Althusserian Institutionalism or "Why Farceur Thinks Most People are Idiots."

Z

Zombie Bob

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Philosophy was a blast today.

It's entry level, of course, and is always about some ignoramus spouting off his ideas of "wisdom," of the meaning of "life," etc. as if it's truth or some revolutionary thoughts equivalent to the Sermon on the Mount when in reality it's very vanilla, blase, and, for lack of a funnier adjective, pure horseshit.

Basically, they're your contemporary college students; egomaniacal pricks going to school on mommy and daddy's dime to become just another "integral" cog of the corporate system.

So much for critical thinking, a liberal education, and opening our minds, eh?

Usually, this doesn't bother me. I sit through the class, ticking off the minutes until I can leave, and laugh at the stupid asses in my head the entire time.

Today, though, today was different. The topic for today's discussion was "Justice," and living a life in "the service of others." Standard topics for those attempting to understand the meaning of "wisdom."

This struck a cord close to the heart, and it infuriated me to see how willingly ignorant some remain to be even in the face of their crumbling social systems.

The topic turned to poverty. Be aware that you should know this much about me for the time being: I grew up in poverty. Quite literally hand to mouth every day for 19 years. It sucked. My mother was a heroine addict, and my dad had to work constantly to support the kids, because my mom sure wasn't going to be there for us.

I didn't ask for this life, and I sure as fuck didn't deserve it.

Let me say this here: I do not blame my parents for any of my bitterness. I'm wise enough to know that both my mother and father, for all their shortcomings, did the best by us that they could. I don't regret living this life as it has humbled me in ways that many cannot ever understand.

I do, however, have a bone to pick with the system that put us there.

Now, back to the point. This one little cunt in particular had the audacity to say that everyone in a position similar to my own, deserved it. That they put themselves there. That we should embrace the American System and "haul ourselves up from our bootstraps."

In short: "life isn't fair."

Are you fucking kidding me? Have you learned nothing of Wisdom and Social Responsibility throughout the entirety of this course?

I mean of course life isn't fair, but if you weren't so wrapped up in our Althusserian Institutions, you should see that it shouldn't have to be that way.

The burden we force the poverty stricken to bear is one of the greatest injustices of this nation. It is a truly shitty system we live in where the ones who care about changing it are rendered helpless to do so.

So yes, for the time being we have to haul ourselves up by our bootstraps and break down the barrier between us and the rest of society. It will be hard, but if we ever hope to change the system, we must beat those who are the brainless pawns of the institution at their own game.

We must constantly strive to make ourselves, we, the people of the here and now, the last victims of injustice. Even if we fail, we can die looking into the eyes of our children and earnestly tell them "I did my best to make this world a better place for you."

To do anything short is not only to do yourself harm, but the world around you.

As Malcolm X once said "The unexamined life is one not worth living. The examined life is painful."

Or something like that. :happysad:

Wake up people. Please, wake up before it's too late.

I just had to get that off my chest. It gets increasingly difficult to not let the stupid of society either rub off on you, or kill your mood.

My greatest fear is that one day I will wake up and not care like so many others.
 
If your post wasn't so serious, I would have called you a faggot.

You think the slugs you have to deal with in college are ignorant? Holy fuck, bub, wait until the Gates of Hell open up and let flood the truly disgusting dregs that comprise the better chunk of these United States. Whether it's the guy on the bus who sat next to you one day, and because you muttered a barely audible "hey" thinks it's okay to let you know what's going on in this season's Big Brother, or the fellow with the cubicle next to yours who actually says "dude, I'm blowin' UP!" when his phone rings, or...just...just wait until you come home from a shit day and the raving lunatic-of-a-cunt you inhabit a household with has a dumptruck load of meaningless bullshit for you to zone out to and dream longingly of a painless death.

On an up-note, it's nice to see that you spit on the hand you were dealt and came out on top, 'cause I know you can only cum when you're on top.
 
LOL Tell her to wait until she gets into the real world and loses her job or works for a company like Enron or one of those.

But yes, life is unfair.
 
I had a similar experience... well my boyfriend in his geography class had a similar experience, actually, and told me about it. They were discussing poverty and this dumb rich whore was saying shit to the effect that because she was born rich she'd done something to deserve it while those born poor had done something to deserve that, also. I mean like... wow.

However I'm not sure I agree with your philosophy because I'm not sure what it is because I don't think you said, really. And probably if we get into it it should be in the "Issues" forum, but you're not saying you believe that we, people, should be living our lives in the service of others, are you? If so we can have a whole fun debate about that! A fun one, not a mean one.

But I'm with you 100% on the people in college. I mean dear sweet Jesus. These people are so fucking stupid and empty it's like they're doing it on purpose as some kind of comedic parody or something. *Cringe*
 
Sigh...stratification.

