A couple of things have been on my mind lately, somewhat related and then again trying to figure out a way of melding the two together has been a conundrum for me, so I will handle them as two different thoughts separate yet in many ways related.
Garnering the Spotlight
We all enjoy attention or as Andy Warhol put it "our fifteen minutes of fame" and it seems that has not really had a direct medium for the general public until the internet came into being. Whereas in the past, those dark days before the internet and the age of enlightenment it offered to those of us considered as ones of the menial class, all we had were newspapers, radio and television and in order to gain our place in the spotlight with the media of yore, you either already had to be known, discovered something that awed the world, have been published or were a serial killer, which at that time would have given that chance to stand in the spotlight of notoriety for ill or good. The internet changed all of that and gave anyone the ability to express their thoughts, their philosophy, their beliefs on morality, their stand on politics, sexual preferences, religion, parenting or just to vent and in doing so brought out the dormant narcissism in a lot of people. It was a venue deigned for them to be able to say, "Hey look at me and screw the others, I am what is important." and I shudder at times at the monster that man created when he unleashed the internet to the world.
It gave a much broader stage and a more diversified audience to those who felt like they should be listened to or what they had to say was important. It gave rumor mongers a wider visage to spread malicious gossip based purely on hearsay and personal belief of another person without really knowing if what they were espousing was factual or not, it was just too juicy and delicious to keep to themselves and the world just had to hear about it. It created a very large pond for those who like to throw rocks to see how far the ripples would reach and expand out to others.
I am not saying that seeking attention is wrong, it is basic human nature to want to be noticed and that in itself is harmless if approached in the right manner, not to do so at another's expense. When we seek attention by viciously maligning another for reasons that are really none of our business we have done nothing constructive but to destroy another and cause others to continue our attempt at undermining another's character and who if anyone has that right to do so.
It is Tom Sawyer's tree to hang from, his picket fence to walk to get Polly's attention and I would love to hear Mark Twain's take on how he would view the internet or the fodder it gave him to break out his quill to record another one of his insightful masterpieces of languid wit concerning the human condition and man's desire to be noticed. Not to mention the heyday Freud or Jung would have concerning man's struggle to either cut the umbilical cord or make love to his mother. The possibilities are endless and yet we have not really learned any lessons about what we do or say and how it effects others in our quest for attention.
The internet has created two spotlights and it shines attention on two at the same time, the seeker and the receiver, but those roles can change and the seeker one day will be seen as the receiver and will be placed in that position they have put many before them. The worm has turned so to say, the piper is now seeking payment, retribution is at hand and now that one has found themselves in a very precarious position for now they have realized that they are not without fault and secrets that were kept have managed to find themselves in the hands of another seeking attention and their target is that one who is presently in the spotlight. Like in the old west when a fresh young gunslinger would mosey into town to challenge the one who he has been told is the fastest draw known to man and he just cannot let the chance to challenge him pass by and find out how fast he really is. After all, he is now older, his edge a bit dulled, his senses a little more lax and his reflexes slowed by all the attention and praise he has been getting from his little group of followers and it is time now to replace him and take his place in that limelight.
Nothing wrong with seeking attention, just do it without unjustifiably attacking another and look out for those who come flying in under the radar or at least make sure all your ducks are in a row and you can cover your bases and don't leave your ass hanging out. Don't you just love a blog filled with euphemisms? I think I have used enough to get a little attention, don't you? Oh yeah, one more thought before I go on to the next disassociated thought, make sure someone is not painting a target on your back while you are busy painting one on someone else's back.
Baa Baa
I like to think of myself as an individual, perfectly capable of seeing things for myself and in the process of doing so be able to make my own decisions from those observations. It is how we should all be and we should not let someone else be the one telling us what to see or how to think, but sadly enough there are some either too lazy or weak or both to do that for themselves, so they entrust someone else to do that for them and that to me is a sad thought. People get so misdirected and confused when they start letting themselves be guided by someone who probably does even have the slightest clue of what is going on around them to begin with. It is the blind leading the blind and they might as well be living in a closet with the rest of the skeletons they have stashed away in the dark.
There are some that actually prey on those who cannot or those that refuse to think for themselves and this is where the above disassociated thought is associated. Those that seek attention of a attentive following surround themselves with those they think for, they decide for them what is right and what is wrong, who they should or should not talk to, who is and who isn't at fault and those they think deserve his retribution and chastising. The pied piper syndrome it is called and has roots seated back to childhood by either too many siblings and getting lost among them or over attentive parents telling them how important they are, either the lack of or too much attention. Seeing how their audience is a selective one and one that is for them easily swayed into their ideology and manipulated to think as they think and see what they see. They use them until they have no more use for them, they use them as weapons aiming them towards targets they have decided to destroy. Little Napoleons, egotistical, maniacal, narcissistic, schizophrenic and manic depressive are just a few of the symptoms they display as they gather around them those who see them as some kind of demigod, whose words are like their teachings and their bidding as a tribute them. They castigate those who see through them for what they are, irritating little fleas, piss-ants of life that seem to to be everywhere you wish they weren't.
If one cannot think for themselves, then I would think it would better not to think at all. Just sit there like a proverbial lump on a log and live out life emotionless and do not let someone else tell you what you should be thinking. Do not be led like sheep by someone who really does not care if you ever had a thought of your own or not, because under their guidance if you ever did get a clue they would ostracize you in fear that you would see them for who they truly were, just another sheep herder leading aimless sheep to slaughter.
Later...
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