The Hacker's Encyclopedia 1998/hackers_encyclopedia.iso/zines/uxu/uxu_406.txt

Text File | 2003-06-11 | 7.2 KB | 127 lines

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                         Underground eXperts United

                                 Presents...

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         [  States Of Confusion  ]                   [  By The GNN  ]


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                             STATES OF CONFUSION
                       by THE GNN/DualCrew-Shining/uXu

     NOTE: At first, I wanted to give this file a more catchy title,
     like 'Same Shit - Different Day'. But I quickly realized that no
     one would take it seriously if I did that. Oh well, never mind.
     Just read on. (Hell, why did I include this note at all?)


Yesterday I saw a program about drug rehabilitation on television. It was
highly amusing. Five teenagers explained how they had wasted several years
of their lives abusing various stimulants. In the end, they all assured the
viewer (and themselves I guess) that they had now left this 'confused way
of living' in favor for a 'better' one.
   All the way through this programme I kept asking myself the slightly
trite question "why?".
   Not "why do drugs?", however. In this case, "why quit?".
   You see, I do not think these youngsters really know what awaits them.
Perhaps they will regain their physical health after giving up drugs. But
their minds... will just enter another state of confusion that need not be
any 'better': the only mental state offered and endorsed by the modern
society, which when carefully examined reveals itself to be a mixture of
various grotesque values, inconsistent beliefs and dehumanising opinions on
what is right and wrong.
   The ex-junkies in question all agreed that drugs gave them a twisted view
of reality. When they, now and then, sobered up, they realized that the
world they experienced when intoxicated was not the real one. Real or not,
it must have been utmost appealing, since they constantly returned to it.
The 'real' reality, as they said, was too hard to cope with. Therefore they
took drugs, because it gave them a chance to flee. Life in the fast lane
was in a sense fun, they said; the sad part with it was the tragic fact
that it was utterly self-defeating. They knew that they would end up in the
gutter if they had continued.
   What will happen to them now? Sure, they will probably not end up in the
gutter. But that is no reason for celebration. There is a huge risk that they
will just end up in something equally bad: this thing usually referred to as
'the hard reality'. In this 'reality', they will get a nice job (as we all
know, 'a nice job' is just any socially accepted waste of time that pays), a
family and... then nothing. Nothing at all. Just a long trek towards death.
   If they are lucky, however, they might be able to convince themselves
that this kind of life is a life worth living. The human psyche can
sometimes do magic - any rotten existence can be made into 'worthwhile' with
the help of good internal rhetoric and self-deception.
   (Now, someone might want to ask how I know that these particular people
will end up in the 'meaningless existence' I talk about. Well, actually I do
not know. Perhaps they will actually take care of their potentials and do
something they really want to do. But I doubt it. Their sad faces revealed
that the struggle was over, and that it was time to give up.)
   The kids on television had set their minds artificially free with the
help of drugs. Now they have to do the same thing, but without chemical
products. Needless to say, this is both a hard and fundamentally meaningless
project. Because like drugs, the modern society has nothing to offer but
false prophets and twisted views on what 'the hard reality' is made of.
   "Work! Earn money! Be happy!"
   ... is unfortunately not all that different from...
   "Smoke, snort, shoot! Get high! Be happy!"
   And, "I don't wanna fall out of the line, because I feel secure here"
   ... is not all that different from...
   "I don't wanna quit drugs, because they make me feel secure."
   Et cetera. It is virtually the same thing. Following from this, it is not
strange that some people spend their lives going back and forth between
these two extreme standpoints. Because they find no happiness in any of
them, just numbness and momentary pleasures. And they cannot be ordered
lexically, as it is usually claimed, where drugs end up on second place.
Because hard work gives you nothing more than a long boring life, while
drugs gives you a short but slightly more enjoyable life - mere health and
length is not a good criterion for a good life. You have to fill this life
with meaning too. Drugs will not give you any true meaning. The modern
society offers you a meaning, but a meaning that you deep down in your mind
know is false too.
   There are some people who accept all these sad truths, and realize that
neither standpoint is acceptable. Unfortunately, too many of these people
flee to a third - equally horrible - state of confusion: religion - which is
either inspired by the belief in a metaphysical force, 'God', or a natural
force, 'science'. In this state, the seeker will find an enormous pile of
explanations to almost everything - which is so complex and incomprehensible
that the poor individual who desperately need answers often jumps to the
conclusion that there must be some 'meaning' to be found somewhere in it. Of
course, they never actually find such a meaning, only more confusion,
because the project is essentially a fiasco from start. But this is
something they never understand. Instead, they just dig further down the
inconsistent pile, telling themselves that everything will be just fine as
long as they 'keep the faith'.
   Anyway, let me assure you, I am no cynic. I do not believe (in fact, I
know) that this is everything there is in this world. True happiness is
possible. But it cannot be achieved or found with the help of drugs, the
standards of the modern society or religion of any kind. It is to be found
outside those cramped spheres. None of these misconstructed products can set
your mind really free. Only one thing can do this, and I know that you know
what that is.
   If you adjust the set and view the show from the right angle, there is
much to learn from television.


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