Something to think about :)

As I sit here on the public holiday monday after spending the majority of my weekend at Utopia, I feel that I must express a few things that I experienced on the weekend. After being uber psyched following a longish drive there, the afternoon, night and following day provides me with an enormous amount of stimuli, all different, all interesting but the reason I am writing this is to address one issue in particular.

The issue in question is that of why people go to such extremes "going over the top". Being 19 and spending the majority of my childhood ostracised for being a geek, loser, for being different in general (cry me a river I know ) I understand that no person should judge another on what they wear, how they behave and how hard they push their minds and bodies but what I saw on the weekend really troubled me for some reason.

We all would like to think that we don't judge people, we'd all like to think that we lived up to the golden rule: do unto others as you would have others do unto you (and don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. Kant expressed this in his categorical imperative, basically saying that you should only do things if you think it should be a rule for how every else should act. I tend to think that I follow in this deontological path as far as ethics and how I act, but I must admit I have failed, I do judge people, even if it is subconsciously.

Regarding utopia (after that tangent), I found myself along with my friends judging people who were "weird". Please don't get shitty at me for saying that, you all know what I'm talking about, you might be one of these "weird" people, you know, the people at raves who posess some of the following qualities: crazy haircuts with bright colours in there, equally bright fluro, furry outfits, sometimes with slogans like "arrest me I'm on drugs", and generally people who might have taken too much (and I mean TOO MUCH, not people who are generally off chops). I mean, I really feel bad for judging, but I'm sure we all do it deep down.

I'm all for freedom of speech, thought and expression but some of these weird people just seem to go over the top, especially since a lot of the people whom I'm referring to were in the 13-17 age group. It makes me wonder why. I know they're having a good time and expressing themselves how they want, just like me but I don't know why people have to go out on such a limb, like being anywhere near mainstream is uncool.

It all came to a head when it was about 8am sunday and I was chatting with about 3 friends at the bridge which connected the rave and the carpark. We were in a zone where cars were passing close by and all of a sudden, everyone (about 40+ people around us) let out a collective gasp as a guy whose face was so distorted in a gurning way that the poor guy looked like he was literally dead and in a coffin, drove past in an old station wagon. Everybody backed away as far as they could to let the guy pass and it was really scary, especially because almost everyone was scattered as it was.

I just think that going over the top and trying to be so anti-establishment as to get SOOOOOO fucked up, getting to the stage where you would let yourself do silly things because you don't know what you were doing isn't the best way to go. I know that this was only one guy, and the other people that I've mentioned haven't done anything so stupid and therefore I shouldn't generalise, but I hope you get my drift.

I hope in my heart of hearts that everybody, and I mean everybody has a good time when they go out, I can say that honestly, but it just perplexes me how far some people will go and how they can put others in danger. I know that in other people's eyes I'm a weirdo, just because I use substances and what I'm saying is just my opinion, relative to other opinions it might be extremely conservative or liberal, but I just wanna conclude by saying that I hope every single individual takes care of themselves and others. I don't apologise for holding this opinion, but I sincerely apologise if I've offended anyone, I feel that we all judge people in our own way, and I'm relieved that I can finally admit it. I have nothing but love and compassion for everyone out there, even if I might judge you as a weirdo

Peace, happiness and much love to every single one of you out there, you're all beautiful, Joe.



(Mods please move this if it's against guidelines).

ahh scat days..

no seriously I agree with you I try my hardest not to judge people based on their looks and always try to give them a fair go...

as much as i appreciate the basis of what u're trying to say... u are still grouping people who dress outlandishly, and people who take "too much" drugs, and irresponsible people who drive under the influence, all under your idea of "weird"

and judging these people with the same standards of yours, which i think is not very balanced.

^^^^
I totally agree with what you're saying, hence all the apologies, I know its wrong but to be truly honest I'm guilty of it, I'm not perfect

I'm guilty of judging people who take to much drugs. They redeam themselves if they regret it or are not trying to show off how gone they are. In Brisbane more often than not if someone gets completely of chops they try to avoid the larger crowds so as to not create a scene such as you described.

I also think there is an element to many people that wishes to push the limits with regards to drugs (and dangerous things in general) and these people should be avoided if possible. Much of this phenomena could be avoided with education and information but even this will only have so much effect (look at all the drug pig bluelighters) as it does not remove the macho element and many treat information regarding drugs with a grain of salt because they've never had good information before (that and some just don't want to think).

When all the information a person has had about drugs has been from the mainstream media and proven inncorrect through personal use and experience, all sourced information gets tarred with the same brush and people are to lazy to look anywhere else. I spent a lot of time at my last event writing the URL's for bluelight, erowid and pillreports. Most haven't even heard of them.

As for the rest of it, doofs attract the most various crowds, from ravers to socialist anarcist types. Some don't want to be part of a group of any kind and will do any thing so that they wont be pigeon holed. This includes the sort of thing goatyoghurt described.

As for 13 year old kids getting fucked up. It's not on. I don't want to see kids being banned from doofs but someone needs to take responsibility and do something about this. A young teenagers mind should not have a drug like E put through it. There is to much mental development still happening and heavy drug use CAN mess up the phyche of a developing mind.

