Tonight I went to eat at Subway here in Phoenix. There were two black guys there. I was afraid they might mug me.
But after a while, we started talking about how the sugar in the sodas there were unhealthy and then I gave them my deep spiel about the problems in America.
First, I talked about how unhealthy and fattening the food is in America. Then I got a little deeper and said that people overeat in America not just cause the food is addicting, but because there is an inherent EMPTINESS and depression in America that other countries don't have. People feel it but don't know what to do about this deep emptiness, so they use food to try to fill it. They use food as an escape from the emptiness in America, in other words. So that was another factor.
I also explained to them that the society and media in America NEVER acknowledge this emptiness and how it's not talked about but denied. Society expects you to fill your void with CONSUMERISM and WORK, but in reality, those things do NOT really fill the human soul. Hence you have so many miserable, angry, stressed, depressed looking faces everywhere you go in America.
Yet no one wants to talk about this. You are not supposed to talk about this either. Instead, people talk about the weather and say "Hi how are you? I'm doing great." everyday as a mask to cover it all up and deny it. It's a sad reality and state of affairs in America. Yet it goes unacknowledged by the media and society and in casual conversation.
In other countries, there isn't this great emptiness because there is a natural sense of connection with others. That's why people in other countries don't need to go see therapists like Americans do. Overseas, there isn't this extreme isolation where everyone is in a bubble and paranoid of others. Not even in Mexico, where everything is corrupt, but people have natural connection and develop natural social relationships with others. But you don't have that in America.
Social connection fulfills your soul. Isolation, consumerism and slave jobs do not. America is in denial about all this and doesn't want to face it. I wish CNN would have me on to talk about this, but they won't.
I also explained to them that the purpose of sports on TV is to distract you, to get you to focus on something useless, so you don't realize what's going on or think too much or try to change things.
The two guys fully agreed with me, even though it was unusual to have such a deep discussion at a Subway with strangers. I apologized for being philosophical rather than superficial, but they were fine with it and agreed with everything I said. They said that as long as something is true and represents reality, they are cool with it.
Like I said, black guys tend to be very down to earth and like hearing the truth. That's why we have so many of them on the HA forum.
What I find is that when you talk about deep truths like this with strangers in America, they tend to agree, because it's so obvious, even though it's a social taboo to talk about such things. So don't be too afraid to talk about these things with others. Most of the time, they will agree.
Our forum thread about the emptiness in America:
http://www.happierabroad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=184412#184412
When I was 18, I wrote a poetry book called: Poems about the Reality we all Know of but Never Speak
ReplyDeleteFrom your writing, it appears that you have a very high opinion of yourself.
ReplyDeleteWhat you conveyed to a couple of strangers who you initially thought were possibly going to mug you just displays your ignorance of the world despite being so 'well traveled'.
Winston is being honest, most of us react with fear in the presence of African American males; it's something we're conditioned to through all the negative crime reporting on news media.
DeleteFrom your writing, it appears that you have a very high opinion of yourself.
ReplyDeleteWhat you conveyed to a couple of strangers who you initially thought were possibly going to mug you just displays your ignorance of the world despite being so 'well traveled'.
In my psychology class, Freud's id, ego and superego were represented by that old Hollywood stereotype: the id or your true self is the "devil," societal expectations and morality is the "angel" and your ego tries to portray acceptable behavior through balancing these opposing forces. Rather, I view the "ego" as a mask we wear to function in whatever society we live in, and in America that is a very artificial, empty, soulless culture. The "id" is our true selves which never sees the light of day and must be continually covered up by masks, robes and fig leave, except perhaps in our most intimate moments. Our superego is the sheer effort and willpower needed to continue the charade, utterly exhausting. This stereotype perpetuates an outmoded Christian viewpoint, long abandoned in more naturally hedonistic societies in Europe, otherwise known as post-Christian. Teaching this dogma in college to impressionable college students who have not been taught critical thinking skills (our education system has abandoned it) perpetuates this view of our desires, wishes and (secret) dreams for freedom and fulfillment as being inherently evil, when they are not, in fact they are the source of our identity and happiness, which we are denied in the USA.
ReplyDeleteI lived with a woman who was born in Caribbean and later lived in France. After 10 years we had problems (due to cultural differences among other reasons), so I suggested we see a marriage/family counselor.
ReplyDeleteHer cold reply, "That's what you Americans do."
She left this professional American bread winner for an unemployed Canadian dipshit handyman whom she'd met in a chat room and "fallen in love" with. For the next 8 years, she would call me to complain about him.
I've now been single 19 years, dated countless women, and never told "I love you" to a single one. Don't plan to.