Category: Teen Topics
When you think of someone being a nonconformist, do you automatically think of something like Korn, the angriest, most violent band ever? Do you think of dirty druggies huddled together, shooting up on heroin and plotting to kill people they hate for doing unspeakably wrong things to them?
The truth is, a nonconformist is somebody who sees what society is all about, who disrespects authority, and who knows the government is corrupt. I, for one, am certainly not violent but I advocate nonconformity in teens in subtle, indirect ways.
So what, you may ask, is conformity? Conformity is a term used to describe a person who goes along with the group in order to feel secure and confident. They blindly go along with what has been passed down for generations: lies about the government, lies about society's evils, lies about world topics in general. Lies and expectations of what authority should be.
You see, authority, namely teachers, have been given license to suppress students' rights, take them away, and look the students look like delinquents when they excercise their freedom of speech, which, by the way, I thought was a civil liberty.
So, after being told you cannot feel pain, and that if you disagree with anything they say then you're a bad person, you turn to the nonconformist way of life, a belief system in which you become emotionally cold and belligerently disrespect authority, until you get it through their rock-hard skulls that they're fucking WRONG!!!!!!!
Christ! You have so much anger and we are well aware of the subliminal tricks used by authority,how do you expect people to respond to this hmm?
Fully agree with Alex, why all the anger and rage and anarchy propaganda?
The whole "government lies", "Parents lie", "adults lie" has been past down through generations but oddly enough the evidence for these enormous lies has never been forthcoming. And, well, what is non-conformity, if it means having your own beliefs (as long as they're not harmful to others) and your own way of doing things and persuing the things you want/love rather than what you think you should be, yes, I'm all for non-conformity. But if it means creating negative feelings towards those who are trying to guide you (and of course they're not all good, but the majority of them are) and renouncing authority, ending up with no education and no job and living off of the rest of us who work and pay taxes, perhaps even getting into drugs or drinking and add rehab and crime to that list, I say aboslute no to conformity. It's a tricky and not well defined concept you see and people can take it to mean different things.
I think Alex hit it on the head when he said
"life's what you make of it" if you decide your life sucks and refuse to see the bright things, well, then they are not there and if you decide to dwell on the negative things they will be the only things you remember. I've had a pretty good life I admit, great family, got on well with teachers, loved studying and got friends, but I know some ppeople, even on this site, whose lives have been truly difficult and beyond what anyone should go through, and yet they are not so full of anger. Try to see the happy things, yes, be a non-conformist and be your own person, but try to mix it with a sense of responsibility towards the rest of us.
cheers
-B
I don't like conforming to society's standards but you also have to have a sense of others. Sure it's OK if you wanna go get imprisoned over your beliefs but what will it do to your family? So I think you should form your own opinions and live your life based on what YOU have personally found/decided about it, but try to remember you're not alone out there.
And no you don't have to be violent to be noncomformist I think.
As a victim of violence I know that its the last resort used by the truly weak to gain control over someone they hate or fear,but the real victim is the attacker because the hatred he feels for you cannot compare with his own.
Well, let me answer the question in the subject line becasue I am pretty ignorant of the whole anarchy thing. To me, a nonconformist is not easily defined and doesn't hold down an easily-defined set of values or try to fit into this subgroup or that. A nonconformist to me does what they do and likes what they do merely because they like it and it doesn't matter if the mainstream thinks it's cool. The thing about subgroups like punks or goths or anarchists is that you may be going against society, but you're still having to conform to certain ideas and standards set up by that smaller group, so you're still playing the game it seems.When I was a teenager, I think I was that way even though I may not ahve been thinking about it much. I was just an eccentric, quiet, shy guy. I didn't avhe any obvious style I wore or anything. But it was more about my own tastes and feelings and thoughts that was the nonconformist thing.
life is what you make of it. you should live every day like its your last, cause you dont know what tomorrow will bring.
Labyrinth
your right about the Goths having to conform, but even within the limits of Goth there is room for expansion, we can and do play with the "rules" of our scene when my beloved Ferrari win I wear a black Tshirt with a silver Ferrari horse some look at this with horror, others want 1 immediately.
............................................................
Why should I care what the strict followers think, they of the overlly dyed hair and panda eye make up,they are so busy trying to be the personification of Goth that the true meaning of it has been lost to them.
Its all a case of perspective and keeping a sense of beauty while not looking down on those who are trying and failing
Goth has many faults superficiality is sadly 1 of its biggest.
You people make me sick! Do you think I dont know anything? Do you really think I would say all this just to get attention?! I would never do drugs or be an alcoholic because my son of a bitch father is an alcoholic who fucked up my life more than any of you will ever know and so when you call me violent just because I have a hard life and none of you seem to believe it, and also that I have my own belief system that might not be the same as yours. Trying to stop the lies and bring down authority is whats gonna make teens feel free and like they're worth something, not pressure from society to look and act the exact same way like a bunch of robots.
