The Shadowed Thoughts of Silas McBane: Episode #16

The Human Condition

Is it me, or does it seem like the vast majority of the populace is having the worst year ever?  Really, I’ve been thinking on this for quite some time now and I’ve spoken with a great number of people regarding this very subject and it seems I’m far from alone in feeling the way I do.  So, what’s going on in the goth community in regards to the rest of the world?  Comparably speaking, is it good?  Is it bad?  Is the community, as a whole, thriving, or is it floundering?  I don’t really know how to answer these questions, as my experiences are extremely varied.

                This is the point I’m trying to make:  We (you) in the goth community try so very hard to be apart from the status quo.  We like to see ourselves as outside and above the culture around us, but at the same time, we’re all going through the exact same stuff!  So, in all of our efforts to be so far outside the mainstream, it’s interesting that we find ourselves in the exact same place in which everyone else is.  And I can tell you exactly why that is so.  You see, humans are humans.  Some are white.  Some are black.  Some are rich, poor, tall, short, fat, skinny, gay, hetero, etc.  None of that matters because none of us can escape the hardships of the real world.  One thing I cannot tolerate is to see people of the gothic community behave as if they are better, or even different, than anyone else.  Behavior that comes from a false sense of enlightenment and entitlement is certainly what keeps all of us lumped into the same category:  Freaks and losers.  I can’t disagree.  If that’s how we largely behave, then that’s largely what we are. 

                I couldn’t care less if you think that’s true or not.  I don’t write this blog to be popular.  I like to think I write to inform and entertain.  I try to do both as best I can.  But when we (goths) spend all our energy and effort to live outside the lines, we’d also better be prepared for the consequences. 

                We’re all victims of the human condition.  All susceptible to torment and strife.  The further we alienate ourselves from everyone around us, the further we get from our source of help and hope.  What is our source of help and hope?  The countless people all around us that are all struggling through the same things we are. 

                We’re not elite because we look different.  We’re the same as everybody else. 

-Silas McBane