An Essay By Randall

Alison wanted me to start posting stuff on our blog, I had nothing to write about so I thought I would post an essay that my friend Randall wrote (a long time ago) that I thought was interesting and received his permission to post...

Untitled

An Essay by Randall

What is in a title? How does our perception of this reality and any other alternate reality, which we may come in contact, with change because of a mere title? Can an entire being be described by a simple “PhD” or “esq.”? What more, is our life so fixated on being recognized that we change our life’s course to obtain a status at which we can be called titled? Does the mere “title” or lack thereof, of this paper send one into a frenzy of interest or none at all? Is it possible that we could remove all influences that title plays in this world, and live in an equality-driven Utopia? Unfortunately, this “rose-colored glasses” attitude of those believers in the “…a rose by any other name…” philosophy, is not only sickening, but is as weak as is the link those same people have with reason, logic and reality.

In our “modern” land of the American Ideal, traditional forms of titles are perhaps a non-issue. After all, it seems that our Revolution has destroyed such traditional notions of class and status. Our perception of the title is remarkably different than that of our European counterparts across the Atlantic. The American “adoration” of the traditional “title” is almost blasphemous in comparison to the European, even more German, worship of authority. It seems however that some strange innate desire to have some sort of label binds us into ideas the “the’s.” One must become “the” best, “the” sexiest or “the” smartest. Due to some kind of instinctive tribal urges, one goes to nothing short of Machiavellian lengths to remain at the pinnacle of their respective social arena.

In this swirling hurricane of the superlative another exclusive idea of brand comes onto the scene. Red soles on shoes, “swooshes”, and tiny alligators all cause the prices, and at the same time the associated prestige to rise exponentially. It can make an astronomical difference, in certain circles, if one’s accessories were made by Vera’s Wang and their dress came from Mrs. Victoria Secret Boss. The budget to remain on the cutting edge of fashion is no small force to be reckoned with. Even the most designer “thrifty” shoppers would find their spending totals equal to the defense budget of some smaller less developed nations.

What could be the benefit of spending a horrifying amount of one’s (or someone else’s) hard earned resources in order to reach the upper echelons of an obviously morally handicapped society? What soul-less senate decides what can be labeled at horrendously expensive prices as a sheer “must have”? And when did this amoral council dictate that one’s “guilty pleasure” of saving money at voraciously-expanding and gargantuan chain stores, is essentially a misfit behavior, and should only be spoken of in the quietest tones among the closest of friends? (As a slight side note; it is little wonder that these stores, which have begun to slip their tentacles into every corner of the civilized and often uncivilized world, are open 24 hours a day, to further cater to their “in-the-closet” style customers.)

This vulgar commercialization and much worse “title”-ilization of our society seeps into every part of us, until we can no longer separate “wants” from “needs” in our ability to make wise decisions about our consumption. It forces forms of conformity that are only surpassed in insanity by the mob-reasoning found in our worst adolescent nightmares. It is strange that if an “average” human being, living in a “first-world” country, were to be forced into submission by some dictatorial force and then if he were pressured to do things against his own moral code, then he would fight until his last and dying breath to assure that he would be able live according to his own conscience. On the other hand, if that same person were influenced by the “popular” opinion to do the very same things that the despotic force were requiring of him, he would passively submit himself to the will of the group in order to conform to their idea of the norm. It is a startling reality to see how much every parent’s worst nightmare, peer pressure, not only survived our departure from puberty but in many ways has festered and grown into a silent uncontrollable beast that terrorizes the lives of many “rational-thinking” “educated” adults.

I suppose these thoughts could be considered as the spiteful ramblings of one who is just embittered and jealous of those who have accomplished something, or can’t afford to purchase the social status that is associated with the correct brands and subjection to the will of the norm. A fair argument I suppose, but it could be that the observation is one that hit the philosophical “nail” right on the head, in that it is too true of an argument and thus uncomfortable to those who have been caught up in the web of commercialism. Such arguments between those who are hopelessly “hooked on the phonics” of the brand-name battle, and those who consider themselves so superciliously above the disdainful world of the “soul-snatching” capitalists, will probably never come to an end in our modern day society. Amid these never ending debates, it is important to draw your own battle lines and decide what your stances are. As for myself, I plan to continue to make my “objective” observations and proudly consider myself, Untitled.

Randall sends me stuff from time to time so I probably will keep posting them as he sends them to me.
-vbj