reply to post by GlennCanady
And, here, I thought I could get extreme.
I am not sure what it is, but when someone stands up or sits down behind a microphone, everyone seems to inflate that individual with properties of a
deity. A healthy dose of "Deify" from Disturbed is in order, here. As much as the album version seems to point an arrow at Bush - it would be a
very shallow interpretation of the lyrics based upon the first fifteen seconds of a four minute long performance.
"I only wanted a blessing made
Now I've been labeled a renegade
It seems so clear now what I must do
You're no immortal
I won't let them
Deify you
They view you as the new messiah
Deify you
Renew belief in some demented man"
Humans have an interesting and strange habit of deifying each other. As children, our parents were akin to Gods (or some parental figure). As
teenagers they were poster-icons, bands, athletes, etc. As adults, they are public speakers, politicians, CEOs, etc.
Even I am not above it - superior as I may be (I'm not above a baseless assertion of ability, either - laugh a little, arrogance is a wonderful form
of self-directed humor). I have a rather strong dislike for certain music artists - one in particular likes to turn kitchen supplies into fashion
statements. I inflate her qualities I disagree with as well as her influence to make my -hatred- for her 'music' and 'message' justified in my
own eyes. I demonize her to validate my judgmental and, frankly, evil attitude towards her. Evil is deserving of evil - and it complicates things
when you take a public figure and consider the prospect they are human as opposed to a god/demon.
The strong disagreement you have towards Beck and your outright hatred for him can only be justified if he is a hateful, evil, demon. No person - no
human deserves the sort of feelings you have towards Beck - or the feelings I have towards Lady GaGa. Since they are human, and considering that
possibility forces us to question our rationale, we elevate them to a super-human status. The greater the threat, the greater the response - the more
threatened we feel, the more rational our socially unacceptable desires appear.
I must confess I feel the same way towards John Stewart and Steven Colbert. It's an irrational feeling fed by nothing more than my disagreement with
them and the fact they get to stand up and speak to people who agree with them. Because I disagree, I want to label them as a threat - an enemy - a
target; something/someone to destroy at all costs "for the greater good."
No one can ever get rid of those feelings. I will always want to see GaGa spontaneously combust in a live performance. I will always be tempted to
smack someone for singing "Poker Face" in my presence. I can either be a slave to those instincts and behave inappropriately and allow myself to
deify a social icon - or - be aware of those instincts and accept them as part of my nature while maintaining composure in my actions and
accusations.
There are quite a few potential reasons concerning the unsuccessful sign-up requests to Beck's site. They range from technical errors, coding
errors, desynchs between industries, hackers, etc. I'm quite a conservative person who can get a bit hot under the collar and gungho at times - not
much of a reason to keep me off of that site if there is some kind of anti-liberal conspiracy.
I recall a time when ATS denied generic, free accounts registration to the forums. People were abusing the policy and creating multiple accounts.
While ATS clearly defined this - Beck's site administration may not be all that superb and this detail may be left out.
You are more than welcome to believe in a conspiracy to rule the world and Beck is part of it. You've obviously not listened very much to the man if
you believe he is for something of that nature. I don't need to elevate the man to the status of a god to agree or disagree with him. Some day,
perhaps, I will be able to do that with every person. Whether you start the process of relieving people of their godly responsibilities, or not, is
your choice. I'm just trying to be of service where I can.