Short story for the open minded

Take a minute and read this

LINK

See any resemblance to where our country (usa) might be headed. Where no one is allowed to have an advantage over someone else, where everyone is brought down to the lowest standard so no ones feelings are hurt?.. where anything that would make you stand out are removed, Where people are no longer living to live, but now are only around to serve as a "unit" to serve the goverment, where no one is allowed to have more than anyone els..
Yes the story may be far-fetched, but is it really that far off from whats going on? Just take a moment and think.. is it really better "fit in"?

I thought it was a good story. Pretty original. I don't know about the US actually getting to that point though. I would hope we would rebel. But then again I was pretty surprised how we took the rising gas prices. I do think that the United States as a whole used to have a bigger sense of community and would band together to get things done. And I don't really see that anymore. So, I guess, surprisingly something like this isn't unbelieveable. I just hope if it did happen, that I and my heirs aren't around to see it. And to answer the final question. No, it is not always better to just fit in. I think everyone is meant to have their own individuality.

well if you look at it in some ways its already started, i mean ovb. the storie is a stretch but.. Look at schools ans some sports where 10th place gets a trophy..  because "if you gave it your best then your just as good as them" and all how on "adult" radio stations that are aimed at adults, they still have to have censored music,  and the list of "restrictions" goes on and on

the link has been disabled because it was phishing spam.  How careless of you to link it here.

Yeah, the link is gone, but I always thought fitting in was lame anyway.

Link Fixed... dont know why it was tring to get there through myspace..

Original Post by systemdrop:

Link Fixed... dont know why it was tring to get there through myspace..

Ah, yes, a friend of mine showed me this Vonnegut story a few years ago. Might we be on our way to this? I'm not sure. On one hand we have the whole "everybody wins for trying" mentality in our schools. I've heard stories of every kid getting a trophy, every kid being cast as a "princess" in the school pageant, social promotion whether they've learned the material for the year or not(there was a big stink in NYC a few years back when the mayor decided to do away with it.) I also see an increasing culture of mediocrity in the fields of graphic design and illustration, where the trend seems to be towards "cute" shoddy imagery, at least when marketing something to younger people-think of the posters for "Juno" or "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist", which employed clumsy hand-drawn fonts and sloppy colored pencil work. They deliberately looked like something done by a 7th grader in a notebook, not by a professional. I think this type of aesthetic is comforting to people raised being told they are constantly special, they don't have to look at something that was better made than what they could have done.

I liked the way the little boy in "The Incredibles" put it --"If everybody is special, then nobody is."

Is this anything like some schools trying to get rid of the "Honor Roll" because they are afraid that it will hurt the feelings of the kids who didn't make it?

Another ridiculous example of coddling our future generation.

Harrison Bergeron is a classic short story that we all had to read in Junior High School, but I don't exactly see it coming true in our society, except maybe in the school system to a degree.  Besides that, wealth inequality has risen at an unprecedented pace for 30 years, with those at the top being more lavishly rewarded than ever while those at the bottom work longer and harder for less.

 

No, sorry, my biggest worry about contemporary America isn't that the playing field is "too even".

Wow, I totally digressed from my original thought. I also wanted to add that on the other hand, in addition to this culture of mediocrity we also have this culture of unhealthy extremes - we look up to athletes who take steroids to play harder and faster than ever before, models who appear impossibly thin with the aid of both drugs and photoshopping, even singers have things they can take to make their voices stronger (and eventually lead to them developing growths on the larynx...) My brother who is a school teacher talks of how virtually every parent insists that their child is exceptionally gifted, whether the child actually tests as gifted or not. So we simultaneously want to believe no one is better than anyone else but to be super-exceptional.

I wonder how these kids in the "everybody's special" generation will do when they get jobs? I mean in the real world you don't get a trophy just for showing up and doing what's expected.

Original Post by coffincritter: I also see an increasing culture of mediocrity in the fields of graphic design and illustration, where the trend seems to be towards "cute" shoddy imagery, at least when marketing something to younger people-think of the posters for "Juno" or "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist", which employed clumsy hand-drawn fonts and sloppy colored pencil work. They deliberately looked like something done by a 7th grader in a notebook, not by a professional. I think this type of aesthetic is comforting to people raised being told they are constantly special, they don't have to look at something that was better made than what they could have done.

I'm early-middle-aged, and I thought the Juno promo materials were cute, and befit the quirky tone of the film.  It hardly would have made sense for such a film to have a poster like "Gone With the Wind" had. I thought it was quite sophisticated and matched the film well.... (shrugs)

The scratchy crayon hand drawn one?

