Why You Shouldn’t Care

I don’t.

Why should you not give a fuck? I’m here to tell you exactly why. I’m what’s known as a classic enabler — it’s part of my genetic make up. I want to please people and, I’ll go to great lengths to do so. In this age of social media — it seems to be the common mantra many of us hold dear, pleasing others that is.

I’m torn. Because there’s also this side of me that wants to go against every principle, every moral boundary and or belief that you have in order that I may tell my side of the story.

You see — there’s perception and then, there’s reality. And depending on which side of the fence you’re standing on — you’re either perceiving or you’re living. Make no mistake though; your reality is not mine. We may share some common ground but when I wake up in the morning, the routine I have is mine and it suits me. You may hate it but that’s none of my concern. Likewise, I probably hate your routine.

So why should I worry about your opinion when I share a heightened display of anger or passion discussing something I believe in?

The answer for this one is simple: I want you to believe me.

Do you? Fuck no.

WE NOW LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE EVERYTHING IS DENIABLE. What I mean is that for every expert that shares a theory, there are 5 other experts waiting to discredit that theory. On a side note, if a theory was incorrect, why would a government try to silence the expert with theory? Oh, I bet you have an answer for that. Google has insured that we will always have a contradicting argument, based on our search algorythms.

Who do you believe?

Let’s be honest here, if we can. We believe that which resonates most in our own personal belief. We’re simple fucking creatures, no matter how much we attempt to convince ourselves otherwise. The more we scream against something we hate, the better the chance we relate. Maybe that’s what scares us.

I’m the first to admit that I get it wrong. But you see — I’m ok with this fact. If for no other reason than I don’t sit back and wait for the someones to tell me how or what to feel. Ya, I said it. If I offended you, it won’t be the last time…well, maybe it will.

Elaborating — some of you will take the easy way out. It’s the perception that someone actually gives a shit that makes you agree with them. Sadly, they don’t. Whether it’s by intent of a simple draw of the card — your belief in another’s perception of the world is purely coincidental.

The way you feel when you are engaged; what’s happening in the moment you are engaged, your surroundings, relationships, the time of day — is it sunny, raining? The myriad of environmental factors that can affect the way you process information and opinion is much like the way you take in a new song on the radio.

Think of all the times you heard a song for the first time and your first reaction was “man, this really sucks.” But by the 3rd or 4th time your favorite radio station plays it, you start tapping your toes or humming the melody…and you’re hooked. Now that I think of it, it spells doom for the majority of adults over the age of 40 because most are closed to the idea that music could have possibly gotten better than it was when they were in highschool. ( I digress) Maybe that’s why they keep voting conservative.

Remember — simple creatures. That’s why big companies can pander to us in the most ridiculous and condescending ways and, we eat it up. (I was thinking about this as I watched a ridiculous beer commercial tonight that was designed to make the viewer believe that drinking their new brand would have a profound, almost life changing effect.)

Our perception is what we want it to be. What do we want? Right now, in the world, the majority of us want sequels, prequels, prequels of sequels and sequels of sequels of every comic book action hero ever made. We want faster internet. We want more free wifi. We want more cute cat, dog, giraffe and just about any furry animal meme that we get our hands on. We want more money, success and even fame if there’s a way to get that too.

We don’t want — well, the list is long and kind of precarious and varies so widely compared to the list of our wants that it would be difficult to say what we collectively don’t want. Terrorism? That’s about the only thing I can think of. I mean, it’s the one thing that stands out that 99% of the world is against.

I’d say pedophilia but we keep releasing those sick animals back into the world even though science say it’s an affliction of the mind that cannot be fixed or rehabilitated. And, we get really vocal if said pedophile is released anywhere within a few blocks of our home. If it’s in someone else’s neighborhood? Not really our problem, now is it. We’re against vagrancy and poor people. Sure, we may donate and help out at a food kitchen once in a while…ummm, ya. (Put your hand up if you’ve ever served food at a homeless shelter) There’s so many of us lining up to help that which we fear most. If I have to explain that one or my sarcasm, unfriend me this fucking second. Seriously.

We fear cancer but it’s hard to say it’s on the “don’t want” list because we know that so much of cancer is environmental and, if we really wanted to change our ways, we would have to give up our selfish nature and stop doing things to our environment that is known to contribute to the alarmingly high rates of cancer in the world today. 1 in 2 people, in your and my lifetime. Yet, we continue to spew toxic emissions in the air, eat heavily processed foods, smoke and find ways to touch thousands of carcinogenic materials every day simply because they make life’s routine just that much more convenient.

