Age Before Beauty

'Respect your elders!' they say with a stern finger-wag and a harsh stare.

But, I think surely I need no forgiving for suggesting this is perhaps a generation whereby respect for elders is not something that should be a given. Most people will tell you respect is something to be earned, not merely given arbitrarily and this should be no more truthful than in the youth of today.

"RESPECT YOUR ELDERS!" your mother may say after a particular argument. It is not unrealistic, indeed I'd say it would be rather logical to respond with a long, world-weary "Why?"

The elders of today's young people have sold their futures down the river. Whether that be literally, by dumping pollutants into the rivers and waterways of the world, expelling them into the air and then formulating plans on how to deal with it that consist of little more than "We'll do what we can now, and let the future pick up the slack..." or whether it be more figuratively in an economic system built on debt where the previous generation have bought everything on hock and stiffed the young with the tab in the form of a massive economic collapse resulting in reduced opportunity for those young people, yet an increased likelihood of harder work than the previous generations had to do with regards to patching it up..."Respect your elders!" suddenly seems an intangible request.

I am a reasonably young man, but as with anyone I am not getting any younger and see how with the advancing in years and addition of responsibility human beings are capable of losing sight of quite how what they say and do, from an individual, to a global collective level, can have a huge impact on the lives of others - particularly the younger generations. There is something of an irrational assumption that older equals wiser. In some cases there may be some element of truth in this, but what is also likely is that experiences gained, far from making us wiser as human beings can make us spiteful, twisted, jaded and selfish. I would not say these are positive things. I would not say these are wise. The wise people, they work through those things. Process their thoughts and feelings in such fashion as that spite, twistedness, jading and selfishness are eradicated from their thoughts and all they are left with is a better understanding of the world and how to improve it...But these people are the minority. These people are to be respected. But "Respect your elders!" is too much of a general comment. There should be no inherent respect of age, merely of action. Those who have filled their sadly ever-advancing years with good actions surely deserve respect. Those who have filled it with society and trifles probably not so much. It's not that they're bad people, just that maybe they have to work a bit harder for the respect of young people. Sadly, many young people do look up to elders who waste their time with society and trifles - particularly when they get paraded on endless reality TV shows spouting nonsense...

Sorry if this is all a little disjointed...It's more of a...thought exercise than a blog.

The upshot of it is, the more I look around and try to find my place in a world that no longer deems me a member of the youth, the more I realise the older generations rarely try to shape the world for the future. Like leaving a pile of washing up by the sink, the predominant philosophy is "I'll get around to it later!" but later in geopolitical terms is a different thing to washing up - and impacts, to much negativity, on our offspring. Some may see this as some kind of rite of passage. Young people should have to work hard, they're not entitled to anything! ...Well they are fools. Yes, young people should have to work hard. But not because we left them with a hell of a mess to clean up! Provided with ability and opportunity, human beings WORK - it's what we do, from the most 'primitive' of cultures, to the most advanced. The 'entitlement' and 'apathy' that so many criticise is most likely a product of the idea that young people should "Respect their elders!" and thus, clean up their mess! It is also a byproduct of a world that has been left in such a state by 'their elders' that it is bereft of opportunity for many - who are told they are lazy, scum, animals, plebs, an underclass. When you are told this, and made to feel this by various social factors, well it becomes somewhat a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

"Respect your elders!" They made bad political decisions, swap between one useless political shower of shite and another, screw up the economy, rob you of opportunity, mess up your environment, refuse to change even when change is necessary, think too much of themselves and call you lazy when you protest about having to clean up the mess of a world they left behind for you. Respect your elders.

With hindsight, every time my mother asked me to tidy up my room I should have replied "Only when you help me tidy the world." 

Mercer's Fashion Tips!

Fashion has been with us for millenia. That interesting cultural phenomenon of making sure you look good, smell nice and can generally fit in is considered by many to be somewhat intrinsic to the human experience. New decades and centuries bring new developments in fashion. Sometimes old fashions spring back up in later years in retro, or revival styles. It really is quite (not really) fascinating.