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Just curious, what do you think of this?(So long as you're not epileptic. Seriously, the following link contains a rapidly flashing background, just so people are aware.)

javascript:mctmp(0);

None of those links work.

well Like I said the story is a stretch but the Usa is becoming all mushy gushy about peoples feelings..  I mean Im not racist or sexist but wth is with scholarships just for "african americans" or scholarships just for women...  I dont see any JUST for white people or just men..    seems that because the someone was repressed, means that they need more help than someone that wasnt?      The whole reason people formed america originally was to get far from government.. then the government was made and had an intention having the smallest effect on the people..  I mean no one forces you live in the US.. but because people wanted things guaranteed to them government became a bussiness "well sever you if you pay a bunch of taxes on a bunch of things"  I know im getting off topic but what im getting at is the american goverment has become almost the oppisite of what it intenationaly intended to to...   Look at "property tax"     didnt you already pay sales tax when you bought the item?   you already bought it.. why should you have to pay to continue to keep it?...    The american goverment has just become another controll..

Kurt Vonnegut was a genius.  R.I.P.

^Amen to that.

SystemDrop, if you find this short story interesting you should read some other Vonnegut.  I reccomend Player Piano, Hocus Pocus, and Slaughter House Five.  All the others are good too, but I'm totally in love with those three. 

Original Post by systemdrop:

I mean Im not racist or sexist but wth is with scholarships just for "african americans" or scholarships just for women...  I dont see any JUST for white people or just men..    seems that because the someone was repressed, means that they need more help than someone that wasnt?     

Those scholarships exist to help counter "privilege" - the fact that people in majority/power groups (like males, white people, etc.) get advantages they're not even really aware of.  Most of the time, if two people appear equally qualified for an opportunity, the one who is most like the people giving that opportunity gets it (the "he fits in with the department best" argument for hiring someone, for example; of course the guy who's married with kids fits in better with a department full of guys who are married with kids).  And society still trains certain demographics to fight a lot harder for attention/rewards than others. 

Original Post by jewelsmcblah:

None of those links work.

Ok, I tried fixing them in post #12?

For some reason when I make links here from my work computer (Windows) it's ok but when I do them from my home computer (Mac) they come out weird. I'm using the a href code. if not, the address to the Juno ad is 

http://media.hamptonroads.com/cache/files/ima ges/80641.jpg

and the address to the art collective is

http://www.paperrad.org

 

Original Post by systemdrop:

well Like I said the story is a stretch but the Usa is becoming all mushy gushy about peoples feelings..  I mean Im not racist or sexist but wth is with scholarships just for "african americans" or scholarships just for women...  I dont see any JUST for white people or just men..    seems that because the someone was repressed, means that they need more help than someone that wasnt?      The whole reason people formed america originally was to get far from government.. then the government was made and had an intention having the smallest effect on the people..  I mean no one forces you live in the US.. but because people wanted things guaranteed to them government became a bussiness "well sever you if you pay a bunch of taxes on a bunch of things"  I know im getting off topic but what im getting at is the american goverment has become almost the oppisite of what it intenationaly intended to to...   Look at "property tax"     didnt you already pay sales tax when you bought the item?   you already bought it.. why should you have to pay to continue to keep it?...    The american goverment has just become another controll..

Sigh...didn't we just go through this about the scholarships on another thread? If you search you'll find private scholarships available for just about every ethnicity/nationality available. Even with some quick googling I found a list of Caucasian scholarships on nextstudent.com and links regarding men's scholarships(primarily in athletics and nursing, with some offered through national fraternities as well.)

And yes, centuries of oppression may mean certain peoples might need a little extra help. One side of the playing field has smooth green grass and the other side is full of potholes and rocks...obviously that side will need some extra work done before the whole game can be played as it was intended.

While I'm against this whole "self-esteem trumps all" mentality that has pervaded our schools I'm not too concerned that the people who have traditionally held all of the power now have to make room for the rest of us to get on board.

 

"And yes, centuries of oppression may mean certain peoples might need a little extra help. One side of the playing field has smooth green grass and the other side is full of potholes and rocks...obviously that side will need some extra work done before the whole game can be played as it was intended."

I beg to differ..   Anyone In the USA has just as much of a chance as anyone els.. in fact being from another country will often put you at an advantage as you probably know more than one language.. in over all just because your a minority does not mean you have a disadvantage...

That is what this country is doing dumbing everything down. I was a member of another site, need not say. And a few of the other women on the site went to the moderaters and said I was too sexy or something and got me banned. Now telling someone that was once 260 that shes too sexy is anything but a diss but come on that is the reason I became fat in the first place. Everyone was so uncomfortable that I had a pretty face, so I ate to fit in. The same thing happened to one of my friends that was a near genius but to fit in she dumbed herself down too. Part of it is the politically correct structure that America is building. I dont even get on boards anymore cause I always get deleted cause I said something that offended one stupid person...oh no I said stupid person. This shall be deleted too. Anyhow, all this does is make me more of a rebel. Id rather die with my freedoms than live for anyone else Anymore!