The Hogs of Entropy 0884

eZine lover (@eZine)

Published in 

The Hogs of Entropy

 · 5 years ago

  

 
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      (*)   (*)   *   (*)~*~(*)                  HOE E'ZINE RELEASE #884 
    *  0     0    ~    0                * 
   ~   0     0  ~* *~  0         hOGS    ~           "The New Clique" 
  (    0*~*~*0 (     ) 0*~*~      oF      ) 
   ~   0     0  ~   ~  0        eNTROPY  ~          By: Ugliness Man 
    *  0     0   * *   0                *               10-23-99 
      (*)   (*)   ~   (*)~*~(*) 
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	Reading zines, both print and online, as well as rants and 
 commentaries posted to newsgroups and various other internet forums, I see a 
 wide variety of topics.  Decriminalization of drugs, the mistakes made by 
 those in office, vegetarianism, gay rights, corporate idiocy... and being a 
 part of this scene as much as I can be, I, of course, have my own opinions 
 and views on things, and I often get ideas in my head of things I want to 
 write about.  So I was trying to think of something to write about for this 
 page, and I was munching on some candy.  It was the new M&M's variety, with 
 the cookie center.  I got to thinking about how it's basically a rip off of 
 the new candy called Astros.  Then I got to thinking about how a lot of 
 other candy products, as well as fast food chains, coffee shops, and 
 countless other industries, are constantly stealing new ideas from each 
 other.  I also got to thinking about the cheesy concept of Aero's "limited 
 edition" cappuccino bar.  With all this thinking, I figured I was on to 
 something, and intended to write something about all of this.    

        But something was wrong.  Almost instantly, I started thinking about 
 how it wasn't "cool".  It's not angry enough, it's not very anti-social.  I 
 found myself almost wanting to post a message to alt.anarchism and ask them 
 if they thought it was too lame of a topic to write about.  This is not a 
 good thing.  In the zine culture, at least the "alternative" and 
 anarchist/anti-social variety, it should be an "anything goes" spirit. 
 Instead, we sometimes find ourselves looking to each other for permission 
 and validation for our thoughts.  Should we?  I don't think so.  This is one 
 of the symptoms of the clique attitude that "alternative" culture is so 
 opposed to.  We're supposed to be trying to destroy cliques, not form our 
 own. 

	We're all guilty of this.  Both ends of it.  No matter how liberal or 
 "alternative" our friends are, when we're hanging around with them, just 
 chatting, we will sometimes censor ourselves and decide not to say something 
 that's on the tip of our tongue, for fear that our friends will think we're 
 less "cool" for wasting breath on something so insipid.  And on the rare 
 occasion that someone forgets themselves and says something like that, they 
 receive a look that says "that's just not cool"... or even worse, someone 
 will actually say it out loud.  Eventually, we all learn to shut up and act 
 as we're expected, adhere to the rules.  It all comes around full circle, 
 and we become the clique clones.  

	It's a double-edged sword, though.  Part of the core of this culture 
 is complaining about how boring, banal and insipid we find television and 
 mass media, not to mention politicians and teachers.  So would it not follow 
 that we force ourselves to avoid that?  To be honest, I really don't know. 
 Maybe we can use our boring stuff to combat that of the mainstream.  Next 
 time your english teacher requires you to write a stupid essay, take my idea 
 and complain for 5 pages about how M&M's ripped off Astros.  Just a thought. 
 Okay, so it's not a very good thought, but it's mine and I'm proud of it.  

        And isn't that what it should be all about?  Say whatever the hell 
 you want!   All of it!  Yeah, some of what you say will end up being crap, 
 but that's okay.  If you train yourself to hold back, the good stuff might 
 not ever come out.  And no matter what others try to tell you, there is good 
 stuff in there that has to come out. Interesting, I started out pondering 
 the evils of the candy companies, and now I've come round to something 
 totally unrelated.  SPEAK YOUR MIND.  SPEAK THE TRUTH.  If you really want 
 to, start your own zine.  I haven't yet seen one print zine that I thought 
 was boring (I've seen plenty of crappy ezines, tho).  So what's holding you 
 back?  The cliquesters?  Educate them, or cut them down, just don't give in. 
  
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 ( *(c) hOGS oF eNTROPY pRESS*       HOE #884 ~ BY: UGLINESS MAN ~ 10/23/99 )