The Authentic Life

check out this excerpt from porfirio on existential choice:

"the precipitous slide of existentialism towards nihilism is only halted by its heavy emphasis on man's freedom. in exchange for this benefit, the individual must be willing to cast aside the weight of outmoded beliefs in a tough recognition of the meaninglessness of existence. he must choose, in other words, between 'being and nothingness,' between the 'authentic' and 'inauthentic' life. the inauthentic life is the unquestioned one which derives its rationale from a facile acceptance of those values external to the self. to live authentically, one must reject these assurances and therein discover the ability to create one's own values; in so doing each individual assumes responsibility for his life through the act of choosing between two alternatives. and since man is his own arbiter, he literally creates good and evil."

sounds like what this country needs is some good existential thought. it seems like everyone i meet is hung up on tradition and the "values of our elders." i'm sure some of them are good. and then some of them are bad. it's almost like an epidemic of laziness. i'm not just talking about physical laziness, which is definitely another problem with its own conversation. people are too lazy to think, to form their own opinion. i don't mean to suggest this is a new phenomenon. it's been that way since the inception of this nation, and probably a lot earlier than that. why do we have a two-party political system? with only two options, it makes it a lot easy to make a decision. and most people willingly become a cog in this big machinery of social constructs. i've heard little kids telling each other their party affiliations. it seems like most children are trained from an early age to accept. to have blind faith. not to question. it's only creating a society of robots, incapable of true self-exploration. is it so hard to create one's own values? is it so hard to have a mind of one's own? is it so hard to be responsible for one's own life?

shut your mouth and open your mind.