At Request #3: No Train of Thought

The harnessing of a schizophrenic thought process

Ah, yes, the mustache conundrum...

Facial hair located prominently on the area around the mouth has long been a symbol of masculinity and all-around cool. Of course, this image has been warped by the societal values of the now, much of which values simplicity and simplistic clarity (look at Apple) - and that often translates into a clean-shaven face.

There's nothing wrong with a mustache - or a lack thereof – in modern society. Mustache donners are typically stereotyped as masculine Caucasian men who potentially ride motorcycles and happen to be cowboys. Which really sucks for those who don’t fit these profiles. But not to worry, nobody needs to conform to stereotypes. The significant ‘hipster value’ of mustaches, interestingly, has done a negligible effect on keeping the hair on mens’ faces. Then again, once it does, it won’t be ‘hipster’, highlighting the paradox of conforming to a counterculture, which by definition attempts to defy conformism. Conformis-conception or conform-inception?

Most adolescents harbor little opinion, positive or otherwise, towards mustaches. As a semi-regular wearer of a mustache, mine is representative of eccentricity and individualism; a pathetic attempt to feel older, not a pathetic attempt to fit in or stand out –  because if you try too hard to stand out, you’re just another one of those who tried too hard to stand out, and that would mean – yeah, you fit in. Plan thwarted?

Gabe Saporta

Gabe Saporta. What a hunk of a man. And what a name! Saporta? Sounds like Sapporo, the Japanese draft beer. This guy should totally get an endorsement. I’m pretty sure this lead vocalist of Cobra Starship, popular synthpop/dancepop group, has plenty of ‘saportas.’

An Uruguayan Jew in the United States, Saporta seems to be the ultimate amalgamation of all things multicultural. Also a philosophy major, the man tells us all that philosophy is not a piece-of-crap field of study – I bet he’s applying his ideas to his music and his public relations efforts right this second. Also a PETA activist, and almost by definition, a vegetarian, Saporta seems to be the true nonconformist. Take that, hipster mustache-cult-worshippers.

Koreans

Koreans – more specifically, South Koreans – have become a somewhat widespread cultural tour de force in areas outside the tiny peninsular nation in which they reside in. Their incredibly aggressive cultural ministry consistently makes concerted efforts to essentially sell their culture. For a small, ambitious, and sometimes arrogant nation, government clout is necessary to make their television and music known around the world.

It’s obviously worked. The Republic of Korea houses a multitude of game companies that singlehandedly spawned the free-to-play massively multiplayer online game genre, which collectively generates billions of dollars (trillions more Won, due to the relatively small numerical value of their currency) annually. Even more can be said towards their other media foci, television and music. Their developments and efforts in this field has literally created an industry equally as efficient as Henry Ford’s assembly-line process. Entertainment giants tap in to consumer ideology and philosophy to develop attractive television drama plotlines that have apparently captivated more than just the average Korean – after all, there are only about 50 million South Koreans. Many dedicated Korean culture worshippers reside outside of Korea and have created their own niche cultural environment in the process.

More can be said about their popular music, which has managed to sweep the shores of Japan, China, Vietnam, and the Pacific Coast. The “Korean wave” is the aptly-named title of this analogical cultural natural disaster – I meant, financial success. Many of these highly qualified, highly attractive (by artificial or natural construction) pale-skinned vocalists have learned Japanese, Chinese, and English in order to tap into lucrative foreign markets. Of course, much of these things – multilingual ability, vocal talent, physical attractiveness, sold-out concerts, and so on – ultimately benefit none other than the higher-ups in the Korean entertainment industry, a series of corporate oligarchies which have a stranglehold on popular culture, and in turn, socio-cultural ideals for Korea and its youth population. Whether all of this is good is up to you, not me, to judge.

Facebook phenomena

It might be hard to believe that with over 800 million Facebook users, many of them are doing pretty much the same thing. Status updates from the English-speaking population are usually not meaningful updates about today’s happenings or musings on the world but rather appeals to ‘like’ their statuses in exchange of some sort of emotional gain – a truth-telling session, an admission of guilt, and whether or not you deserve to be avoided, dated, kissed, or – I’ll stop before things get out of hand.

The big question is whether this is simple ‘attention whoring’ or a larger issue – group conformity. Indeed, it could probably be both. The typical Facebook user uses the social-networking site not for serious business, but because they have nothing better to do (than online social interaction). And what better to do but to post a status that will keep him/her busy for hours? Statistically speaking, the only other things we do on the computer are online banking, movie/Youtube streaming, email checking, instant messaging, and perusing pornographic movies. The individual will probably not post a status just because someone else posted it and it is copyable – unless the individual is an adolescent aggressively seeking conformity, of course.

