The reason we're better is, to fall back on an old standby, SENSE. The

common sense to know what the Con is and that it exists...that we can even

CONCEIVE of this subconsciously-networked conspiracy of normalcy puts us

about a dozen steps up from 70-80% of the people on this planet. The sense

of humor to find the levity in really sick stuff, and not get offended by

it--ever crack an abortion joke and have everyone in the room turn to you

and hiss, "SOME THINGS we DON'T joke about!"? Fuck 'em if they can't yadda

yadda yadda. And the twenty or thirty bucks to ensure we live and they

die; perhaps that's the most important reason of all. We're better because

we paid for a card that SAYS SO, and that's good enough for me. "Bob" sold

it, I bought it, that settles it.

>: >: TarlaStar (bmyers@ionet.net) wrote:

>: Sophia, my point in this essay was not to say that if you CAN'T fit in

>: that you should try. BUT if you can't fit in, don't knock those who

>: can. So many folk on alt.slack seem to sneer at "hip" when they can't

>: BE hip. I'm saying that unless you can do something, don't knock those

>Are you basically saying that people shouldn't knock people who try and

>fit in by calling them pink? And that in your opinion it's hip to be

>able to fit in anywhere you go and a positive thing as opposed to a negative?

Yes, yes, and yes.

People tend to forget that they too, are a part of the CON in some

way. I like my coffee so much and I'm so picky about it that only

Stang can understand my obsession, however, it's a very

yuppie-associated thing to love coffee the way I do, and to have the

rituals I have associated with its preparation. Many alt.slackers

would see my obsession and say, "ooh, how hip is that (sneer)?" I say,

so fucking what? So I'm a yuppie about my coffee?

We tend to have "approved" entertainments here...particular movies,

musicians, and books which everyone is generally expected to "get" or

at least have read. I'll tell the truth...I love pop music. I like to

dance. Most SubGenius music is just irritating cacophony to me. I

don't mention it, because it's not important to me that anyone here

share my musical tastes but I do feel like there's a bit of subtle

bullying that goes on when you don't rave over every damned SubGenius

"artist" that ever lived. There are just as many untalented SubGenii

as there are untalented regular folk, and just as few with true

talent.

What's important to me is not whether you read the right books or

watch the right movies, be they SubGenius or Other, because as I've

said elsewhere, if it makes it into the public eye...millions of

others are buying it too. What matters to me is that people live their

lives CONSCIOUSLY. If you follow SubGenius or Other, you're following.

Passion and Consciousness are what count.

Tarla

a pose is

a pose

: Do you all crap into a toilet? You DO?!!?!

: CONFORMISTS!!!

:

: Do you all wear T-shirts and underwear? You DO?!?!?!

: CONFORMISTS!! WIMPS!!!!!!

:

: Do you all sleep, drive cars, exchange money for goods and services?

: You DO?!!??!

: CONFORMISTS!! WIMPS!!! MINDLESS ROTE-ACTIVITY SLAVES!!!!

:

: If I catch ANYBODY exhibiting the symptoms of Steve Slack disease

: (i.e. curling up in a fetal position in a dark corner for years,

: afraid to do ANYTHING to get ahead for fear of being called a Pink

: or a Sellout), I will PERSONALLY open them up a SECOND ASSHOLE.

:

: Got me?!

We've all (well, most of us) rassled with the issue of being "of the CON"

until we realized that, by trying to do the opposite of what the CON

says, we're still following the Con's lead. And most of us get to

realizing that the only way to be free of the Con is to not think about

our personal choices in terms of the Con's standards, but rather in terms

of our own.

That having been said, why did I even bother to say it? Especially in

that PINK language, English!

 We wouldnt have this problem if we beleived in Jesus,

Lou