Wednesday, April 27, 2005


Any Individuals Out There?


Most people dress
like a Gap ad or self-consciously dress anti-Gap.

We live in a society that celebrates the individual. But have you actually met one? David Batstone writes that members of our society all fit into the same pot: “Most of the people I meet dress like a Gap ad — or self-consciously dress anti-Gap — aspire to own an IPod, and have made it a personal goal to travel to Australia in the next five years.”

I think he’s right. People tend to accept the system or fight the system. But what about creating a new system (or throwing out all systems)? Why do we insist on defining ourselves in relation to what exists? Why not dream of something new, something different, something that fits (instead of something that’s accepted or convenient)?

I don’t know about the rest of you, but my plan is to start right here with Dirt Window. A total of six American companies control 90 percent of the country’s newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, books, records, movies, videos, wire services and photo agencies. But they don’t own this blog, and they can’t mandate how I think. So from here on out, I’m going to live and write like an individual.

I hope you’ll do the same.

2 comments:

Eric Muhr said...

I still think there’s something to say for living in a tent and eating dead squirrels. Certainly sounds more interesting.

Eric Muhr said...

An individual is merely someone who thinks for themselves.

Thanks for this, Mathias. It’s exactly what I was aiming for with the original post. But you’ve actually come out and said what I failed to put into words. To illuminate just a bit further, my fear is that it is all too easy to succumb to robotic consumerism. That’s not life (just a parody).

And Jon, I think this clearer definition leaves you free to own an iPod just as it allows me to wear Nike shoes. You’re right to point out that just because everyone loves it and wants it doesn’t make it evil.