The Conformity Religion
Why is our generation so obsessed with apathy? Whatever happened to pure human connection?
ap·a·thyˈapəTHē/noun
- lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern."widespread apathy among students"synonyms:indifference, lack of interest, lack of enthusiasm, lack of concern, unconcern, uninterestedness, unresponsiveness, impassivity, dispassion, lethargy, languor, ennui;rareacedia"widespread apathy among the voters"
I wanted to reflect deeply on this post by a friend on Facebook and thought well, what better place than Steemit? I think it falls right in line with my current state of mind and a trigger post I did earlier about offending people and nonconformity.
I don't know the answer to this question because we're all so different and apathy can be triggered in people for a number of reasons. That said I can only answer this question for myself and ask, Why am I so obsessed with apathy?
It all started with my parents. And for them it started probably with their parents but the core, I hypothesize, is education. When I was a little kid I had the whole neighbor hood behind my back. I was the natural "leader" of sorts. People just wanted to be around me. I was energetic. I was funny.. hilarious actually. And I attracted people into doing what I enjoyed. But then something happened. I kept catching adults staring at me. Like I was some sort of wierdo. Like I was not supposed to behave this way. It immediately shut off my energy. "Click." Out like a light switch.
I would lead passively when people weren't staring at me, trying to shut me down. So when these people weren't present I thrived. My Self Shined. My group of friends were more like family and we grew in numbers but only for a short time. I couldn't handle the gaze and slowly I began to shut down more and more. Once I got to high school, it was lights out.
Just the year before that, I was the wild kid jumping around the bus making up funny raps about who knows what. It made my friends laugh and it attracted the smiles of cute girls. I even had girls fighting over me. Fast forward to high school and you would never, ever, ever view me as that wild energetic kid. In fact, you ask people about me now, they might just laugh.
What the happened and how do we get it back?
According to my research, the data points to our education system. Fundamentally speaking, the human psyche is shaped and molded by our education; it determines all behavior. All systems of thinking, planning, willing and even reasoning and motivating become the pawns in a massively out-dated government system. I was effectively altered by this system. Whatever was in me has since died. It's my life's mission now, to revive it. And it has been the toughest, cruelest journey I have ever embarked on. Why? Because nearly everyone around is dead too. And those who seem to be alive, I feel, are too good for me. I am dead. No thriving relationship, no group of loving friends, no community involvement, no relationship with family although we live under the same roof, no career or a sign of one, no gaze or attraction of any woman and no idea how to connect with any person ever. I think I just wrote the last chapter of my first book..
Be the same. Be the same. Be the same. This is what education teaches. Do not lead. Do not change. Do not, do not, do not be different. UGH. This has got to be the worst(Period) Education(Period) Of all time(PERIOD). You may have killed my spirit but I am still very much alive. You will rue the day I awaken, because I am coming back with my fists clenched. I will not stand by idly while this hideous system murders the souls of an entire population. We're like zombies, once we've turned, we turn those around us with our gaze. Can these effects be reversed? I have no clue... Alas, I am determined to wake up. I am now aware of the Conformity Religion and I refuse to conform. I refuse to be dead, lifeless and apathetic. I refuse to bury my individuality and wait to be buried. One day the kid who died in me long ago will be revived, he will pull the neighbor hood together. I vow this to myself. Because a life-o-death isn't one worth living. The essence of life is our ability to connect. Anymore... I guess we're all more concerned with revival. After all, we've all been forced into the Conformity Religion, literally. What's going to break the cycle? What will create the surge of necessary urgency in people to fight the status quo and not uphold it? These questions are already being answered. We will rise up. We will reform education. We will become alive once again and experience a world who knows the beauty of true human connection, we will live and create the society we have been fettered from and it's not to far from here...