Can We Just Agree that Everything is Fake? The American Aristocracy is Real.

[bhikkhu]

80. No, I'm not the democratic party, just myself explaining poorly

(having re-read my own post). My perspective comes mostly from being a parent, and partly from having relied on the "Its all fake, its all BS" line myself for awhile. That felt very good to say when I was failing at life in my late teens, but it did me no good at all. Probably the more I relied on that kind of fatalism, the less I tried to actually understand the actual world and fit in or find my own place. It still seems to me the cry of someone who is giving up loudly, like a child laying on the floor in a pout.

Having kids now who are in their teens, and the kid's friends, its also currently an issue. When math doesn't make sense, when we have to talk about jobs and careers, when they have to slow down and focus and learn something, the reflex is to fall back on the "what difference does it make, its all fake, its just a bunch of BS!" line. Which, again, feels good to say when you are failing at life, but leads to nothing.

Its not an effective attitude, and it helps no one. Its a dead end, and there are much better ways to approach life. Caring about people sometimes requires rejecting bad behavior, behavior that's self destructive or self-defeating. Caring about yourself, the one place you can most predictably make a difference, certainly requires rejecting self-destructive or self-defeating behavior.

I know its not easy, and most people reading this thread aren't thinking about children. I remember when I had been fired from a job (unfairly, of course) a few years ago. I tried to change careers, took classes and spread resumes around, without success. Every morning it was an effort to get out of bed and put on a good face, organize thoughts, summon the energy to clean up and dress and act like someone who was hire-able and likeable, to plan out the day while feeling like there was no future. Its such a platitude, but whether it works out well in the end or not you do have to keep trying, and "its all BS!" doesn't help.