Notice that you're the only one cursing in this topic, I think that says more than your words.
James
Nib
Well, referring back to my post I didn't accuse you of anything, I just said what I thought of conformity and, yes again, you keep going on about the lies of the adults and the government but you never define what these lies concern, are you mad because of Santa Claus not existing or that the stork brings the children into this world, Your parents may have lied to you about things, I can't say, but in general I think parents are very honest and open people and they try to do what's best for you, you learn the truth of lief a little bit at the time and that's the way it should be, you're not able to understand everything at once and the whole bring down the government attitude, well, if you could definte the problem with "authority" a little better I'd be curious. What do you think "total freedome" would mean? Would it mean you're free to do exactly whatever you want (including beating up those who don't agree with you, bullying those who look weird or .. in fact, don't conform .. for if there is no conformity inforced the teenagers will enforce a conformity conception of their on, people are conformists, there's nothing you can do to change it, it will always be true, it's just a matter of what you conform to, total freedom is just a concept and it is totally meaningless, nobody wants total freedom, from the very first days of human kind there have been rules and relegion and morals, all these things that make sure we co-exist and we can share the resources of the planet in a responsible way, without them we'd be nothing, w'd be animals, we would never have developed language or communiction or hunting .., and I totally agree of freedom of expression and being yourself because inoveation is the other big part of human evolution, but throwing out phrases like "oh my life was so hard" and "parents lie to you" doesn't justify anything in my view. I'm sorry you've had a hard life and I wish you all the best, but don't generalize about all teens and all parents and all adults, it's wrong, like all generalizations are.
cheers and best of luck to you
-B
Never 1 to hide in the background I'm going to ask the 1 question no one else will.
Do you enjoy wallowing in self pity?.
Does this self indulgent act give some meaning to your seemingly pointless life,
2ndly. Do you really think these "robotic" teenagers will listen to someone so consumed with hatred that they completely lose the plot when others are trying their best to help.Personally you sound like a meglomanical dictator who desperately needs help!.
Sounds like a form of fascisim which is the ultimate in comformity so there in lies your problem Niblet you have become what you hate.You either accept help or go on allowing this to eat you up like a voracious cancer and believe me I've seen the effects of that and it wasnt pretty.
Alright, I'm just gonna say this. I made this post for one simple purpose: to prove to myself that no one was gonna agree with me. I was interested in seeing if there was actually anyone out there who might have had bad experiences with authority, yes, but mostly I knew I would get a bunch of negative reactions which would set me apart from everybody on the zone. After all, that's the reaction I get in real life...So what, no one else shares my belief...It proves my insanity, as Goblin says. And no, I didn't let this thread die because I couldn't come up with anymore comebacks, I was just afraid I'd get kicked off the zone if i said anything more. So anyways, no, not being controlled by anything doesn't necessarily mean that you can do whatever you want. Theres a fine line that you wouldn't be able to cross. No, that doesn't mean that you can just go around murdering random people--but, if you had a legitimate reason, such as self-defense, you shouldn't be punished for that. My idea of freedom, basically, is this: you should accept people for who they are, without labeling them just because they might have slightly different views from what's considered "normal." Thanks to this lovely society that I live in, I cant be free to express the belief system that I hold. (This is why I made this post in the first place, like I said. You all dont see me in person so your words can't hurt me and have no value.) This is why I hate authority, and think that society needs some major work. If you actually believe that its ok to say to someone "You're insane because you have suicidal thoughts" or, "You're a devil worshipper cuz you're in a rock band" you're the ones that need help, not me. That's the beginning of the end......I hold out hope that someday, somewhere, somebody out there won't condemn me for the thoughts I hold inside of me. And that's pretty much all I have to say.
You can call me insane, sick, dangerous to society, whatever you want. But your words are vague and meaningless. YOu have no substance. I will go on feeling my own feelings, since I've been isolated to the point where I believe that no one is allowed to be depressed or anything. So that's the dark side of life. Take it or leave it. I dont give a flying shit.
Oh, and btw, what the hell does Santa Claus have to do with anything, is that a subliminal hint that Im immature?
We are not calling you any fo that stuff... read the posts. ANyway I still don't uynderstand where your negative experiences of authority come from, do you go to catholic school or something? I know that last was a generalization but hey, there are enough around here.
James
conformity is giving in and doing what others do just to be accepted, that are society right now. i dont agree with it. i have my own choices i dont fallow some lame current fashion what is the right thing to do? its all up to you to think, dont let others take over you dont fallow just to be acceped
The point behind this post wasn't to get all freaked out over anything, seriously! I can see Niblet17's point...and I guess the only thing I ask is can't you be a nonconformest and still go with some of the ways of other people, not necessarily to build confidence or to fit in, just because that's what the individual person believes....ok I'm really not making any sense and don't feel like trying to, ask if you care. lol
Yeah, Hmmmmmm, I am one, and it's hard. Most people don't think like that, so it's hard.