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You Rack Disciprine

Debaucherous

Greenlighter
Joined
Oct 7, 2011
Messages
19
My latest post, an expose on willpower on modern society, just my 2c but feel free to tear it apart
*snip* please stop spamming with links to your blog

In a rather vain attempt to validate my existence and my writing via the interwebs I've been making foolish tries to increase my hits on this blog via whatever social networking sites are available (forums/blogs/whatever/twitter). Now every time I try and find any entertaining substance abuse outlets, all that seems to come up is drug abuse counselling, drug addiction forums, and all the sad depressing things people associate with substance. It's a gaddam shame. Obviously the content published here may be somewhat taboo, and maybe everyone who's awesome and doing cool stuff isn't sitting around writing a blog trying to validate how cool they really are from a bunch of strangers on the internet. But fuck it (i like that preposition, and if you add another 't' to the end of but it makes it an even awesomer preposition), for the sake of argument I'll assume everyone else out there just has a drug problem...

Here's my argument

Willpower and discipline, more than any other time in history, is key in success, living, relationships, etc. I'll argue this on the grounds that in no other point in history, is every possible vice or addictive behavior been finely tuned to meet our needs. Food (maybe arguably) tastes better, countless hours of research has been put into what tickles our tastebuds with to their greatest pleasure. Companies know exactly how much salt appeals to the greatest number of people in order to make them consume the most food they can get them to. They don't create food to enjoy 2 chips, they want you to eat the bag, then go back tomorrow and buy another to relieve the perfect experience they've engineered. The entire network on TV based around food masturbation (see southpark episode Creme Fraiche). We are able to shove all sorts of wonderful into our now distending bodies, with no limit on the creativity or imagination at our fingertips and mouths.

The same applies to clothing, how with enough media shoved into our brains, we've managed to find the need for finding a) what clothing brands/groups/styles appeal most to what "we" are like and what portrays the "real us". In turn b) how we are able to feel validated by that clothing, and in turn next year the same clothing style has changed enough for us to need to feed the validation addiction by buying something new to be complimented on so we can express that we're decently well off, well dressed, and our clothing once again represents our slightly reinvented sense of self.

Porn is more widely available than any other time in history. I still recall as a youth hunting mercilessly at friends' houses who's parents had porn mags, and we'd look at them for mere minutes in a constant state of fear trying to absorb enough into our memory banks for a later furious little wank. Growing up with the wealth of nudity on the internet I would scour the web for pictures, and on the rare occasion a movie clip while looking over my shoulder. Now the absolute wealth of entirely free youtube-esque porn sites with hundreds of thousands of clips of anything that could possibly get you off... for free... 24/7 on your mobile device allowing a quick spank break between classes, or a nice finish to your lunch break at work has left us completely filled/empty in our erotic desires.

Drugs now too, especially in the realm of "designer drugs"; like 2c-e, 5-HO-met, MPDV methoxetamine, and about 5,000 or so analogs of these substances, a person is literally able to find any drug for any occasion to keep them in a rather consistent state of whatever upper, downer, sideways, sexy, numb, dead, euphoric, state you want to feel, for whatever duration of time works best for you, all being psuedo-legal via the internet. Alcohol has taken on an entirely new state of being in "cocktail culture" with a master mixologist able to pick which gin goes best with a specific drink based on the botanicals used in the distillation process. You can get drunk and never taste booze, or always taste booze, and cure your hangover with a patch, or a pill, or an electrolyte shake. In wines you can pair whatever perfect bouquet to pair with your handcrafted meal to tantalize your olfactory and taste senses to their utmost maximum. Not to mention the pharmaceutical industries and the readily available prescriptions for benzos, painkillers, uppers, and whatever else you might have a problem with. I'm stressed and lazy, ok here's a valium and a dexadrine, come back every two weeks and I'll keep you in a legal state of stoned and amped so you don't have to come to grips with your own sad and shaky reality. Even further now with the legalization movement and compassion centers for weed distribution. If you have a good dealer he/she'll have some indicas/sativas/hash/baked goods to achieve whatever state of stone you most desire. The legal depots have even more variety and are able to keep you stoned, 24/7 as long as your wallet can keep up.

Casinos pump oxygen and give you free food, facebook/twitter can keep you updated without ever having to see people, your news can be gleamed in seconds from google, TV shows are studied to find what works best to keep your eyes glued to the screens. Advertisements are created to make you not only want a product, but need it. Video games are created in such a way to make them able to destroy families and peoples lives as the users become so entrenched in a fantasy world that is far more interesting than their own lives. The list goes on as long as you need it to.

