Bryan W. Alaspa 1A True Chicago Cynic
July 9th 2009 13:42
A lot of people put down cynicism. I say that cynicism is opening your eyes to the truth. Being a cynic doesn’t mean you are depressed or anything, it just means you understand that the world, and the people in it, are inherently rotten, selfish and evil. I am not saying that this is something we shouldn’t strive to prevent, just that you have to face the fact that this is how things are.
I have been thinking about a novel I wrote a few years back called “Dust” lately. It is a story I wrote while working for the worst company in the world, Aon Consulting. Seriously, if you are ever faced with the choice of having to work for Aon or putting out your eye with a sharp stick, seriously consider the stick. Anyway, I wanted to write this book as a simple thriller. Lately, I have come to realize that while the book is a thriller, it also encapsulates my feelings about humanity.
In the story a perfect little small town in the middle of Illinois is trying to make a comeback financially and a developer has started to build new homes on a tract of land just outside the town proper. When the bulldozers start their work, however, they discover a killing field buried out there. What’s more, they discover that the bones are those of children. A terrible secret is soon revealed that a brutal serial killer has been living in their midst and, over the course of the next 24-hours, it is revealed that important people in town knew about it, but said nothing.
There are other circumstances involved but, essentially, this causes the town to become nervous, and that nervousness leads to anger and that leads to a full-blown riot. The masks so civility come off and the town destroys itself.
Sadly, I think this is very true of human nature. I don’t think that people are inherently good as so many profess to believe. I believe that humans are inherently animals, barely one step above the cavemen who were our ancestors. We are selfish and, when push comes to shove, we’d just as likely stab someone we loved than sacrifice ourselves for them.
Now, I don’t think that this means we shouldn’t strive against that nature. I feel that we should. We have to fight against this nature. What makes us human is the fact that we have a brain that lets us fight against that nature, to rise above it, and become something better. What we shouldn’t do, however, is let that make us believe that this is how we actually are. Once you do that, you become complacent and then the masks slip too easily.
It’s a struggle, every day, to fight against our true nature. However, we have to realize that we have to fight that fight every day. It is a fight worth engaging in, but you have to acknowledge the fight. You have to gear yourself up for it every day. And then, you have to fight it every day.
Our masks are thin. The walls of civility we put up are also thin. Look at what people do when their sports teams win. It doesn’t take much to tear those walls and masks down.
Anyway, that’s just my theory and people like to dismiss people like myself. Who knows, maybe if this writing thing doesn’t work out I can start my own cult. Hey, it worked for Oprah!
I have been thinking about a novel I wrote a few years back called “Dust” lately. It is a story I wrote while working for the worst company in the world, Aon Consulting. Seriously, if you are ever faced with the choice of having to work for Aon or putting out your eye with a sharp stick, seriously consider the stick. Anyway, I wanted to write this book as a simple thriller. Lately, I have come to realize that while the book is a thriller, it also encapsulates my feelings about humanity.
In the story a perfect little small town in the middle of Illinois is trying to make a comeback financially and a developer has started to build new homes on a tract of land just outside the town proper. When the bulldozers start their work, however, they discover a killing field buried out there. What’s more, they discover that the bones are those of children. A terrible secret is soon revealed that a brutal serial killer has been living in their midst and, over the course of the next 24-hours, it is revealed that important people in town knew about it, but said nothing.
There are other circumstances involved but, essentially, this causes the town to become nervous, and that nervousness leads to anger and that leads to a full-blown riot. The masks so civility come off and the town destroys itself.
Sadly, I think this is very true of human nature. I don’t think that people are inherently good as so many profess to believe. I believe that humans are inherently animals, barely one step above the cavemen who were our ancestors. We are selfish and, when push comes to shove, we’d just as likely stab someone we loved than sacrifice ourselves for them.
Now, I don’t think that this means we shouldn’t strive against that nature. I feel that we should. We have to fight against this nature. What makes us human is the fact that we have a brain that lets us fight against that nature, to rise above it, and become something better. What we shouldn’t do, however, is let that make us believe that this is how we actually are. Once you do that, you become complacent and then the masks slip too easily.
It’s a struggle, every day, to fight against our true nature. However, we have to realize that we have to fight that fight every day. It is a fight worth engaging in, but you have to acknowledge the fight. You have to gear yourself up for it every day. And then, you have to fight it every day.
Our masks are thin. The walls of civility we put up are also thin. Look at what people do when their sports teams win. It doesn’t take much to tear those walls and masks down.
Anyway, that’s just my theory and people like to dismiss people like myself. Who knows, maybe if this writing thing doesn’t work out I can start my own cult. Hey, it worked for Oprah!
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