I've been posting nothing more imaginative than cat photos (Cat photos on the Internet? Imaginative?) lately, so I came to wonder why that might be the best I have to offer. Of course, they have a continuous stream of interaction with us, and the quality is impressive. You've probably guessed that they have been a feature of life since childhood, the only time life was devoid of their company were the years in the infantry.
Funny how the memories of those years have been smoothed by the passage of time. Perhaps it isn't so much a longing for those days when I felt I knew why I chose that profession and felt it was for a worthwhile cause, but more for those days when I actually could live that life. Now, doubt of how worthwhile that choice had been, looking around me today, is certainly a factor. Still, age and infirmities are strong drivers of nostalgia, especially when those times are viewed through rose-coloured specs.
Today there is an expectation of collectiveness in "society"; one has to join and mingle and speak out in support of whatever group it is you join, mostly on the internet. I feel that the concept of the individual is passé, one must be part of the collective and everything must be done in harmony with the collective.
Still, the life force of the group to which one ascribes oneself is derived from without, from the unquestioned hate of a required anti-group. One cannot disagree with one's group, yet one cannot agree in any way with one's anti-group. The entire body of doctrine of your group is unquestioned, and that body of doctrine of the antigroup in its entirety is to be derided.
Its very convenient and very simple; in those qualities lie the appeal to most. Coupled with a sense of belonging, the world of the ether becomes the world of choice. This thing I hold in my hand has made this shift from individual thought to collective adherence not only possible, but the fundamental and universal tenet of modern society in America.
I came out of my experiences in the forces with an intolerance for foolishness and fools. I might have been attracted to it in the first place because that intolerance was imbued by childhood family and school life. I certainly don't suffer idiocy now, and that puts me at odds with humanity as a whole. Of course, the two-years-and-counting of pandemic has made my loathing for people as a whole even more pronounced.
So it is I am even more a square peg in the round hole of human social interaction today than even ten years ago. I have to admit feeling that trying to accommodate by changing my behaviour to adapt isn't worth it simply because there is no reward other than perhaps feeling a part of a group when I don't want to prostitute my principles away in order to join. When one feels that being accepted as a member is a dubious honour at best, well what's the point?
So, back we come in a great sloppy loop through my privacy, individualism, social obsolescence, complete disgust at the human species, nostalgia for a time when what I was doing actually mattered and made sense, and back to enjoying a quiet private world that still makes sense. I choose not to be "a member" of any group or demographic. My family are what matter and more of my friends are cats than people simply because honesty in social interaction is a quality I still value.
My, that wandered off, di'nit? Grin!
Message Thread
« Back to index