Our very behaviors and natures have been studied to such a degree that as humans we are now subject to the greatest amount of choice, and entertainment than ever before in history. Everything is designed for us to need more, to be addicted, and to keep feeding our consumerist driven economy. Everything in life is now actively trying to take up the precious hours in your day and the money you strive so hard to earn. More so than ever, willpower could be the very key to living, to ever achieve any state of peace or content, happiness, fulfillment is now in our ability to say no. Our ability to not stuff ourselves on whim, 24 hours a day, to shove whatever chemical compound in ourselves to make our present moment feel real. We need to learn that discipline is the only way around addiction. It's not an "addictive personality", that just means you don't have control. You have the ultimate power of saying "NO", at all times. Nothing in your life should have more control over yourself than you. Find what makes you fulfilled, then keep that at the forefront of your thoughts at all times. Be it family, love, music, art, or whatever tickles your pickle, but do not let whats out there consume you as its been designed to do, fight for your being. Lest you lose your very soul. Or eat it. Or masturbate it into a pulp.
 
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Not to nit-pick, but 2c-e really shouldn't be in the same category as MPDV, methoxetamine in the sense that they are " designed for us to need more, to be addicted, and to keep feeding our consumerist driven economy." Having said that, it is the nature of capitalism to have subjects as desire-machines in order to accumulate more profit and make a subservient populace, doing this by taking advantage of people's self-alienation from the fruits of their labor, and deriving from the decadence of the overall "dog-eat-dog" social-economic climate. In my view we shouldn't judge lest we be judged, for there can be underlying causes for people to be compelled to satisfy their desires in an inordinate way; and it takes a special moment for that person to realize that drives can never be satisfied, that the whole point was to find a sense of completion of oneself. In this sense, everything is nothing in the end but a tool whose consequences depend on the person holding it.
 
It's the "just say no" campaign dressed up as an anarchist. ;)

It's a good point tho - only say yes when it's prudent to do so.


I'm off out now to disdainfully walk past shops selling pies & tvs :)
 
It is an interest blog post. I do think will-power can be helpful although to me I prefer not to struggle through life trying to avoid certain decisions. There seems to be a point beyond will-power where struggle is not necessary; whether it be with drugs, food, any other source of attachment. Until that chain is broken it's like there are infinite external influences that can and are used to manipulate us and keep us ignorant.

We can still have complete freedom over our actions. We can get high, wear certain clothes we like, and eat what we want, without giving it the power that it previously had. This way we no longer have to resist temptation but the temptation itself because meaningless when we understand the truth of how things really are.
 
I'm not saying you'll be addicted to anything, but that giving into whim can lead to destruction down the road. I live fairly intensely, abusing my body in all sorts of ways (drunk, stoned, and eating 60% of a large pizza probably isn't of the greatest health benefits). I merely try and be aware of myself, my desires, and sometimes denying myself whims at times in order to ensure that my state of being is aligned with my true desires in life. I could full well spend every day stoned and drunk, eating any kind of food, playing video games till my eyes burn out, masturbating until I chafe, and passing out in a relative state of bliss. However this fulfills the present moment, not any long term goal, not any true feel of reward, or a job well done. For some, this may be an ideal state of being, for myself I realize what gives me a sense of true gratification, which is accomplishing goals, working towards something, adding value to my relationships, and making myself a better person (in my own view). My whole post is just saying, it will be entirely easy for any person to fall into a quick sense of self gratification (however they like to do it), and find that as some sort of temporary fulfillment, but many things can overtake your "true" desires without you being aware of it, and you can become lost in a cycle of immediate gratification. Just be aware... if you feel fulfilled and happy being on heroin everyday I'm not one to judge, and if that is your true desire I will support that conceptually, but just be aware of your actions and if they are bringing you a true sense of contentment.
 
Excellent post. I agree with your points. If hedonism wasn't so damn awesome I wouldn't be a hypocrite lol. The way I live life is: it's better to live in the now instead of holding out for some theoretical moment later on that might not even come. A.k.a. every time I go to do something, I ask myself "If I die 5 minutes from now, would I die unhappy because I didnt do such-and-such?" Horrible, I know :) Nonetheless, this is the myopic way in which I live.
 
I read your first two paragraphs and quit. Why?

I don't eat for enjoyment. I hate eating. I'm feeding on death. I'm walking death. So why do I eat? For nutrients and sustenance. I cry while praying for the life-force of that which I eat and giving it thanks before consuming it. I'm forced to do it. It's awful.

Secondly, I don't dress to impress. I wear what is comfortable. I believe Bob Dylan said "there ain't no shortcuts i'm going to dress in drag only a fool here would think he'd have anything to prove." Socrates hardly bathed because he recognized his appearance meant nothing.

Give me a reason to continue reading and I might, but I'm not impressed with your work.
 
The temptations of the day are always the best that we are able to provide given the current technology and knowledge of the times. It's no more or less tempting today and it's the same human shortcomings that we have always faced.
 
I understand what you mean about short-term pleasures vs. long-term goals. Too much of one will make the other difficult/impossible.

I like both of them. I enjoy knowing that I'm working and building upon something that will continue to develop and perhaps create something wonderful in the future. I also enjoy having coffee with a cigarette.
 
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