Cuddles

i'm all against kids doing drugs but i have to say that i kinda like all the odd, freaky , weird people, i find they are more interesting to talk to and are more open minded and accepting then most

^^^ thats my veiw also doofqueen...
i know people should be aloud to have fun and im preachy for saying this but children under 17 should not be aloud at raves, granted they will still be able to get drugs.. but they would not be able to be in an environment that does not condone drug use, but does not deamonise it either, 13 is just too young..
on the topic of 'wierd' people...it is my opinion that the peopl who dress up so much are the plain and boring people in everyday life, or are to scared to express themselves... being in a welcoming environment (as well as the fact that the may be off chops) gives them the chance to express themselves and "let it all hang out" if you will, in a way they cannot at any other time... these people are usually more open to friendly conversation and usually happier in my opinion too.
i dress up for these kind of events but not outrageously (phatty's, kandy bracelets.etc.) i know im a kandy kid. hahaha. but thats as far as it goes no bright hair or any of that shit, but i say good on em' to the people who will get out there and make a statement.
my 2c
DfI

my fave saying "going through life armed with a scale from 1 to 10"

their isn't anything we don't judge and we do really scale it

Have a look at my signature. I picked it for a reason.

I admit I do judge some people as wierdo's, but not in a bad way. I think wierdoes are the coolest. Without them, life just wouldn't be the same. I could see myself turning into one of these so called wierdo's quite easily actually. hehe :D

i am a proud weirdo

Judging people might be frowned upon when everyone gets online and pretend the world is one big utopian ideal, where the textbook response is what actually happens in the real world. However take the following picture for example.



Now, tell me that these people aren't E-Tards? And even if they're not, why should I not have the right to judge them. They're dressing differently to the conservative social norm, and I'll bet you a million dollars they're doing it on purpose. They want to be noticed, and they're trying to be different (ironically by doing what everyone else is doing, but that's another argument altogether).

People are free to judge me when I'm out. I can't stop them. So fuckit, I'm gunna judge them back. The problem occurs when people act badly on those judgements (hate crimes or abuse for example). But if someone is dressing like a rainbow fairy clown, I'm sorry but I'm gunna assume that they're going to act a certain way.

Yes, I'm judging them. But they'd probably call me a nark anyway.

What's the big deal with proving yourself as being different anyway. Just remember that you are unique just like everyone else.

Cuddles

good point there cuddles, everyone is unique in their own way.............

i wear phatties, i dont wear beads, i dont buy glowies but i might borrow someones for 10mins.

there may be a few people who act like me, a few people who dance like me but i do whatever i do to make myself feel as good as fucking possible for one person, myself. the thought of anyone thinking and feeling wat i do 24 hours a day is a joke, so many different past instances, future hopes and ideals make who i am. regardless of how i appear, i know i am unique

^^ damn fucken strait EEEeasy
no one is like me and im damn fucken proud of it
DfI

I was trying to show the irony in the paradox of "you're unique just like everyone else." The statement also implies that we are all the same "just like everyone else."

But many people try to stand out in crowd in someway. For me it's only an issue if it is done for approval, or to be accepted by a group. In short posers. I don't understand how someone can place so much of their self worth in how they see themselves being seen. It smacks insecurity.
A prime example is a friend of Smileyfish and myself. Anyone from the S.E.Qld. meetup will know who I'm talking about. She was worried about what to wear to the event that night (she'd never been to a rave before) and couldn't quite grasp the concept of no dress code and not having to fit in. I told her to just wear something comfortable and if she wants make it a bit colourful and playful.

I think she took playful the wrong way. She rocked up to the meetup wearing not a lot and carried on like a child during the meetup (thinking that there would be all these plury ravers or something). My point is that she doesn't like the way she thinks people see her (when first introduced) if she lets her intelligence show and doesn't act like a sluty little ditz. She's actually in the middle of an IT PhD but doesn't want to scare of anyone because of her intelligence. It stems from being ostracized in school because of being a maths wizz and she later found that she won approval acting like a stupid ditz. It's a mask she wears in order to protect herself of judgement from others of the person she really is.

The funniest thing is that she defends that image and hates it being broken down for her. She was rather pissed of when Smiley introduced her to everyone with her qualifications.

I also take issue with people conforming to a group or boss's view of how they should look because I will probably have to do that in the workforce like everyone else. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm not strong enough to stand against it.

Once again it comes back to being judgemental on a superficial level. We all do it but some more than others. I guess that's also why many people tend to be a little extreme a party.

In a party situation, I couldn't agree more with LifeIsEEEEasy. The night is yours so make it yours. If someone disregards you because of how you are dressed at a party they're probably not worth knowing.

Anyone who knows me from a few parties realises that I have a standard issue outfit of predominantly one colour and only carry one colour glowsticks. This is for the simple reason that this combined with my height makes me easy to identify from afar and people from previous parties will be able to recognise me in the same gear.


Cuddles

wow, i am like totally in the same page with you on the paradox of - you're unique just like everyone else, if everyone is unique, then no one is really unique. Take it this way, if everyone on earth was 7 feet tall, then no one would really be tall because there would be nothing to compare it too. I like the way you expressed that cuddlefish

Cheers mate, just try not to think about paradox's too much though. Especially philosophical ones. I end up stuck in a loop or try and take it deeper trying to resolve it.

End up having wasted my time, come to no profound realisation or conclusion and bored myself to death.

Cuddles :D

hahahaha the rave culture
I too was at utopia and I know what your talking about

so to all you candy sporting, fluffy fluro pant wearing, multiples of 10 dumping ecky freaks, have a long hard look at yourself- people go to raves and laugh at you cause you all look like spastics. When your older, is that how you want to reflect on growing up? Sure im looking foward to reflecting on how we went to big raves and got messed up, but I wont be remembering myself dressed in fat fluffy orange pants with 5 million candy necklaces on and a dummy in my mouth. Candy ravers are a waste of space. Its all about the music, not how many dummies you can hang around your neck