All surface, no soul. A fluidity of style pulls masses of the American public into fashion compliance while intellectual activity is passed off as something others do. Education is a technical hurdle on the way to some relatively mindless jobs. When this vacuous gaping maw of American patheticism dropped in to become our standard-bearer is unknown; maybe it’s always been this way. Maybe we are simply normalizing the appearance of our underclass of stupidity by bringing everyone onto the public stage.

No longer is it necessary to have knowledge of reality, politics, the economy, the rest of the world, science, facts, or what true compassion is. Be angry, look cool, be confident in your pajamas, signal to others your narrow social identity, talk about what’s important today in the world of superfluous entertainment/sports/media/hostility because nothing is important aside from a new tattoo, the cool logo on your t-shirt or hat. Plug your earbuds in, and get Door Dash to fetch your coffee, burgers, and spring rolls because this life is all about you and the indulgence you’ve been afforded by being the owner of a gun, cock, twat, big truck, the trendiest bottle of craft gin, or some free-range, organic bullshit that fits your amorphous identity that depends on what brands and issues you’ve been spoonfed lately.

I don’t want to admit defeat, but when I’m among the idle masses, the sound of my grump seems to scream at me to just do that, admit total bitter defeat. Of course, this ugly sensitivity is likely connected to my personalizing of the events of our world and how I want to lay blame upon all those who are never going to give a shit deeply and long enough to help change anything of any meaning. They find salvation in the love of their local sports franchises, their personal relationship to Jesus, their need to fuck and be fucked, to dote on a pet, or ruin another human being in their attempt to raise a child. We are a society of nothing but surface; our souls are long gone.

Then, the media has the audacity to suggest that virtual reality, namely Facebook’s Meta VR project, as noted in the recent article “The metaverse will steal your identity” by David Auerbach, for example, will transform people into “mindless conformity.” Oh really, where does he think people are right now? I look around me, far and wide, and that’s all I see. At least with virtual reality, maybe there’s a chance we can turn away from the public posturing where appearance and behavior attempt to intimate a level of sophistication that is not backed up by intellectual relevance. You may look hip, trendy, or wealthy, but with a 5th-grader mentality, all the bling, muscles, beanies, and accouterments of your vapid state of being will never camouflage the operating system of deep stupidity.