Yes, one of the greatest American lies is that we have complete control over our own success. If we fail it is merely because we didn't try hard enough. This concept and the view of poverty and wealth as being necessary (see: structural functionalism) is insane. We don't need poverty, but without it there would be one less means of social hierarchy.

The question I always think about is what the ruling elite would do if the poor and working classes revolted? Now that the middle class is widening with shrinkage at the top, what if they joined said revolution? My question will never be answered as long as the United States is held as a hotbed for opportunity...which is why I'm really excited about the possibility for our demise. But at the same time, I'm going to be experiencing the effects.

I guess we'll see how long persons with wealth keep it and enjoy its benefits.

Note: We're not helpless to do anything about it. It is our own self interests that prevent us from going against the system, rendering us powerless by our own subjugation.
 
I wasn't stating that a life of service to others should be necessary.

I was stating that a life full of meaning, of wisdom, of justice revolves around service to others. As in, what is it that we do well, and how can we use that to make this world a better place?

Sure, we could be a total prick and be selfish and greedy. But when we die, after living a life in such a way, do we truly die happy? I mean, really?

It's my assumption, which may be incorrect, that we all want to make a difference, to be remembered, and to make this hell hole just a little more habitable.

I'm not saying we eliminate social class. I'm not even saying life could be fair. I'm saying that we must remember that we're all in this together, like it or not, and we should all take steps in making existence a little more bearable.

The problem with this is, is that it would require those with control to make the first move, to take initiative. This won't happen, and I mean why would it? If you hold all the cards, why would you give some back?

Sure, there are exceptions. Those of us on the bottom who do "pull ourselves up from our boot straps" and break down that wall. But the majority of us just fall into that system rather than continuing to break down the barrier.

Once you have the means, your righteous end means little. It sucks that our only real hope of changing the system is becoming a part of it, and hoping we don't forget our origins.

Life should be about living to love, and be loved. About compassion, and the free exchange of ideas. Open-mindedness, and making it easier on those around us. In this way, a life of meaning is about service to others. Whether that be in teaching, or just supplying us with something to eat, we can all do something.



Althusser. :happysad:

I should say now, before some self-righteous asshole goes on a tangent about socialism. I am not a Socialist. I just believe our current system needs retooling, and reworked. In the current form, it is broken. There must be more regulation, not complete. I'm more for a capitalistic-socialistic hybrid form of economics.

There is such a thing as "capitalism within reason." I mean, really, who needs a salary of 1 Billion a year? How about we kick some of that back and create a little more opportunity for all of us? Make this place a little bit better for all of us.

Surely you could buy everything your heart desires with 100 million a year. Give the rest back. Reinvest in the community. Give talented, underprivileged members of our community a chance to break out of that.

Fuck, I don't know, I won't even pretend to know. It was just heartbreaking to hear, effectively, that I deserved a hand to mouth lifestyle. Especially from a cunt who was handed more than me, and felt that she deserves it, even though I, one of the "lowly class" outshine her academically.

I just fucking hate this sense of entitlement. I fucking hate it that for the duration of my childhood I performed at a higher level than kids who were given more to perform, and was overlooked.

I fucking hate it that those who deserve the most, often end with nothing.

It's a broken system, and if we wish to continue our happy little existences it needs to be reevaluated.

Fuck, I don't even know if this makes any sense. It's a many headed hydras, and there are so many fucking thoughts revolving around it all. I just know that the more I think about it, about all the corruption, the hate, the injustice, the more I want to crawl into a hole somewhere and just die. But, then, what service would that be? What good would it do? It just leaves me torn.

I hope, at least, that this makes sense, and I don't just sound like a rambling buffoon.

Edit: This is why I don't drink. I'd probably never stop.
 
I hate those kind of people...I'm actually out of words,I've sat here for 10minutes thinking of what I should write..I don't know. so..yeah boo on those people.
 
My bit about necessity was directed at the idiot in your class....

I'm not a socialist either, but I like the concept of a maximum wage as a means of checks and balances. It seems like a natural idea that if you have people surviving inadequately off of society's resources that there must be people living exorbitantly off of society's resources. Somehow balancing this equation is seen as hampering success, but I don't see that.
 
Directed at Franken. :tongue:



I don't see it either. There is such a thing as too much money. What could you possibly spend more than 100 million on(individually, of course.)?

I don't necessarily mean corporations should get their profit taken away, please, by all means. However, anything above salary, and reinvestment should be redistributed.
 
I'm under the effluence at the moment, so don't mind me.

But I'm really concerned about CEO bonuses and salaries, which here are grossly disproportionate. Of course this would have to be across the board, but I just wanted to point out an area of interest.
 
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