Everything Wrong with Today's Youth

Personified by the Writings of an Over-Functioning Pothead

Posts tagged ‘culture’

The Volkswagen Super Bowl Commercial & Vainglorious White People

Some people just love being offended. I hate people like that.

I bring this up because Volkswagen posted a commercial on Youtube which is slated to run during the 2013 Super Bowl. I learned of it while watching the news. While it should have been considered newsworthy on the merits of its humor and charm, that was not the reason it was being covered by the 24-hour news cycle clusterfuck. It was being covered because there are allegedly a lot of people out there who found it very racist.

It is not racist. But before I elaborate on why, you should watch the commercial for yourself. Provided you aren’t a frigid, self-important white person, it will leave you with positive and happy feelings. Without further ado:



Solid commercial, right? You’re probably wondering, upon viewing the commercial yourself, exactly how big an object one must have up their ass in order to perceive the delightful commercial above as racist? Answer: really big. And wide.

I want to make clear, my opinion is not that this Super Bowl commercial for Volkswagen is not racist. That is an observable fact, and only my opinion insofar as, “Everything Wrong with Today’s Youth is a blog,” is my opinion. It is fact, not opinion. It is not up for debate.

Yes, that the commercial doesn’t seem to include a single black American doesn’t help its case. It makes it easier for someone to decry it as, “verbal blackface,” which is the stupidest characterization of this commercial I’ve heard so far.

My opinion on the commercial, for what it’s worth, is that it’s funny. Cute, even. But to call it racist would mean anything that ever mentions or alludes to race – a commercial, a statement, an article, a TV show, etc… – in a humorous or lighthearted manner is racist. If the 2013 Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial is racist, then what isn’t?

The most intellectually defective argument for why this commercial is so racist is that it implicitly assumes all Jamaicans are happy. It doesn’t. At most (if we must get theoretical), it posits that there is at least one happy Jamaican, the persona of whom is co-opted by people as a result of driving a Volkswagen. That’s not racist. The condescending assertion that this commercial is racist because Jamaica, with all it’s social and cultural issues, does not house a single happy Jamaican, is racist.

The thing is, no one who really matters is calling it racist. Which, being a person who doesn’t matter, is why I feel qualified to opine on it.


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Great Articles about DMT

I’ve been meaning to write something about DMT again. It’s been about a year since I published DMT Experience on this blog. I have been thinking about it in big terms, foolishly. After attempting to fit a lot of information into a solid, concise article, (I wanted to document the origins of DMT’s cult following, among other things), I begrudgingly accepted the realization that I had produced nothing but textual diarrhea. I know. Nasty!

For now I want to share with my readers some other very good articles on DMT which have been written since last year. I have been steadily researching DMT ever since I tried it, so whenever something new is produced it tends to stand out amongst the other search results. Here are a couple articles which immediately strike me as noteworthy. Continue reading…

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So, this happened the other day. Obviously, the last poster is me.

Apparently she didn't, considering she de-friended me.

Apparently she didn’t, considering she de-friended me.

“Honey Boo Boo” – Shitty Television or Exploitation?

I came across this article on nbcnews.com the other day.

It contemplates the nature of the TLC program Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Namely, whether it constitutes entertainment or exploitation. I would argue neither. However, being an openminded individual, I am capable of recognizing the possibility that others may interpret this program to be “entertaining.” So I’ll work from there. Here’s a snippet of the article. Continue reading…

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DMT Q&A with John Jr

As those of you who follow EWWTY know, I published an article last month detailing my experience with DMT. If you haven’t read it you should do so now, it’s really good – and I’m rarely willing to say that about my work.

Anyway, the article attracted far more readers and positive feedback than I could have anticipated; I’ve spent roughly as much time responding to everyone as I did writing the piece (which is awesome).

One of my readers, John Jr, had a series of really thoughtful questions about my DMT experience. I realized soon after reading them that my answers would be substantive enough to call for a separate new post. So, without further adieu: Continue reading…

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Reasons Mormons are Weird: Volume One

Surfing through the sewer that is American internet news publications, I came across the following story, which is an elaboration upon an issue msnbc.com has covered at least once prior:

Mormon Church Tries to Limit Baptism of Deceased Jews

Now, you may be wondering, “What the fuck?”

If that’s the case, clearly someone isn’t reading enough news.

Incase you’re unaware: Yes, the Mormon church engages in forced, post-mortem baptisms. Which means they “baptize” dead people who were never baptized whilst living. Like, regardless of anything the person ever said or stood for, or what the deceased’s kin say.

Oh, and they do it to dead Jews. And not just any dead Jews. Dead holocaust victims.

Because if you’re gonna do some weird freaky Mormon shit, why not just say, “fuck it,” and make it as distasteful and inconsiderate of everyone else as possible. That’s how Mormons roll, I guess.

This spurred me to start a theme of posts dissecting the issue of Mormons’ weirdness.

So, to be clear, reason number one Mormons are weird is that they perform post-mortem baptisms on Jews who died during the holocaust.

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DMT Experience Featured

Update: Be sure to check out these other great articles about DMT. After reading this one, of course. :)

Preface

DMT Information

I experienced the most terrifying and profound drug trip of my life recently.

