The "Team Douchebag" Dilemma

I just read Chris Kluwe’s antagonistic attack on the group of people behind the hashtag, #Gamergate. You know what? I give up.

I don’t support any group anymore.

I don’t support the Christians because only those who are fanatical and dangerous get any screen time. I won’t support the atheists because, let’s face it, all you do is get antagonistic towards Christians and Catholics, but somehow you’re okay with Buddhism. I won’t support the LGBT community past my own personal friends anymore, because you use the exact same scare tactics that “normal” people use to make us afraid of you. I don’t support the current US government because, let’s face it folks, they don’t like anybody anymore. Maybe terrorists. That might be pushing a little, I don’t know anymore.

Bad Plan James, Bad Plan

Yep, and don’t think I’m unaware. But I need you to hear exactly what I’m saying. Until groups stop using the same tactics that men in power used against blacks, then women, then LGBT, I’m not listening to you anymore. Each of you seems to have a great message to improve the quality of the human condition…until you fall into the very trappings of intimidation and name-calling used to keep you down.

Yes, I’m white. Yes, I’m a male. Yes, there is a stereotype, perpetuated by YOUR GROUPS, saying I’m obviously a small-dicked, small-minded, overly-educated swine rolling in a mountain of money…but I can’t use the electrochemical signals in my nervous system for anything more than looking up keywords for porn. Fuck you. Seriously…fuck you.

You know what though? It’s not even your fault. It’s human nature. “I’m being done wrong, so I’mma do wrong back until the system changes.” Except…how has that worked out for us thus far? Groups fight groups that fight groups that are fighting groups.  Always has been, and it seems to be working out for us so far. Is it?

The Constant Fighting Needs to Stop

You know the current system isn’t working. You have to, when you’re in bed thinking about how to survive tomorrow, you know the system isn’t built for you. When you get on the computer and troll whatever douchebag is spouting off against your group, you’ve gotta know doing that won’t help anybody. Everything we do right now only lights the Chicago fire ever brighter, and friends, Chicago turned to white ashes ages ago. That’s what fighting fire with anonymous fire does…it creates a bigger fire which us pyros love to watch and it makes us feel better for a minute…but it doesn’t solve anything. Fighting doesn’t calm the spirit, name-calling literally does nothing but bring out the fight in everybody else. Am I getting through to you yet? No?

We’re ALL Douchebags Right Now

Chris Kluwe is a douchebag. I’m a douchebag, and you’re one, too. We are Team Douchebag, and never has there been a prouder group in the history of the planet. I can say this so I will say it, damn the consequences. As long as we can paint our enemies as evil, vilify them to the point that a few hundred to a few hundred thousand other douchebags agree with me, saying this is okay. Cause I’ve got numbers behind me. That is tribalism at its absolute worst. America and yes, the rest of the world, is ripe with douche-baggery, and it’s so common as to be accepted as part of societal norms. Our news uses it, every internet forum uses it, and we use it when we discuss matters among our friends and neighbors. We count on tribalism to keep us safe.

It’s working. You are certainly safe in most cases. But, like everything else humans seem to touch, we take it too far. We make threats to each other. Cause another tribe harm because otherwise, they might harm us. Or, worse yet, they can’t do anything about it. Our game is about fucking other tribes so hard they can’t even retaliate. Survival of the fittest, right?

Humiliation. Laws. Logic. Science. Death. Bodily harm. Threats. These are the tools that modern tribes use against each other in the grand chess game currently unfolding around us. Black pieces vs white pieces vs purple pieces vs rainbow colored pieces vs red white and blue pieces vs every damned color piece under the planet. Only one tribe can be right. Right? Tribes equal labels, people. And, as we have already discovered, labels are lacking in details.

What if we only had one label for each other? I’ve decided we’re all douchebags, but that isn’t even quite fitting, is it? Is it? What if we were all just people? What if every law was written for people? Not for/against women, blacks, whites, Asians, LGBT, Senators, Republicans, Catholics, Christians, Conservatives, Liberals, Donkeys, Elephants, military, law enforcement, criminals, the mentally ill, atheists, gamers, or any other label under the sun? Without labels, would the world work better? Worse?

Unfortunately, I don’t have that answer. What I do know, is the current system isn’t working. And so do you. So does Chris Kluwe. So do the members of #Gamergate. None of us should be so entitled to think we can vilify an umbrella name, a tribe…when there are individual people in that tribe who simply don’t fit under one label, who aren’t in just one situation.

Yet, Team Douchebag acts like the most entitled, small-minded prick on the planet. No, not acting…living the worst possible stereotype in the history of the planet. We can do better, people.

American Dirt: the Schoolyard Fight Effect

You’re all acting like 12 year olds. No, not you. You either. Individually, it seems that all of us realize that something is wrong with the American public. Yet, as pigs to the slaughter, we run each other over not realizing everyone is heading for the axe.

The God believers, the atheist-scientists, the LGBT community, and the US government are all herding each other towards imminent destruction. Why? So that one group can, finally, prove that they were right all along? For superiority? To sing and dance in the street (cause generally you can do that anyway, I’ve done it)?

There is a lot of flap going around that the US government is using the stereotypes, fears, and economic failure to keep the current generations upset and less concerned with what the government may be doing behind closed doors. If that’s the case, then there is little surprise as to why these other three groups are fighting. If it isn’t the case, well, the US government isn’t helping things resolve, either.

Living in this modern world, as an adult and parent, feels a bit like this: I have to be the epitome of adult-ness, i.e. pay taxes, work, follow the law, follow every new politically correct term presented so I don’t offend anybody, raise kids, ‘fess up to my mistakes, and generally go to extreme lengths to make everyone else happy. 

