Rage against the idiots

Warning: Coarse(r) language ahead

I'm in a bitchin' mood today, and verily, there's a little something I've been looking to get off my chest for a while. It's simply this: Anti-intellectualism really pisses me off. Not so much a pet peeve as much a zomgwtfih8people kind of thing.

I had a short 3-ish year stint in white collar land. The corporate finance section of an accounting firm to be precise, so plenty of exposure to the guts of the of the market economy and I oftentimes found myself truly appalled at how so many people wear their ignorance like a badge of honour.

As the 4 Horsemen have discussed at great length, this is quite common among the religious and I'm not sure whether to look at these people, these fine specimens who truly believe the dinosaurs are a hoax and that everything was created in 7 days, I really don't know whether to regard them with oh-you-poor-brainwashed-dumbfuck pity or help-I'm-going-to-projectile-vomit revulsion. I simply can't wrap my head around it! It's stupidity of an order of magnitude beneath my comprehension! And holy hell, there are so, so many of them...

There is something truly, truly perverse about glorifying faith without evidence in every aspect of life. Speaking from personal experience, there's something pretty fucking stupid about faith in an auditor. That having been said, I've met some pretty fucking stupid auditors, bankers, lawyers, directors, CEOs... Now, I've met some moderate religious types and I especially admire my Muslim friends who appreciate the taste of roast pork. For the most part they're intelligent, rational people who just happen to be going through the motions (sometimes) of whatever faith they profess. But the moderates, I find, are a woefully small minority. Far more common are the schmucks who turn up to church, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, hanging on to every word uttered by the pastor. In the case of one church I visited, the pastor turned out to be a smug, self-righteous, egotistical dumbfuck who spouted hypocrisy with every 2nd sentence. Sound familiar?

And the thing about this special breed of asshole (the congregation, not the pastor), is that their faith has shut them off from anything which doesn't agree with their "divinely-inspired" worldview. But let's turn away from silly old Bronze Age myths about a Jewish zombie for a bit.

I'd like to talk a bit about worshippers of the new gods. You know what I mean. The simpering, snivelling, scrounging, drooling, spineless, materialistic wretches who worship at the shrines of Gucci, Prada, Luis Vuitton, BMW, Gap, Christian Dior, Shu Uemura, Salvatore Ferragamo and any number of shiny new brand names in that shiny new shopping mall the size of an oil tanker. The same kind of specimen that hates their own pathetic little lives so much that they have to pore over gossip magazines and obssess over the fictitious lives of some goits in some soap opera.

You get shedloads of them in East Asia. "To get rich is glorious." Thanks a shitload Chairman Deng. NOW look what you've started. Legions of shallow-minded dumbfucks who have no souls beyond their bank accounts, their mobile phones and the clothes they wear. A plague of consumerism, spurred ever onwards by "analysts" FULL of good and happy news about how the economy is stronger than ever, not for a moment pausing to think of the environmental timebomb they've set off, waiting, just waiting to bring climatic apocalypse upon the fruit of their hyperactive loins.

Meanwhile, scientists and intellectuals across the globe work their guts out in labs, librarys and lecture theatres, ever raging against the decay of society, and for what? To be mocked and reviled by the very people they're trying so save. To have their warnings shouted down by the likes of lobbyists, politicians and capitalists. To get bombed and shot for conducting life-saving research! Animal Liberation Front?? What in fuck's name is wrong with these people??

It's thinking about stuff like this that have a guy thinking: What's the point? Now I need a cup of tea, some tai chi and to go away and see if I can find the bloody point again.

Ok, done bitchin'. Feel free to ignore me, I know I bitch something fierce. Tune in next time for something happier.

DISCLAIMER: This is a rant. It is frustration and exasperation given form. It was also written in anger, hence caution should be exercised in viewing its content and indeed in taking any of it seriously. Ranting, when done correctly, can be entertaining and informative social comment, and more importantly, it provides a very efficacious venting mechanism for the writer. This rant has been very satisfying indeed for me, and it will be a while yet before I rant again. If you enjoyed this rant, please be informed that I do not rant on request. If you didn't enjoy this rant, or perhaps find it offends your sensibilities, well, it's a big Internet, and there are other websites perhaps more suitable for your tastes. Thank you for reading :-)