When did antisocial behavior become acceptable?

By Scott Chastain

                “I’m in your face, man.”  Claims the advertisement for some random sports merchandise.  What is going on, here?  I must be getting old, or at least older.  I can recall a time when commercial advertising still asked  us to purchase their products, not demanded that we do so.  I am sure that if a psychological study was conducted upon this trend towards antisocial behavior, it would likely discover a correlation between this “ME” based advertising and the resultant behavior trend towards “I’m the most important being in the Universe, ergo only my needs and desires need be considered” mode of thinking.

                Oh, we are all exposed to this everyday.  Perhaps we have become so desensitized to these events that we don’t notice them anymore.  The rude clerk in the convenience store who acted like he was doing you a great favor by handing you your change.  The fast food employee who couldn’t be bothered from her busy schedule to get your order right.  The person in the green Honda Civic who is swerving in and out of traffic so that they won’t be late for their appointment with the other flashy cars down at the “strip”.  You know what I am talking about.

                Perhaps there is an advantage to disregarding the basic existence of others (except when they are providing us with some actual or, dare I say, imagined need)?  If I simply overlook that others do not consider me as the numero uno of the universe, would my life become somehow more fulfilling?  It is possible.  Perhaps I should adopt a more egocentric position in which I can simply consider other people as annoyances which serve no ecological function save my own demands?  Again, this presents a clear possibility.  Despite that it may help me acclimate to the rising cultural model in the this country (and therefore be less stressed when I witness this behavior in others), I seriously doubt it.

                I can’t seem to help noticing all these other people walking around.  I also notice that not all of them are so self-centered as they carry on with their respective business.  Some are.  Some are not.  Imagine if this trend affected everybody?  Don’t even ask for a favor!  “Say Jim, what was the homework assignment in Sociology?”  “Screw you!  You weren’t there, tough cookies.”

                That would be a really bleak world.  Suicide rates would skyrocket.  Divorces would go down, because nobody would bother to get married.  How can we have lasting, integrated interpersonal relationships if we are only in it for ourselves?  Surely it would be the downfall of the Human Race!

                Still… I sit here trying to shake off the Vinegar of Narcissus and instead, attempt to imbibe from the sweet Nectar of Jove, and find it still no better for the bitter.  What about bill collectors, I ask myself?  With professional parasites abounding relentlessly trying to squeeze DNA from the bones of humanity; it is difficult adopting anything but a cynical viewpoint.  But try we must!

                I guess it could start with less demanding advertising.  Look at Budweiser.  They came up with this concept for a commercial:  the infamous singing bullfrogs.  No appealing to the most base instinct in the male libido, no demands, no support of aggression at all.  Just bullfrogs chanting the brand name.  It must have been a successful campaign, for it has been copied by multiple corporations.  If they can do it, why can’t everyone else?

                Oh the questions of strife recurring.  Is it just me?  Perhaps the concept of charity is a perception we have when we are younger, a fantasy that never really existed.  Perhaps there is nothing new under the sun after all.  I just don’t remember ever seeing Opie Taylor tell his dad what he could go do with his essential parts.  Do you notice this too?

                You may notice that some people are too busy to take the three-eighths of a second to remember to flush that public toilet.  You may notice when that music video with the face smashed into your tube like a cat stuck in a fishbowl appears on the television.  You may notice when  you spend a half-hour waiting for the unsure driver to back out of that sole parking space, only to have it grabbed at the last second by someone who was too excited at the prospect of parking their car to even notice you there waiting. Recall your neighbors teenage son with the concert equipment strapped to his car?  You know this kid!  He is the one who thinks that the better half of a square mile is itching to hear the bass sections of the songs he prefers.

                We tend to adapt to this.  Modify our behavior to yield to the rising apathy.  We tend to develop futility.  I can’t fight ’em so I might as well join ’em.  Is this much better than the cancer patient who declares, “Cancer, you have beaten me.  I submit my ghost to your power”?  Again, I must protest.  In my opinion we have to let it all go.  Let the ocean of reason and humanity within us never ebb.  The way I see it is that there is thing called life, and we are all in it together.