### ### ### ### ### #### ### ### ### #### ### ### ##### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ### ##### ### ### ########## ### ### ########## ### ### ### ### Underground eXperts United Presents... ####### ## ## ####### # # ## ## ####### ####### ## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ## #### ## ## #### # # ####### ## ## ####### ## ## ## ## ##### ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ####### ####### # # ## ####### ####### [ States Of Confusion ] [ By The GNN ] ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ STATES OF CONFUSION by THE GNN/DualCrew-Shining/uXu NOTE: At first, I wanted to give this file a more catchy title, like 'Same Shit - Different Day'. But I quickly realized that no one would take it seriously if I did that. Oh well, never mind. Just read on. (Hell, why did I include this note at all?) Yesterday I saw a program about drug rehabilitation on television. It was highly amusing. Five teenagers explained how they had wasted several years of their lives abusing various stimulants. In the end, they all assured the viewer (and themselves I guess) that they had now left this 'confused way of living' in favor for a 'better' one. All the way through this programme I kept asking myself the slightly trite question "why?". Not "why do drugs?", however. In this case, "why quit?". You see, I do not think these youngsters really know what awaits them. Perhaps they will regain their physical health after giving up drugs. But their minds... will just enter another state of confusion that need not be any 'better': the only mental state offered and endorsed by the modern society, which when carefully examined reveals itself to be a mixture of various grotesque values, inconsistent beliefs and dehumanising opinions on what is right and wrong. The ex-junkies in question all agreed that drugs gave them a twisted view of reality. When they, now and then, sobered up, they realized that the world they experienced when intoxicated was not the real one. Real or not, it must have been utmost appealing, since they constantly returned to it. The 'real' reality, as they said, was too hard to cope with. Therefore they took drugs, because it gave them a chance to flee. Life in the fast lane was in a sense fun, they said; the sad part with it was the tragic fact that it was utterly self-defeating. They knew that they would end up in the gutter if they had continued. What will happen to them now? Sure, they will probably not end up in the gutter. But that is no reason for celebration. There is a huge risk that they will just end up in something equally bad: this thing usually referred to as 'the hard reality'. In this 'reality', they will get a nice job (as we all know, 'a nice job' is just any socially accepted waste of time that pays), a family and... then nothing. Nothing at all. Just a long trek towards death. If they are lucky, however, they might be able to convince themselves that this kind of life is a life worth living. The human psyche can sometimes do magic - any rotten existence can be made into 'worthwhile' with the help of good internal rhetoric and self-deception. (Now, someone might want to ask how I know that these particular people will end up in the 'meaningless existence' I talk about. Well, actually I do not know. Perhaps they will actually take care of their potentials and do something they really want to do. But I doubt it. Their sad faces revealed that the struggle was over, and that it was time to give up.) The kids on television had set their minds artificially free with the help of drugs. Now they have to do the same thing, but without chemical products. Needless to say, this is both a hard and fundamentally meaningless project. Because like drugs, the modern society has nothing to offer but false prophets and twisted views on what 'the hard reality' is made of. "Work! Earn money! Be happy!" ... is unfortunately not all that different from... "Smoke, snort, shoot! Get high! Be happy!" And, "I don't wanna fall out of the line, because I feel secure here" ... is not all that different from... "I don't wanna quit drugs, because they make me feel secure." Et cetera. It is virtually the same thing. Following from this, it is not strange that some people spend their lives going back and forth between these two extreme standpoints. Because they find no happiness in any of them, just numbness and momentary pleasures. And they cannot be ordered lexically, as it is usually claimed, where drugs end up on second place. Because hard work gives you nothing more than a long boring life, while drugs gives you a short but slightly more enjoyable life - mere health and length is not a good criterion for a good life. You have to fill this life with meaning too. Drugs will not give you any true meaning. The modern society offers you a meaning, but a meaning that you deep down in your mind know is false too. There are some people who accept all these sad truths, and realize that neither standpoint is acceptable. Unfortunately, too many of these people flee to a third - equally horrible - state of confusion: religion - which is either inspired by the belief in a metaphysical force, 'God', or a natural force, 'science'. In this state, the seeker will find an enormous pile of explanations to almost everything - which is so complex and incomprehensible that the poor individual who desperately need answers often jumps to the conclusion that there must be some 'meaning' to be found somewhere in it. Of course, they never actually find such a meaning, only more confusion, because the project is essentially a fiasco from start. But this is something they never understand. Instead, they just dig further down the inconsistent pile, telling themselves that everything will be just fine as long as they 'keep the faith'. Anyway, let me assure you, I am no cynic. I do not believe (in fact, I know) that this is everything there is in this world. True happiness is possible. But it cannot be achieved or found with the help of drugs, the standards of the modern society or religion of any kind. It is to be found outside those cramped spheres. None of these misconstructed products can set your mind really free. Only one thing can do this, and I know that you know what that is. If you adjust the set and view the show from the right angle, there is much to learn from television. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- uXu #406 Underground eXperts United 1997 uXu #406 Call DESTINY STONE II -> +61-924-62553 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------