Ruminations - The Ingsoc 30th Post Extravaganza (888 hits)
Category: Science & EnvironmentalRating: 0.53 on 15 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Ingsoc (View user info) at 2004-01-18 02:03:32 EST
Not too long ago when I was again riding the public transit, I couldn't help but analyse my surroundings. As an automobile-oriented person, it's no wonder what I first took note of. The parking lot of the recently opened Starbucks is filled with BMWs and random luxury SUVs, while on the same street there's a Chevy Caprice Classic with plastic over a rear window and an old GMC Sierra with rust coming out the wazoo.
At this point I took notice of an old Audi side-by-side with a newish A6. I then drifted into a pseudo-philosophical trance. "Why doesn't that guy get a new car? Why does a new Audi cost so much? It's got the same basic engine configuration as cheaper cars, same basic interior capacity as cheaper cars, but the price is ten times as much because we're supposed to believe that thing was hand-crafted in Ingolstadt and not at all in a factory in Mexico." The thought continues. "Why is that guy getting his coffee from Starbucks? Does drinking fancy coffee make you rich? Or is it a habit born out of having money to burn? Why doesn't he just get black coffee from the A&W? It's the same basic thing."
What the hell's going on here? People are paying more for less, and they're doing it in a sublimely idiotic fashion. When did crushed beans and hot water become a symbol of status and power?
I, and I'm sure many of you as well, live in a place where the gap between rich and poor is massively evident. Where I live, one can ride their bike along the trails of the riverside Wellington Crescent and view some of the best houses in the city with some of the most expensive cars, and then drive around the north end, the area of Winnipeg noted for its high crime rate, high Native population, high aftershave consumption, and high-just about everything else that can be tied to poor economic performance and/or lazy people. It's shocking to see just how large the gap between rich and poor has grown over the past years even in Canada, which is known somewhat as a socially oriented country, at least in comparison with the United States.
From this arises one question; why does this happen? Is it the result of generations of wealth and power used against generations of oppression and hapless failure? Are the rich as wealthy as they are because they purchased education, or do the educated simply become rich? Of course the rich give birth to more of the rich, and the poor to more of the poor. But it's possible for both of those born to change their lives for better or worse. A single rotten investment and a single wise one can make those two people reverse their roles entirely, if it weren't for the fact that the formerly rich-now poor man has rich family to prop him up, and the formerly poor-now rich man has poor family to drag him down.
How did the rich man become rich? How did the poor man become poor? And when will be realise that the boundaries between rich and poor are largely arbitrary? A man who works a forty hour week every week for a year for six dollars an hour with two weeks of vacation will make twelve thousand dollars in one year, much of that disappearing to government coffers. This person may be working manual labour, placing great strain on his health. This is contrasted to someone working a thirty hour week for twenty-five dollars an hour with a month of vacation, bringing in thirty-six thousand dollars. This job is a desk job, putting almost no physical pressure on the body. And yet, the boundary persists. Why are those who commit their lives to the maintenance and service of the upper classes receiving such a small amount of respect and recognition?
Perhaps the upper classes have become too wealthy, in relation with the working class, who can be viewed as contributing more to tangible society (road building, ditch digging, snow shovelling, et cetera). I use the term 'working class' to define the lower income grunt workers, as opposed to 'lower class' which could denote the lazy, the unemployed, or those too drunk or apathetic to seek employment.
Perhaps our way of life truly is decadent and/or revolting, and maybe we should do something to change it. But where do we start with such a huge task? Or do we even start at all? Or do we get the peons to do it?
Meaningful reflections, or meaningless cud chewing?
Discuss.
User Reviews
Submitted by polyamorousaj (user info) at 2004-12-01 01:19:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by darko (user info) at 2004-12-01 01:15:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Looks like electro had an autistic seizure which caused him to repeatedly rate you -2. Here's a plus two to cancel it out.
Submitted by Electro (user info) at 2004-12-01 01:00:45 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
just die already.
pwned.
Submitted by Electro (user info) at 2004-12-01 01:00:36 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
hey I made more than 60 posts...
Submitted by Electro (user info) at 2004-12-01 01:00:25 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
it sucks.
Submitted by Electro (user info) at 2004-10-03 03:36:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
Best Ever
Submitted by I_Have_a_Kristen_Fetish (user info) at 2004-08-11 14:54:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Har Har Bitch.
Submitted by Christ (user info) at 2004-04-23 11:25:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Woo woo Ingsoc! You rock my world!
Submitted by Ingsoc (user info) at 2004-04-18 00:09:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
The point I was trying to get across (which I never did, apparently) is that the quality of life has been cheapened to the point where only a few things matter about you to anyone else. These include and are pretty much limited to:
-Which so-called superior you slave for
-How many intrinsically worthless slips of paper you slave for
-Which foreign country your shiny metal box was made in
-Where you buy your black water
-Which foreign country your cloth coverings were made in
No one cares about the other stuff. Married? We don't care! Unless of course she's:
-Obnoxiously wealthy (banging her for money- YOU DA MAN!)
-Model, super or otherwise
Where did the West go wrong?
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2004-01-19 01:08:34 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+ 2 for the title. i haven't read the post yet.
Submitted by dakingisdead (user info) at 2004-01-19 00:59:17 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
I know! Lets fucking shoot the lazy fuckers who won't work for dime store wages. Then we can shove everyone else into state run work communes where we won't have to pay them much because we will supply state services and food and lots of booze. They won't be very happy but they will be able to drown out their dreary lives with the booze.
Of course all these state organisations will have to be run by someone and of course those people will have to live in better accomodation so overseas visitors aren't offended. They will also have to travel overseas a lot and spend a lot of time entertaining overseas business and political leaders. Of course this will be a great burden on them and we must understand that they do it reluctantly and at great personal cost for the countries good.
Far out this starting to sound really familiar
Submitted by someone (user info) at 2004-01-18 13:23:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
well done
Submitted by Ingsoc (user info) at 2004-01-18 02:32:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
It's hypothetical.
Submitted by The_Menzatron_Persuasion (user info) at 2004-01-18 02:31:38 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
No one works for six bucks an hour.
Submitted by Chad_Sexington (user info) at 2004-01-18 02:28:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 for Bertrand.