I was thinking maybe WAR would make the “not want” list but let’s be honest here — we all need someone to hate. I see it every day on social media. Sometimes it’s veiled under a superficial niceness as you let someone know they should kindly fuck off and die. If war didn’t fill a void inside so many of us, it wouldn’t be one of the number one producers of jobs and revenue in the world today. Show me one industry that is worth trillions of dollars a year and I’ll show you a politician that’s trying to find a way to get a cut.

Hate — maybe most of us don’t want…I can’t even get the words out. Hate really is a matter of perception. In the past few weeks, I’ve seen tremendous examples of what hate looks like. Particularly disturbing are some of the people I know personally, perpetuating hate. The Jenner story really stands out as, with mostly the most “macho” of men having lots to say about Caitlyn receiving an Espy. An affront to their manhood and this person who used to be a man but isn’t a man anymore and they simply don’t know how to react - so hate is the simple go to. And, if you can find a few people to agree with you — refer to paragraph one.

Bill Cosby was another story that really stood out the last few weeks in social media. Seriously??? What is so goddam funny about rape? Yet, the reckless memes making fun and light of a situation so dire and grievous can only be chalked up to simple hate. Maybe you don’t think so but your callous disregard for the subject matter and, the victims shows that your perception of decency has long lost left you.

And, we get back to the wants.

It doesn’t matter what the truth is. The only matter is what feeds our wants and makes us feel whole. We strive for the superficial because our perception tells us that this will fill the void. So we want for the dream. It’s a matter of convenience and if we need a few vodka chasers and some valium to make that dream come more into focus — then so be it.

It sounds like I’m bitter. Doesn’t it?

A radio talk show host I know really well suggested on one of my facebook posts that perhaps I wasn’t happy and that’s why I always looked for the conspiracy in everything and had such a hard on for the mainstream media. I had to correct him by letting him know that it was in fact, quite the opposite. I don’t look at the conspiracies or my perceptions from a place of anger or sadness, or even fear. I love the stories!

It’s a shit world. We all know it but few of us are willing to talk about. I really enjoy life and my perception of the world lets me see it in a slightly different light. I want everyone to see it as I do. But that’s not realistic so, I upset the apple cart.

There’s two reasons…perhaps more. The reasons that stand out are — I love a good story, or conspiracy as you will. And, I really love to push people’s buttons — get them thinking about shit they may not want to think about. That doesn’t mean they’re going to agree with me or even like me for sharing but, if I capture their imaginations even for a second, then I feel some small accomplishment.

I’m sitting here right now, listening to a variety of Bach’s Sonata’s for violin and haven’t stopped writing in the past hour. This won’t be edited and I’m not sure I’ll revisit it for a reread. Why tell you this? Because there’s no filter. We’ve become so politically correct and fake that we’ll avoid saying what we think at all cost. If you want to hate on me for speaking my mind, in the moment, that’s your right. Hate away. I will not edit to avoid offending.

Life is short. I want to just spill it all, not hold back for anything or anyone. I want to offend. I want to be offside. Yes, I want to be onside too and accepted, on occasion but for me it’s more important to flex that muscle between our ears, even at the risk of creating casualties.

SAY WHAT YOU WANT BUT MAKE SURE YOU MEAN WHAT YOU SAY.

There are times where I have to apologize for my behaviour and own it, especially when I get it wrong but perception and reality being what they are; there is far more opportunity to get it right in a world that has grown mostly complacent as we have become more comfortable in the conveniences that our narrow minds provide. I recommend the movie Wall-E if you’re looking for cliff notes…

A reckoning is coming. There is little doubt in my mind. I’m sure there were more than a few like myself in the final days of Rome, those who could see the road ahead. Of course, they didn’t have facebook or medium or any kind of real voice.

Ironically, I don’t have that voice either. I’m just noise in a world where we’re all competing for sound bites in a manufactured reality — the Kardashians and The Kanyes distracting us while the world burns. This past week 5 million liters of oil spilled into dirt on the only planet we have, taking with it countless species of animal and plant and doing who knows what to the ecosystem…wait a minute, is that a cute meme of a dancing cat?

There were lots of other horrible things that happened this week but we’re all super fascinated by this latest move where Superman and Batman are going to square off in an epic battle. Really? Anyone that knows anything about these super heroes understands how ridiculous that notion is.

Perception.