and ALL that dwell on it. This is more food for thought.

What then of those that seek to DO something ? - their motives must be scrutinised. It may well be that under scrutiny the motives may well be questionable owing to the fact that they may seek the endorsement and plaudits of others. I often get quite sick of watching some over "made up" and "highly sensitive" clone banging on about the poor children or starving millions whilst delivering their fake sensitivity in a $60 T-shirt and feigned expression of concern. Frank Zappa often satirised and lampooned such individuals. His tune "Heavenly Bank Account" is particularly sharp in it's observations. When I look at multi-millionaire media whores "get angry" about "the state of the economy" or "the underclasses" I feel sick. To quote Zappa; "There's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over!"

Finally, I believe it is time to consider the all-conquering "fame monster" and why it is that so many young people would rather become famous for whatever reason than become an engineer or scientist. Thankfully there is a rise in makerspaces, tech-celebrities (Prof. Brian Cox et al.) and rewards for innovation. It is a pity that a lot of earth saving technologies are being held back by the "elite" few that control the money supply. I believe that this happening because they too want to stay in their comfort zone. This may be considered by some to be seditious but what on earth is wrong with wanting to see an end to hunger, disease, war and environmental breakdown? In terms of the "grand plan" it might be interpreted as "wrong" but in that case I need to be enlightened. Less "Pop Idol" and more "Tomorrow's World".

Happy Wednesday!



* "Juice" - amino acid accellerants and other high protein food supplements - "Feel the burn!" etc.