Congress Super Committee

The 12-man “supercommittee” in US Congress announced today that they were unable to solve a multi-trillion budget shortfall – not even able to decrease the deficit by the minimum goal of 1.2 trillion over 10 years– due to partisan disagreement over key spending cuts, including entitlement programs and tax increases. This disagreement is nothing new, but the new thing all Americans will be receiving soon are severe cuts on all governmental services, and I’m pretty sure all Americans are already tired of it. This is what happens when politicians care more about a party platform’s values than the people they represent, of course.

But perhaps the dumbest part of this whole disaster is that the due date for the compromise is Thanksgiving Day, not Monday. Perhaps the congressmen (there are no females in the supercommittee) want to celebrate their failure with their families and not in a dreary government chamber? The supercommittee’s failure is another reason why US Congress has less approval from Americans than the prospect of the United States turning on its capitalist ideals and turning communist.

Tootsie Pops

The age-old question: How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

Siri answers:

START LICKING. I assume no biting is allowed.

Global Peace

Is such a thing possible? George Orwell writes in dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four that “war is peace.” The only way humanity can achieve peace is if…well, we ceased to be human. Even if all global conflict were to immediately end, significant internal conflict would continue to exist. Greed and corruption fuels broken third-world regimes and military juntas in Egypt and Burma alike. Are humans – because we are human – incapable of peace? Perhaps.

The United States proclaims itself as the harbinger of freedom and liberty, but it seems perfectly comfortable in using oppressive and destructive means to achieve their ends – those ends being democratic government, which Washington has long viewed as the only proper definition of freedom and liberty. (Examples: Central American neocolonialism, Cold War interventions, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East) Is communism not freedom or liberty? Communist countries – or proper, non-Stalinist ones, at least – provide better social benefits to the entire populace, with greater emphasis on gender, social, economic, and racial equality than capitalist, market-driven societies. Yet again, the flawed nature of the human personality has undermined the possibility of a perfect Communist state all but entirely.

But to flip over the other side of the same coin, there is no perfect democratic state either, as shown by American foreign policy. Without perfect people, there would be no perfect world, no perpetual peace. And although the current state of affairs is by no means ideal, there’s no goal as unrealistic – or as discomforting – as trying to achieve something that’s impossible to attain. A nation that simply minding its own affairs – a selfish philosophy, one that ignores problems in other nations – is the only method the country (not the world) can be at peace. The limit as x approaches total human equality and world peace: Does not exist.

SAT Vocabulary:

1. conundrum - n. puzzle, problem
2. prominent - adj. conspicuous in position, character, or importance
3. negligible - adj. so small or unimportant as to warrant little to no attention
4. eccentric - n. peculiarity
5. amalgamate - v. to mix or blend together in a homogeneous body
6. peninsular - adj. pertaining to a piece of land almost surrounded by water
7. perusing - v. look over in a casual or cursory manner
8. partisan - adj. characterized by devotion to a party

Damned Kids, Damning Rant

The Problem/Introduction

Every teenager (that's most of you readers) with a sliver of self-consciousness and awareness should run into one problem growing up and interacting in the community. It's a damning brand of discrimination and prejudice hardly covered by scientific studies and mainstream media. What is it?

We're not being taken seriously enough.

'We,' the youth, that is. Famous quotations from notable figures in society regard children – but adolescents in particular – as a negative statistic, a social problem, a malady found in every corner of the globe. We damned kids are a problem that adults have somehow deal with, in all our angst and uncooperativeness.

The Premise

Americans, sociologists, and activists all love to talk about gender discrimination, racial discrimination, stratification, income discrimination, and so on – but 'age discrimination' – ageism – is an underrepresented topic of social inequality. Some individuals are concerned with the stereotyping that surrounds their blonde hair; those with white skin are always defending themselves against accusations of racism; those with black skin are sometimes excessively sympathized or ostracized, as victims of such. Of course, 'ageism' does exist, to some extent – those of old age may be forced to ignore that some think of them as social and economic burdens to the general public, rotting away while robbing government money through Social Security and Medicare.

