Ultimately, that is the question....
not to be or not to be. Of course you have to be. Despite your best efforts, you are not going resolve yourself into a dew. SNAP OUT OF IT!
David Byrne asked the question in the dawn of my reckless youth. It's about time I answered it. Remember when sociologists were in love with my generation? Generation X they called us because they didn't know what the hell we were; must have been all the acid. There is no answer. The Acid Tests smashed the mirror and a few million sparks of shattered crystal glass went spewing into the future where there were no more illusions about life, politics, the nobility of war, or the sacred rights of conformity. The sociologists couldn't figure us out because there are no more molds to cast us in. Thank you Kesey, Owsley, MG, and the rest of you brilliant warriors for that public service.
I can't speak for any other soul of my generation. Who the hell would be so presumptuous as to do that? All I know is what happened to me.
So let me set the stage. It's 1969. Kennedys? Dead. Martin? Dead. Vietnam War? Alive and kickin'. I'm a suburban Philly Jew boy born into a middle class family and I'm about to be steeped in the fact that politicians are worthless liars that are not to be trusted. What chance did I have to be a flag waving, brainwashed dumbass drifting unthinkingly through life in a fucking coma? None. By the time I finshed 5th grade I had nothing to believe in except the things I saw with my own eyes. That's what it means to me to be a "Gen Xer."
It means that the ultimate goal has to be freedom for everyone from everything. Whoever said, "Freedom isn't free" had their head shoved so far up their arse that they could probably stick their tongue through their foramen magnum. The fact that people believe that freedom is a commodity that can be bought, sold, or traded in an open market illustrates how much further we have to go. There shouldn't be a cost of freedom. If armies are defending freedom, then who is really free? I'm going to give you a frickin' headache people so go get your aspirin, ibuprofen, valium, nyquil, nitrous, or whatever it is you ingest because if you're here you're gonna need it.
Those of you who were supposed to be making the world better for us ended up being a bunch of swindling, dream killing pig heads who only wanted to screw us seven ways to Sunday. What made y'all think I wouldn't figure that out?
So what did I do? I found my own way.
David Byrne asked the question in the dawn of my reckless youth. It's about time I answered it. Remember when sociologists were in love with my generation? Generation X they called us because they didn't know what the hell we were; must have been all the acid. There is no answer. The Acid Tests smashed the mirror and a few million sparks of shattered crystal glass went spewing into the future where there were no more illusions about life, politics, the nobility of war, or the sacred rights of conformity. The sociologists couldn't figure us out because there are no more molds to cast us in. Thank you Kesey, Owsley, MG, and the rest of you brilliant warriors for that public service.
I can't speak for any other soul of my generation. Who the hell would be so presumptuous as to do that? All I know is what happened to me.
So let me set the stage. It's 1969. Kennedys? Dead. Martin? Dead. Vietnam War? Alive and kickin'. I'm a suburban Philly Jew boy born into a middle class family and I'm about to be steeped in the fact that politicians are worthless liars that are not to be trusted. What chance did I have to be a flag waving, brainwashed dumbass drifting unthinkingly through life in a fucking coma? None. By the time I finshed 5th grade I had nothing to believe in except the things I saw with my own eyes. That's what it means to me to be a "Gen Xer."
It means that the ultimate goal has to be freedom for everyone from everything. Whoever said, "Freedom isn't free" had their head shoved so far up their arse that they could probably stick their tongue through their foramen magnum. The fact that people believe that freedom is a commodity that can be bought, sold, or traded in an open market illustrates how much further we have to go. There shouldn't be a cost of freedom. If armies are defending freedom, then who is really free? I'm going to give you a frickin' headache people so go get your aspirin, ibuprofen, valium, nyquil, nitrous, or whatever it is you ingest because if you're here you're gonna need it.
Those of you who were supposed to be making the world better for us ended up being a bunch of swindling, dream killing pig heads who only wanted to screw us seven ways to Sunday. What made y'all think I wouldn't figure that out?
So what did I do? I found my own way.
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