There seems to be a contingent of people out there who seem to believe that we here at SDM are nothing more than complainers with nothing else to do other
than that. This essay will hopefully prove those people wrong. In other words, we don't
complain, we alert people to the truth you don't want to hear, or even know exists. If
that in some odd, twisted, seemingly perverted way makes us out to be complainers, then so
be it. That's just life, now isn't it?
the importance of cynicism
by paul b. whitley
First off, it's hard to be a cynic alone. There are other traits one must exhibit. You
know, sarcasm and pessimism. Without such traits, one is unable to take cynicism to the
highest level. Sure, this sounds like some form of Zen training. In a way, it is. It's
very difficult to describe, and is often only understood by those who have been there.
With that said and done, let me proceed.
For every day, there must be a night. For every good, an evil. That's the way the world
works. In order for something to be able to act, there must be something that will
counteract. That counteraction is cynicism. For every ray of hope or seemingly good
intention, there must be a cynic there to probe its reason for existing. Some may wonder
why, and here is why: nothing should be able to wallow in the beauty of the moment. If
this were the case, then the world would be full of unaware idealists. What's wrong with
that? How would you like to go through your entire life full of the premise that you live the perfect existence? You would probably like it. Who wouldn't?
Well, suppose one day your world comes crashing down over a breakup. You'd probably feel
like shit. Well, cynicism exists so that your perfect existence will end long before the
captain of the football team or cheerleading squad can break your unbreakable heart. How?
The desecration of such sacred topics of everything from your hair to your perfect smile
to how your father's job will probably end with a layoff anytime now. These are the things
you wouldn't want to examine, but as long as you can hear, and if need be, read, a
"true" cynic would put all of that in your face, and possibly more.
Just about everybody's a cynic, that's why it's so easy to hate them. That is why they
already know what they don't want to hear, because the possibility has already existed in
the back of their minds. Of course, there are those truly innocent people who don't have a
cynical thought in their body. For a true cynic, this produces a challenge. In fact, you
can't really know how much of a cynic you are until you've faced one. In my lifetime, I've
been known to face a couple of those kind of people. It's difficult, because this is where
cynics get their bad reputation from. The sole purpose of being a cynic isn't to put
people down, but push the truth through their face at such a velocity that only empty
thought can come from it. Let me offer you an example.
In my struggle to bring the world the truth, I came across an innocent. For the
purposes here, I'll call her Atsirhc. She was the textbook example of "innocent in
thought." No matter what she did, she saw no wrong in it, because she actually
believed that all of her intentions were good intentions. Not only was she a challenge,
but she had resisted my earlier attempts to open her eyes. In fact, one of my most thought
out attempts ended with her saying, "I'll pray for you." You can imagine the
challenge. How did I defeat the demon standing before me? Honestly, I didn't really, but I
got her to think about how her life really was and what would fuck it all up. How? By
simply telling her that her life was too perfect in her mind to be as stable as she
thought. No, that line of bullshit didn't do it. What did was me telling her that being
raped would be the best thing for her to realize what life really was like. Before
regaining speech and closing that gaped open mouth, surrounding people felt their duty to
yell at me (See what I mean about bad reputation?). Eventually she stopped looking at me
in disbelief and acknowledged that I was right. Had I apologized, what I had just said
would mean nothing to anybody accept that I was an asshole. Secretly, everyone there knew
that I was right, and were probably praying that that fate didn't befall them.
That didn't involve complaining, it called for a (seemingly) forced negative
enlightenment. That is the purpose of extreme cynicism. To paint a picture of reality so
horrendous that those who should look at it won't. If that can be done, then the job is
done and you know they were affected, be it good or bad. Just hope it doesn't drive them
to suicide. Just look at the Great Depression. If those people had examined the
possibility that the stock market wasn't this great almighty entity above reproach, not
only would there have not been a depression, but the suicide rate wouldn't have been so
high.
In closing, let me just point out for one last time that cynics aren't necessarily
complainer. Some may be, but that's not what it's all about. Forget what Merriam-Webster
has to say, cynicism just doesn't lie in exposing the human nature of greed, but it more
than anything, it involves laying down the truth as other don't want to see it. Sometimes,
people don't want it, but it has to be done. Not for some personal gain, but so that the
world doesn't get so wrapped up in some so-called perfect fabrication of existence that
everything crumbles from. |