today i realized something that made me sick.

[thousandfold]

our culture begets psychological problems. the fragmentation of the self is often only a reaction to how fragmented our society already is. materialism. social image. bullshityou don't have to worry about this at all when you're scrapping to find food for dinner. when you don't have a place to sleep at night. when you don't have clean water to

Comments

[cementloveriot]

::applause::

[thousandfold]

hey, you! i miss you! where have you been?

[cementloveriot]

dying. this week sucks.

[moneysucks]

Amen to that, Jenn.

I think being self-destructive is a symptom of luxury, if not a luxury itself. If you're spending your life trying to conform to social expectations (which you only get to worry about if your basic needs are taken care of), you start to feel it's the only thing you can have some control over. The almost universal thing I notice about really careless or self-destructive people is that they very rarely have a clear self-concept; they tend to be people who live mostly by responding to social pressures or other people's choices. I think our society's fucked up in that it encourages that. That's almost entirely what consumerism is about.

But I should refrain from being self-righteous.

[thousandfold]

i think it's interesting at how many people who have commented (on other blogs of mine that i cross-posted this to) have said "amen."

i think you're right about self-destruction as a symptom of luxury if not in and of itself; that's a good point.

"The almost universal thing I notice about really careless or self-destructive people is that they very rarely have a clear self-concept; they tend to be people who live mostly by responding to social pressures or other people's choices. I think our society's fucked up in that it encourages that."i think what can also happen is people (who are lacking in a clear self-concept) rejecting society's expectations of them in an effort to be more "themselves" when they have no idea what or who that is; they're still being guided by society because they need society's guidelines to be rebellious against it, as well. that's why i think it's crucial to be comfortable with oneself. "throw off your shame or be a slave to the system

[moneysucks]

Yeah, I haven't seen much of many people. Me getting out of Toyon is something that needs to happen more. Actually that's not true, I just need to get out of Toyon for social reasons (that don't involve a capella). You're one of two Lantana people I ought to say hi to...maybe I'll drop by sometime soon?