Abhorring the Essence of You

I abhor the essence of the new youth

What they've become

So generically "meaningful"

So many....  there are so many of them now

Quintessential auto praisers

Fake "feeling" midnight rangers

Out to enforce their feelings

Make an impression... be noticed

(it's an ego thing)

Find the quickest way around

To peddle that s**t like it's not addictive,

Distorting, or secretly selfish

Those who fear confrontation

Fear risk

But still need to feel known

Well...

Bowl 'em over with kindness

Tell 'em

"You're so f*****g special!"

Whenever you can

All the damn time

(ugh)

That was, this is, the flattery game

Praising water for it's wetness

The sky for it's blueness

A trophy for your last place

A positive image for your pre diabetic face

Now here we are

In a full on idiotic movement

Of self esteem counterfeits and simple minded d-bags

Hooking the youth on a gentle enough diet

Of unearned high fives and trophies for last

It's insidious and it has induced

A relentless addiction to praise

The youth became junkies

Demanding safe spaces

To get their special fix in peace

To avoid challenge

Avoid refinement

And exist to be coddled

F*****g praise junkies....

Wasting good spaces

They slow everything down

Like it's the world's fault

They're little b*****s

　

　

Author's Note

Reviews

[aLittlePain]

A fierce write, with a measure of truth. I'm not backward in going forward so if I dig someone I'm gonna tell them however I see fit, and I can't say it doesn't do things for you when you receive a genuine compliment.
I get this though! I like the junkie comparison, it seemed at first to be a polar extreme but it definitely works here. I dig the unapologetic hard tone there are some real tight kick a*s lines.

[Davidgeo]

Glad ya liked it

[Ana B.]

hmmm....was the world always like that i wonder...had to be...kinda makes me rethink the whole ''having kids'' thing. i'm going to raise them right. Is it enough though?

[Papaya]

yeah, i can sort of get what you're saying but really, what is wrong with offering people praise and kindness. I agree it has to be deserved, no one ever has benefited from empty praise, it does sort of create a different monster altogether but you have to be open to at least offering a kind word to someone otherwise you completely can demoralize and deflate them. There are people who go out of their way to be too nice, but then their are people who go out of their way too be mean. Where's the happy middle and is the ratio of praise:critique different for each person depending on maturity and comprehension? just thoughts...

[Davidgeo]

This is about OVER praise and an addiction to it, I'm assuming the reader understands that without mentioning it. By using drug addiction as a comparison I figured that would be clear... most drugs are fine in moderation, even extremely beneficial when necessary, and so is praise. Of course too much of anything distorts perspective and ruins objectivity... again, that's something I expect the reader to assume. I am speaking to the extreme reactions, like demanding safe spaces on university campus's, arbitrarily labeling things "offensive", and banning people from publicly speaking if they have certain views that may offend them. The whole "microaggression" bullshit, the people who flip out inappropriately, become useless and then blame other people or society for "triggering" them. These aren't abuse survivors doing this in most cases, these are normal kids from American suburbia doing this. The "happy" middle is easy, just be honest and call things like you see them. I don't think it's wise to try and game the application of appreciation, it should be naturally given or not given. I'm not saying berate a toddler for f*****g up a toy lego project, this applies to young adults and up... lets say 15 and up.

[Papaya]

Cannot disagree. Always a pleasure.

[Papaya]

Ever read Ayn Rand. You may share her views.

[Davidgeo]

Oh yes, I've read much of Ayn Rand. The Fountainhead was tolerable Atlas Shrugged made me want to never read again. She tried to get her BS philosophy academically respected, called it objectivism or some non sense like that. No one really took it seriously outside of her fans. Still, she has her fans but in reality her "philosophy" is just an over the top reaction to her life in Stalinist Russia. Which was a privileged one to say the least, she is completely ideology driven and had a shaky grasp on what actual was going on and almost zero understanding of market economics. Honestly, I despise what lies beneath that women's ideas. Fascism meets feudalism - that would be her ideal world I think.

[Davidgeo]

Did I say Stalinst? I mean Lenin.... she's so old.... damn, she witnessed the birth of the Russian communist machine. No wonder why she was such a b***h all the time after coming to the US..

[Papaya]

I wouldn't have picked up on that error anyway...

[Davidgeo]

I strive for accuracy for the sake of accuracy.

[Papaya]

That's why I had wondered if you had read her books. I never bought into her philosophy but in her books there was always the push for perfection and lack of tolerance for fashion. It's been a very long time since I've read her books. Probably about 15-20 years. Anyhow... Thanks for sharing your thoughts.