Some fashions are written, weaved seamlessly into religious or institutional doctrines. This is done in order to provide an order to a certain group of people. Some cynics may suggest this is done as a psychological exercise, providing a sense of uniformity that better indoctrinates people to conform and identify with their own group as opposed to others. But we don't listen to cynics, do we? Some fashions are unwritten rules, sub-dividing a culture into different groups...usually for much the same purposes as the aforementioned written rules! Ultimately, it all comes down to fucking anyway, as this peacockish fashion show continues with us all in the vain hope of passing on our genes to a new generation of ultimately shallow, doomed fuckups.

Being as I am now cast adrift among the well coiffed, well dressed and well off youth, I feel it as somewhat of an obligation to discuss current fashions and trends and give you some tips on how to get ahead in the world of fashion!

FASHION!

I shall start at the very top...

Hair

Scientific evidence has shown that hair are your aerials, picking up signals from the cosmos. That's either science or Withnail and I, I don't quite remember. But either way, you have hair, I have hair, bald people don't, but they make that a style of their own, somehow, anyway.

There are many ways to have your hair. A plethora of styles, shapes and colours natural and artificial. But I shall go over only the most important.

Short

If your hair is short, brush it or comb it in the morning...Then leave it. It's not getting in the way, does not obscure your vision and you can't see how ridiculous it looks. Other people can, however if the most important part of the human experience is, for them, how much product and in what style you hold your hair, these people are not worth knowing.

Long 

If you hair is long, brush it in the morning, and put it out of the way. For much the same reasons as above.

This concludes Mercer's fashion tips on hair. Next...

Clothing

Some argue that clothing is not natural, and that wandering around with your genitals on show to the world is the way nature intended. These people misinterpret nature. Clothing can be very practical for two reasons, one of course is that it can be quite cold and nature (who art so perfect....) has deemed it that some species of ape should develop without a thick fur. As a result, humans often have to wear clothes for warmth. Of course the other reason is that we are all hideously insecure about our bodies and do not want others seeing our floppy, worn-slipper like breasts, misshapen testicles, tiny penises and various hairy, cellulite covered wobbly bits. In this case, wearing clothes rather helps prevent anxiety and this can only be a good thing.

So, Mercer's fashion tip for clothes...Wear clothes. The shape, style, price, brand, and cultural associations of what you wear should be pretty irrelevant, so long as you're warm and not insecure.

That concludes Mercer's fashions tips on clothes! Next...

Jewelry

Having been around since ancient times, jewelry is an important part of showing you're a rich git showing off the shiny possibly to make up for the fact that your personality does not sparkle so much as old rocks and polished metals. Some people even see fit to put holes in themselves to put more shiny in them. Therefore, jewelry is pointless, and should not be worn at any time.

"But what about wedding rings/sentimental pieces?" I hear your cry, clutching your precious metal bands and chains. Nope, not even those. If the greatest symbol of your love for another human being is a band of metal you're probably doing it wrong, and if you have sentimental pieces they are more likely to be saved from being lost or stolen if you keep them tucked away somewhere to be dragged out only for occasions of reminiscence.

That concludes Mercer's fashion tips on jewelry! Next...

Shoes

They say you can tell a lot about a man by his shoes, such as "What shoes is he wearing?" or "has he been walking in mud?" Some people choose to wear ridiculously impractical shoes because they look good, whilst failing to recognise that shoes serve a very useful, practical purpose in foot protection during everyday activity. Thus, wear comfortable, practical shoes to avoid ankle and knee problems, or possibly even sciatic nerve issues, or lower back pain due to bad posture due to bad shoes.

That concludes Mercer's fashion tips on shoes.

So, in summary; 

Brush/comb your hair, wear clothes, don't wear jewelry, wear comfortable, practical shoes.

Following Mercer's fashion tips could save you a fortune in annual income that you could spend on more important things, like buying your soul back from various aspirational glossy magazines.