"Giving in is so damn comforting

and so we go on with our lives
We know the truth but prefer lies
Lies are simple,
simple is bliss
Why go against tradition when we can admit defeat?
live in decline
Be the victim of our own design
The status quo, built on suspect
Why would anyone stick out their neck?"

The Decline by NOFX


This song really spoke to me as a 17 year old & the part above still hits home.

Lucky the Dog

read the story of Lucky the Dog:
http://blogs.salon.com/0002007/2004/04/02.html#a685


"We are all, in a real sense, like Lucky. Most of us, all over the world, struggle every day, and put up with a huge amount of stress and unhappiness in our lives. Compared to the hunter-gatherers who lived for millions of years before modern civilization, we work much harder and longer to make a living, we face much more physical and psychological violence (in our neighbourhoods, in our workplaces, in our war-torn world, and sometimes even in our homes), we suffer from many more physical and psychological diseases and illnesses, we live in crowded, polluted, mostly run-down communities, in constant fear (of an infinite number of things, most notably not having enough), and we are oppressed with hierarchies, laws, rules and restrictions that would have driven our ancient ancestors quite mad.
Why do we put up with it? Because it's the only life we know." -Dave Pollard

Life Itself

"Becoming equals the shifting combinations of varying configurations of "power constellations" interconnected at higher and lower levels. At certain points these constantly changing combinations yield sorrow for an individual from his or her perspective, at other points these changing combinations yield joy. The totality of these shifting combinations is *life itself*."

http://caae.phil.cmu.edu/cavalier/80254/Nietzsche/W_P_2.html