Vicious Society

You've got what I want and if I can't have it too, I'm going to tear you down to the level I'm at. I'm entitled. You're no better than me.

Or maybe you are. I see you on Instagram. God, I wasn't born that beautiful. Forget what's behind the facade, it's amazing what makeup and Photoshop can do. I'm angry and depressed I lost the genetic lottery and someone has to pay for that.

As for your fabulous lifestyle... I'm at home on Saturday night with my fingers in my pants streaming "Friends." No one invites me to a party where everybody wears white in the Hamptons. I live in America, where's my opportunity?

Down the drain. Income inequality keeps growing and the myth keeps spreading that we can have it all, when in truth nobody can have it all. Hell, even Elon Musk complains.

But we didn't used to be exposed to it all. Now we can see it, at our fingertips, it's just a click away. How do we get there?

Oh, there are a ton of gurus online peddling advice. That's their business, giving you false hope. And when you end up even deeper in the hole, poorer than before, you're beyond frustrated, you're angry. You keep being told to lift yourself up by your bootstraps and you're trying but in truth that's very hard to do.

Just respect the corporation and the rich, the job providers.

But how come I have to work a split shift at the fast food restaurant?

Shut up, you're lucky you've got a job. And you've got an iPhone and a flat screen TV and I walked thirty miles in the snow to school so stop complaining, you've got it good, even though you have trouble making ends meet.

Meanwhile, Wall Street bought up all the homes in your neighborhood, jacked the rents and now you can't afford a home of your own!

Not that you used to feel entitled to a house. But Bush II essentially said it was an American right. And how did that doofus end up being President anyway. I wish my father was rich and famous, never mind President.

I see all these winners all around me, why am I a loser?

Money for nothing and your chicks for free. Yeah, that's the ticket.

So if you go to Harvard you make buddies that will grease the way for you to make billions. I didn't go to Harvard, does that mean I'm SOL?

And these online influencers are making beaucoup bucks. Forget that it's a 24/7 gig with rampant burnout, they're getting notice, they're getting rich and I keep posting and nothing is happening for me!

I mean it's one thing if you're uber-smart and talented. But so many of these people are truly no better than me. How come they can make it and I can't?

Now it used to be different. There used to be a clear division between the winners and the losers, the haves and the have-nots. But the internet blew that paradigm to hell. What the internet provided was a road, a vision, a way to the top that was never visible before. It was possible to become rich and famous all by your lonesome, without the approval of institutional gatekeepers. And now that I can see the destination and a path, if I dedicate myself I should be able to make it, right? I mean if I have to look at another wanker on social media with undeserved riches...

I can play the guitar, I can sing. I keep reading about these online phenoms, how come I'm not one of them?

Oh, and I believe everything I read and see in the phony news edifice that is all about clicks. If it bleeds it leads? That was local TV news, online if it titillates it's the headline. You click through and oftentimes find nothing. A story you already know or no story at all. Sometimes written by AI!

And I keep going backwards. It's harder to pay my bills. Those damn immigrants are at fault, coming to the U.S. to work dirty, minimum wage jobs. They're taking away work from true blue Americans I tell you. And one thing is for sure, I don't want to pay for them. The government already wastes my tax money.

As far as anybody in power listening...

Well, Joe Biden is old and out of touch. Sure, he's compassionate, but I don't think he understands me and my problems. Is that the job of the President? I'm not sure, but someone's got to stand up for me.

And while I'm losing I've got the Trump show to watch. It's very entertaining, but even I know it's ultimately b.s., that this guy is a phony grifter.

So who is truly looking out for me?

I can't find someone, other than myself. So I've got to fight my own battles.

Now my expectations used to be lower. Go to school, get a job, get married and settle down. But that's not enough anymore. If the person down the block is going on vacation, I should be able to too. Seems like everybody is winning but me. And I can't buy that, and I'm pissed!

Meanwhile, those in power want to take away the means of communication. They talk on the phone, they don't even text. They don't know that social media is informative and entertaining. I'm interested first and foremost in people, the world runs on gossip, what am I supposed to do, stare at the wall?

And if you don't like what I do I'm going to come down on you. You're not a fan of BTS? Then you're a worthless piece of crap. You didn't like "Barbie"? What's wrong with you, everybody else did, groupthink rules. You know better than to have a contrary opinion.

Just vote and everything will work out.

Yeah, I keep voting and and nothing happens. Even worse, I lose the right to abortion. I can't even get it up anymore for fear the condom will break.

Oh, it's the same as it ever was. You're just a complainer.

But it isn't the same as it ever was. You keep getting richer and lording it over me. You've got a multi-hundred foot yacht and all the celebrities I thought I believed in are partying on it. No one invited me. Meanwhile, I can't make money selling on Amazon because the terms keep getting more onerous. But I should have respect for Jeff Bezos, who stole his good friend's wife!

Man, I'm living by the rules and losing and the winners think the rules don't apply to them. Why should I keep doing the right thing?

No, I'm going to go on attack. And with the internet, I cannot only tell my friends, but everybody in the world. Why isn't anybody paying attention to me? Meanwhile, the winners are hurt I'm dissing them. Tough noogies, it goes with the territory.

Truth? In a world where Biden won and Trump and his cronies keep saying the election was stolen... The truth doesn't matter. And if you got a vaccine I don't want one, because I hate you. And I can point to stories online that prove I'm right.

The system must be rigged, I tell you.

And in truth, the system is rigged in many ways. But even if you're born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you've got to work hard and take risks to win, that has never changed, you don't sit at home and get lucky.

But I don't want to put in the effort. It's more satisfying just trying to take down the winners, I love to see them squirm, those compromised a-holes.

I mean if I can't win, someone's got to lose. And I'll put all my effort into taking you down, I'm watching you, don't think you can get away with it. And what's wrong with you that you have to parade your success in front of me 24/7 anyway. And how come you need no portfolio to become a success. I mean if the Kardashians can make it, I'm entitled to at least a little piece of the pie, right?

This sucks. Everybody's living a better life than me. Screw whether that's true, that's the way it feels. And since no one is sticking up for me, I'm on a personal crusade to right the wrongs, to make the winners suffer. Beware.


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