While this ageism towards the elderly has been documented and its stereotypes being fiercely torched by these individuals, Adolescents are held in a similar regard with little of the coverage, or the defense. While we young millenials are two or more generations apart from the ‘Silent Generation’ (as TIME Magazine calls it), it turns out we have much more in common than most think – there is a connection between the Damned Kids and the Damned Old People, as we both are viewed as costly assets, taxpayer burdens, and unavoidable social problems.

Researchers cite us in reports as perpetrators of a wide variety of problems, whether it is depression (we get our own brand – 'adolescent depression'), substance abuse ('teen substance abuse'), or delinquency ('juvenile delinquency'). Many of these alarming reports call on parental action as an important factor in fixing the problem, but even then, the teenager becomes a victim – hardly a solution. Adults rarely call upon adolescents to solve our own problems, because we are apparently incapable, unaware, and indifferent. Adult-made organizations such as the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the United States, which runs the well-known anti-drug ad campaign 'Above the Influence,' continue attempts to inform teenagers about the harmful effects of various drugs. Ignoring the fact that the advertisements have proved ineffective and thus are a taxpayer burden, they also implicate that teenagers are too weak to make independent decisions against overbearing and powerful forces like drugs. (Of course, many adults lack the self-control as well. How funny!)

If our elders are not being negatively regarded as costly problems, then why are teenagers subject to being victims, assets, problems, and worst of all– uninformed and immature? Adult perception of adolescent immaturity is the crux of the problem, and this stereotype, I believe, proves more important than all the other issues I previously discussed regarding the portrayal of adolescents. I'm tired of it. Adults should wake up and smell the coffee (that they need to get through their days). Not all of us are depressed, delinquents, or drug users, so what makes us dumbasses?

The Incompetence

Part of the problem is that – yes, I hate to say this – there is a considerable portion of the adolescent and youth population that gets depressed, gets in trouble, or gets high, and it's only rising. However, instead of focusing on solutions for these troubled individuals or programs to benefit talented, mature, and/or intelligent youth, we only get a heap of victimization. I mean, we're even bullying each other to death now, right?

The social construction of adolescence and childhood denies us – most of it rightfully – many avenues of adult life. Children and younger adolescents can't get married or consume alcohol; we aren't allowed to pursue semi-permanent or lasting careers, vote in elections, or pay taxes. (Not that any child would want to pay taxes or manage married life anyways.) However, we are also barred from public office, denying us from nearly all policymaking positions, including those that make decisions affecting adolescents. Of course, most teenagers are apparently (or evidently) incapable of functioning in a formal, adult-run bureaucracy (those who do may make tons of mistakes). It's impossible for the problems adolescents apparently have/perpetuate to disappear if there is no chance for input from these 'victims' themselves.

Of course, the most compelling example is the one that has probably happened to us. A group of male adolescents on the street or loitering may generate anxiety from passersby, and especially so if attire is seen to be negative in any way. Teenagers may be subject to suspicion or scrutiny if a group enters a place of business. We are often unwelcomed, sometimes even when our wallets are open.

The Incongruity

The last part of the adolescent ageism problem regards other adult opinions towards adolescents.

We’re seen as children, grown-up and more aware of the world. But despite being granted this title, nothing much else is done – if not worsened by the slew of findings that portray us in a negative light. To be deemed mature but accepted elsewhere as incapable is a distasteful double standard that splinters our development as social, functioning, productive beings. With all this role confusion, is it surprising that adults find that we have higher chances of being depressed?

Adolescence is a confusing interim period of life – to be seen as immature, uninformed, or socially deviant only works to our detriment. As we grow up, we may rapidly transform from the oppressed to the oppressors – a biological truth, but one that should compel us to do something about the social status quo, before we lose the legitimacy of our youth.

Here, the National Youth Rights Association with its ideas, some similar to my own. But these are adults talking. The NYRA is also more concerned with curfews and voting age than social portrayal of adolescents.

SAT Vocabulary: (specialized terms in italics)

1. malady - n. disease or ailment
2. stratification - n. division of society into 'layers' of social, economic, political, and economic qualities and inequalities
3. premise - n. A judgment as a conclusion.
4. ostracized - v. To exclude from public or private favor.
5. asset - n. Property or holdings in general
6. crux - n. critical point
7. incompetent - adj. Not having the abilities desired or necessary for any purpose.
8. perpetuate - v. To preserve from extinction or oblivion.
9. interim - n. Time between acts or periods.
10. detriment - n. Something that causes damage, depreciation, or loss.
11. compelling - adj. requiring attention; overpowering
12. status quo - n. the existing state or condition