"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it."
Ellen Goodman
Don't we all grow up wanting to get married, own a home with a white picket fence, have a dog and 2.5 children? Well, don't we? It's that same image that has been crammed down the throats of generations of Americans almost since the time of our forefathers. What is so desirable about this happenstance? I for one just cannot understand it. Firstly, owning a home is not worth the hassle. Why pay the same amount, if not more, per month to a mortgage when you can rent and not be liable to fix anything that breaks. You don't have to cut the lawn, take care of the shrubs, or worry about leaky roofs! Sure you won't have four wooden walls on a tiny plot of land to say is yours, but I can live without that.
Then there's marriage, and kids. Ugh. Who says everyone has to get married? Can't we just revel in our solitude? Sure we're all social animals, but that doesn't mean we have to push the envelope and live with these other animals! Honestly. And kids! Let's not get started on kids.
But the whole topic for this post is based on Mariane's comment in game the other day:
You know, Mari is completely right:
"It's that damned culture of the 'self' that comes with the American way"
And you know what, I would go one step further and say that that IS the American way. If it's not beneficial for me then why should I do it? It's a horrible way to go about life and relationships, but sadly it is what our culture has evolved into. Perhaps the epitome of this is New York, New York. Now, I've only ever met fantastically nice people from there, but the way the 'common' New Yorker is portrayed is not a very nice picture. They are bossy, rude, and care only about their own needs and wants. While I hope that New Yorkers are a hyperbole of the rest of Americans, I am proven wrong more and more everyday.
And this American Attitude is easily transferred into the world of Vana'diel. Why help so-and-so with their limit break quest? What benefit do you get for helping them level higher? Practically nothing. It is natural sociological behavior for any animal, human included, to not repeat acts that reap no reward. FFXI is a sobering view of how other countries actually feel about Americans. They tolerate us, but our own arrogance and self-centeredness has scared away any friends that we might have once had. Oh, but they're still 'friends', but only because we, believe it or not, are still a powerful country military-wise.
I shall leave you with this quote to ponder and, hopefully, put into action; not only in-game, but in life aswell:
Don't we all grow up wanting to get married, own a home with a white picket fence, have a dog and 2.5 children? Well, don't we? It's that same image that has been crammed down the throats of generations of Americans almost since the time of our forefathers. What is so desirable about this happenstance? I for one just cannot understand it. Firstly, owning a home is not worth the hassle. Why pay the same amount, if not more, per month to a mortgage when you can rent and not be liable to fix anything that breaks. You don't have to cut the lawn, take care of the shrubs, or worry about leaky roofs! Sure you won't have four wooden walls on a tiny plot of land to say is yours, but I can live without that.
Then there's marriage, and kids. Ugh. Who says everyone has to get married? Can't we just revel in our solitude? Sure we're all social animals, but that doesn't mean we have to push the envelope and live with these other animals! Honestly. And kids! Let's not get started on kids.
But the whole topic for this post is based on Mariane's comment in game the other day:
You know, Mari is completely right:
"It's that damned culture of the 'self' that comes with the American way"
And you know what, I would go one step further and say that that IS the American way. If it's not beneficial for me then why should I do it? It's a horrible way to go about life and relationships, but sadly it is what our culture has evolved into. Perhaps the epitome of this is New York, New York. Now, I've only ever met fantastically nice people from there, but the way the 'common' New Yorker is portrayed is not a very nice picture. They are bossy, rude, and care only about their own needs and wants. While I hope that New Yorkers are a hyperbole of the rest of Americans, I am proven wrong more and more everyday.
And this American Attitude is easily transferred into the world of Vana'diel. Why help so-and-so with their limit break quest? What benefit do you get for helping them level higher? Practically nothing. It is natural sociological behavior for any animal, human included, to not repeat acts that reap no reward. FFXI is a sobering view of how other countries actually feel about Americans. They tolerate us, but our own arrogance and self-centeredness has scared away any friends that we might have once had. Oh, but they're still 'friends', but only because we, believe it or not, are still a powerful country military-wise.
I shall leave you with this quote to ponder and, hopefully, put into action; not only in-game, but in life aswell:
- "Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you."
- Diana Spencer