Yes, the following article is, in part, a report on the experience of tripping on the hallucinogenic drug DMT; but I promise this article is not an obnoxious recount of how silly it made me and my friends act, or anything of that vein.

DMT, short for dimethyltryptamine (pronounced die-meth-ill-trip-ta-mean), is a chemical substance found in an enormous variety of plants. DMT is conjectured to be produced by the pineal gland of mammalian brains. When smoked, DMT is perhaps the most powerful hallucinogen known to man - a statement about which I was skeptical only until I smoked it. Continue reading…

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Legendary Author, Journalist Christopher Hitchens Dies at 62

© Alearr

Vanity Fair reported late last night that Christopher Hitchens died at age 62. His death was caused by pneumonia brought upon by esophageal cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2010.

From the Vanity Fair article -

“Cancer victimhood contains a permanent temptation to be self-centered and even solipsistic,” Hitchens wrote nearly a year ago in Vanity Fair, but his own final labors were anything but: in the last 12 months, he produced for this magazine a piece on U.S.-Pakistani relations in the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, a portrait of Joan Didion, an essay on the Private Eyeretrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum, a prediction about the future of democracy in Egypt, a meditation on the legacy of progressivism in Wisconsin, and a series of frankgraceful, and exquisitely written essays in which he chronicled the physical and spiritual effects of his disease. At the end, Hitchens was more engaged, relentless, hilarious, observant, and intelligent than just about everyone else—just as he had been for the last four decades.

Much of my philosophy and outlook on life came from Hitchens. He taught me rationalism. Skepticism. Wit. I’d be a totally different person today sans Hitchens’s influence. I will miss him.Read more about the death of Christopher Hitchens at The Huffington Post.

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Marijuana for Children with ADHD?



So that’s a very old story from Countdown. But I just found it so let’s pretend it’s new.

I’m not one of those potheads who claim marijuana cures everything. However, I do think that when it comes down to it, a cookie with weed in it can’t be any worse for a child than the amphetamine concoctions we give them now.

This comes from personal experience; I’m 21 right now, which means I was an elementary school student during the Ritalin craze of the 90′s. I was tested for ADHD in second grade. I’ve always wondered, as my memory of the event is rather fuzzy, how you go about determining whether or not a seven-year-old has ADHD. Have you ever had a conversation with a seven-year-old?

Answer: No.

Because seven-year-olds are fucking stupid, and it’s impossible to have a conversation with one. You may have talked to a seven-year-old before. There’s a difference. Conversation involves the mutual exchange of ideas. If you find yourself wiser upon engaging in verbal communication with a seven-year-old, you’re either a six-year-old or a fucking moron.

Which leads me to my next question. How could you possibly diagnose a seven-year-old with a learning disability when the symptoms double as a description of most children under nine.

© Sponge (Obtained from Wikimedia)

Allow me to explain, the symptoms of ADHD as listed on WebMD are as follows:

  • Difficulty paying attention to details and tendency to make careless mistakes in school or other activities; producing work that is often messy and careless.
  • Easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli and frequently interrupting ongoing tasks to attend to trivial noises or events that are usually ignored by others
  • Inability to sustain attention on tasks or activities
  • Difficulty finishing schoolwork or paperwork or performing tasks that require concentration
  • Frequent shifts from one uncompleted activity to another
  • Procrastination
  • Disorganized work habits
  • Forgetfulness in daily activities (for example, missing appointments, forgetting to bring lunch)
  • Failure to complete tasks such as homework or chores
  • Frequent shifts in conversation, not listening to others, not keeping one’s mind on conversations, and not following details or rules of activities in social situations

Hmmm, that sounds awfully similar to every single seven-year-old ever. “Failure to complete tasks such as homework or chores”???

Let me get one thing straight. I didn’t do my homework or chores because I was seven. Seven-year-olds don’t give a fuck, as they lack a fuck to give. I certainly didn’t start doing either of those things once I was forced to start taking Ritalin every morning, and I’m pretty sure the only seven year olds who did care about that stuff were the ones getting their asses kicked by their schoolmates.

Moral of the story: make your kids get stoned when they’re young. That way it won’t be the cool thing to do when they get older.

This post brought to you by the letter weed.

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Daily Show Moment of Zen – Mitt Romney on Music (12/7/2011)

One of my favorite parts of The Daily Show on Comedy Central is its Moment of Zen segment, where a short clip from that day’s news coverage (almost always from one of the three US cable news networks) closes the show unaccompanied by commentary. They’re generally moments of awkwardness, often targeted towards the most dedicated news-junkie. Though recent news coverage has provided for some great “moment of zen” moments, last night ended with a clip of Mitt Romney from back in 1994. And it’s one of the funniest I’ve seen in a while.

Mitt Romney on Music.

Those seven seconds of Mitt Romney’s life sum up his entire political career splendidly. I mean, have you ever heard a more prototypical ‘politician’ response to such a basic question? What a phlegmatic dude.

Being an observer of Romney for a while, I’m sure that what he meant by, “Well, I like music of almost any kind including this,” was, ”What is this ‘muzaak’ you speak of?”

Either that or, ”Mormons are only allowed to listen to polka.”

Feel free to give your own speculations of what Romney’s honest answer would’ve been.

Being a man of fairness, here’s the video in its full context.


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