Modern life does make it much easier to carve out a social niche from what were once desperately unpromising materials. It is possible to evade the much more severe consequences imposed by an earlier age on those who are ineffectual, dim, silly, pathetic or all of these things. All it seems to require is a dignity amputation.
7 comments:
One of the issues here is that stupid people tend, under normal circumstances, to be impoverished. And in a funny sort of way, there is a sort of dignity in that. The beggars and incapable people who shuffle around in India, for example. And the rather sad people of our parents' and grandparents' generation who were "not the full shilling", but who were out and about and possibly earning some sort of living, but at the very bottom of the pile. The village idiot. These people are kind of sad, and provoke deep thoughts, and there is a feeling of "there but for the grace of God...".
These people in the video, though, they have money. When idiots get hold of the ability to do something, to get ridiculous tattoos, and drink, and get lairy, they become disgusting and a bit frightening.
Scary.
Those kids would qualify as Starbucks 'management'!
The best blogger name I've ever come across is Assistant Village Idiot.
For a desperately sad account of what happened to some of America's dim young citizens you could google "McNamara's Morons", or just start here:
https://www.amazon.com/McNamaras-Folly-Hamilton-Gregory/dp/1495805484
What kind of society is it? It's a society in collapse.
Sam - I thought of village idiots. There were probably more of them than we know, but as you say, having money seems to make a big difference. Maybe ridiculous tattoos, drink and drugs are how they are now managed, but just letting it happen without talking about it seems to cause a kind of cultural damage where before it probably didn't.
Sackers - it is scary and the numbers are not small.
dearieme - I remember reading somewhere that a surprisingly large number of US citizens are too inadequate even for the US Army. People it can't, whatever it does, bring up to the basic standard it requires.
Tammly - it seems to be.
Scrobs - I'd say their only hope is the public sector.
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