"there are those who make great demands on themselves, piling up difficulties and duties; and those who demand nothing special of themselves, but for whom to live is to be every moment what they already are, without imposing on themselves any effort towards perfection; mere buoys that float on the waves."
"The characteristic of the hour is that the commonplace mind, knowing itself to be commonplace, has the assurance to proclaim the rights of the commonplace and to impose them wherever it will. As they say in the United States: 'to be different is to be indecent.' The mass crushes beneath it everything that is different, everything that is excellent, individual, qualified and select. Anybody, who is not like everybody, who does not think like everybody, runs the risk of being eliminated. And it is clear, of course, that this 'everybody' is not 'everybody.' 'Everybody' was normally the complex unity of the mass and divergent, specialized minorities. Nowadays, 'everybody' is the mass alone. Here we have the formidable fact of our times, described without any concealment of the brutality of its features."
All these quotes are from "The Revolt of the Masses" by Jose Ortega y Gasset. I highly recommend you check it out.
And now to the continuation.
As time advances I'm becoming less and less impressed with who or what I am. There was once a certain amount of pride in being what I was sure no one else was.
So there was a debate in class about whether high school students (who had the option of working, meaning their family had a steady income) should work. And all the points were pretty typical but no one else thought of or expressed the importance of the youth. I refuse to believe in this ideal I am unique. I know I'm not alone in being so tired of school and all the damned preparation. Why can't I just be? I can teach myself and can adapt to any environment (minus parties) so what's the big deal? Does no one else notice what's happening? They are stealing our youth! Among the most precious gifts we will ever hold. And we have been trained to in the upmost support, give it away. From the time a child is (on average) 5 years old until he/she is about 18 years old they will be in high school. If they go straight into college, say a 4 year university, they come out somewhere around 22-23. Now begins the career. They work and dredge on until they retire. And depending on the work could be anywhere between 40-65 ish on average. Now what? What is now available to the retired 52 year (taking the middle age) old adult that wasn't when they were a youth? Well the years of working and tending to family and such wore you down to the point where under all other factors but age, show that you are a geriatric. Incapable of impromptu actions or things dynamic in nature. But at least you got the retirement check. And it is true that maybe you could be satisfied with this lifestyle and maybe you found true love. But this is a hollow fulfillment, for the fire in all of us, our inner most animalistic urges, were quelled for that pension check. You did not embrace or accept the thing most alive within you. You are only satisfied because you have learned to be.
4 comments:
I will read that book if you promise to read The Fountainhead.
I don't agree that school/working takes away youth. For me at least, I never wanted my youth. The younger I was the more belittled I felt by it. All it meant to me was a limiting of my capabilities due to the expectations of others. If you think of education and your future career as an imprisonment, or a waste of time, then that's all it will be. It's literally what you make of it and if you find something that makes you feel important, then I think that gives you something better than youth. It gives you meaning. It's mostly a question of what you plan on getting out of your work. If it's just a job to pay the bills, then your theory would most likely apply. But if it's what someone lives for... then who cares about youth? I don't know. It's something to consider I guess. I can understand the way you're thinking, but I don't know that you've considered everything in the development of your opinion.
Well the young never appreciate what they have. Once your confinement to it detracts I'm sure you will notice some of the things mentioned here. And the schooling towards a "goal" is a much less glorified place then I think you know. It's a lot of bullshit and a lot of time invested in things that mean nothing to you. And to be honest college is where a lot of dreams are shattered or changed. It is sometimes through defects in the dream itself but much more commonly is it through the system of education. I think it's highly idealistic to believe that the people invest so much of their lives into it come out doing what they actually love or dreamed of doing.
Regardless though I do see your point. The things I said here were more or less referring to the "mass." There are some who do achieve that goal, that fulfillment, but it's much too rare for me to consider here.
Oh and I will read The Fountainhead.
You basically, in so many words, told me I was too young to understand what I have or don’t have. That's the sort of belittling I was I was talking about. To assume that because someone is young, they cannot possibly have an opinion on the matter, I don’t agree with. In most cases it may be true, yes, but not all. I agree that if you have a goal there is a very little chance that you will reach it, but as long as you accept that along the way, or even the fact that your goal may change shape, then it can be a very glorifying process. You’ll end up somewhere in the ballpark you were aiming for. As far as college goes, I can admit that I don’t have much to draw from there. I can imagine that if dreams are crushed, then they weren’t strong enough to survive in the first place. They wouldn’t have followed through anyway. But in the case of the mass, not I think your theory applies more. I’m speaking more of the individual.
I'm glad, that book changed the way I think about life. So, I’ll read The Revolt of the Masses and we’ll swap stories later. lol
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