cooley@nmtvax.UUCP (04/17/85)
[* Eat, drink, and be married *] I think that one of the primary reasons this newsgroup doesn't get much traffic is that a lot of people read it but few submit articles. Death is one of the most facinating subjects around for most people even if they aren't willing to bare their "soul" about their own personal experiences for fear of being laughed at. Growing up in Modern Society is getting more and more difficult as time goes by. Schools and parents teach you about a world that exists only in their minds and conflicting desires tear you apart. The leaders of Countries scream about humanitarianism while they produce mass-instant-death (just add people). Depression is a serious problem today. It reminds me of a phenomena called "learned heplessness" in Psychology. We are taught the "formula" for success (get a degree, work from 9 to 5, get married, have lots of children so your city too will warrant its very own A-bomb). If we fuck up anywhere along the way, we are "unworthy". The U.S. system of education provides such a large number of ways in which you can be made to feel "small", "stupid", ... just because you aren't the norm or think differently about things. I for one am tired of this conformism = american pie shit. If people spent more time thinking about how other people feel and caring and nuturing the individual differences that are really what life is all about, there would be less "shrinks" making $75 an hour. STAMP OUT NORMALITY and maybe smile at someone new each day. Depression is just a reflection of the sickness in our culture. - thaedeus zefuldar (Death is a rather pointless way of attracting attention)