In the meantime, I’m pandering to assholes like you who are still adults but, because you’re a serious member of one of these four groups, get to act like a fucking 12 year old kid.

I realize that you are passionate about your beliefs. That’s fine, I’m passionate about mine too. I also understand that, to some effect, some beliefs are rather ridiculous when thinking about them from a logical standpoint. That’s also fine, to a point. It’s long been held that new ideas push a civilization forward. It helps us mold the world, make it better, make it…livable.

But pure, unfettered resistance to the old guard doesn’t produce a better world, it makes it volatile. So does sardonically holding onto old beliefs without room for new ideas.

Let me put it to you this way:

Two kids are playing kickball on the playground. Bobby believes in God, Gus is an atheist.

Suddenly, Gus tells Bobby he’s an idiot for believing in an “Invisible Man.”

How is Bobby going to react? Peacefully? Would you? Not if you have any pride in yourself, or in your beliefs. Let’s turn it around:

Bobby tells Gus that, no matter what kind of proof he has to the contrary, the world is only 6,000 years old.

How is Gus going to react? How would YOU react? If Gus has at least two scientific conclusions stating otherwise, he’s probably going to call Bobby an idiot for believing in the “Invisible Man.”

And the schoolyard fight begins.

Both boys being backed by several people holding the same beliefs as they do, opposite those whom hold separate beliefs. How long can the argument stay grounded when the ripples of like-minded people extends beyond the playground, beyond the school, beyond the city, state, and country? How long before fists start flying and flaying words are used to cut the other person, not to prove anything other than one is better at insulting than the other?

That’s where we are at, you 12 year old bastards. Cat-fighting like pre-teenage girls instead of the adults you purport to be. You’re not even trying to make the world better anymore. You just want to be right. How much energy have you wasted arguing with someone over matters of the past when you could PUT THAT SHIT ASIDE and work together to make today, and tomorrow, better for everyone?

Calling names, beating someone down with words, is not going to fix the problem, only exacerbate the situation. Stop acting like you know it all, and go prove it. Fix something…I don’t care if you’re an atheist-scientist fixing the global warming problem, a priest settling a person’s soul so they don’t feel ousted and in need of drugs or killing or violence, if you’re in the government creating a system of healthcare that is built around curing people instead of money, or an LGBT member with an idea that will show married gay/lesbian couples won’t destroy American morality (what’s left of it, am I right?). Stop telling me you’re the better person. Go out there, do something with your life that isn’t gutting the opposite sides, and prove your worth not to me, but to all humanity.

Responsibilities of Being an American, Post 9/11

The twelfth anniversary of America’s oft-quoted “darkest day” has arrived, and gone. Rather than get overly sentimental, I believe it’s time to take a kick in the nuts. Why? Because we’re living a life given by men and women who developed a land of the free, and created a home of the brave…and we are no longer either of those. We’ve given our freedoms away, and continue to sit in silent, petrified fear because of a single, ugly moment in our recent history. We don’t live up to the example set by our forefathers- and if we do, we are labeled as misfits of society, extremists, or even, ironically, domestic terrorists.

Cracked.com goes far in realizing exactly how exuberant anti-terrorism is in modern American society. Fear locks us down the moment we hear “terrorist” or “terrorism.”

But I have a different point to bring up. What responsibility is held by the general population of America? Why should we stand up for anything? Because being American begins with bravery. You were born of it, and are expected to act from a stance of fearlessness.

9/11/01 taught us a lesson: terrorists are real. Post 9/11 holds a different lesson, one modern Americans are far too willing to ignore: We are willing to give away freedoms, hard earned in blood by our forefathers, for a largely fictional sense of security.

What’s your responsibility, post 9/11?

·       Begin with Integrity: America was built on a code of specific moral values and unimpaired solidarity. Represent those values, and stop fighting over stupid shit like religion, homosexuality, and women’s rights. Instead, fight for freedom, bravery, and a transparent relationship between our government and its people.

·       Realize You Control the Government: No, not as a single person…but come together as a people and take action when necessary. That’s how the Constitution was built, and the only way to enact good changes. There are nearly 314 million people calling the US home as of 2012. If we worked together in demanding our government perform a certain way, we would win every time.

·       Be Educated: A simple high-school diploma doesn’t make you educated. Neither does a college degree. Real education is found in the real world, in learning from every experience you have, and applying what you learn to what you do next. This also involves thinking critically, and solving problems on your own.

·       Own Up: The world doesn’t owe you anything. You were born into an unforgiving world, a world that has starved, killed, and tortured its inhabitants since the beginning of time. If anything, you owe the world for allowing your existence. So own up, live your life to make the world better, even if you affect only a small percentage of it. Stop expecting everything to be handed to you on a silver platter. Eventually, you’ll find that the more you put in generally returns more back to you. This means hard work, blood, sweat, and tears must come from you. That’s the reality, and it always has been.

·       Be Brave in the Face of Fear: 9/11 scared the hell out the American people. We weren’t invincible anymore. And while we got mad, most of that anger was spent in fruitless, useless, activity. War, hatred within our lands, and fear overtook the American population. We separated ourselves from our most formidable post, solidarity. And it continues today. Come back together, have the bravery to stand with those in your neighborhood, your county, state, and union. That’s how the old guard did it, and that is the mind-frame we need to return to.

There’s a reason to be proud of being American. That pride stands from our history; and it’s time we start earning that pride again.