A Personal Reflection On This Project

[GM Prime]

Bonnie Tyler passed today, and her death hit me.  I know our golden age, the 1980's, is over, but her passing made me reflect on how culturally lost we are.  As a society, we had something valuable once.  It wasn't perfect, but it was a whole lot better than what we have now.  People stumbled through hardships, setbacks and successes, but they really tried to make something good.  Our pop culture rose to heights we have not seen since.  We felt hopeful about the future, and that with hard work we could find success in life.  Musicians experimented with exciting new sounds, movies brought us countless entertainment, and we all knew we were part of something truly cool.  We had a good run, but it was short lived. 

Now our culture is shit, and we all know it.  "Enshittification" has become the defining quality of our time.  From music, to movies, tv shows and games, and how people treat each other, things are just shit.  Pop culture is an extension of society, it shows off our values, the ones we hold in our hearts.  These days that is pure greed, indifference and selfishness.  Instead of singing about a being a hero, or riding into the danger zone, we get songs about "hoes and bitches", gang violence, and other crap, and people still call it music.  Don't pour garbage into a blender and call it dessert.


Every day someone is proud that they screwed someone over.  It never ends.  Just today I learned about Paddle Paddle Paddle, and the only reason I know about the game is because players decided to screw the developer out of 3 bucks.  Speedrunners boasted about how quickly they finished it and saved a whopping 3 dollars.  3 bucks.  Let that sink in.  How empty is your soul to gleefully boast about weaseling out of 3 measly dollars that wouldn't even buy you a burger?  What are you celebrating?  Useless idiots.  For anyone who wants to say "it was always this way".  No, it wasn't.  It wasn't always like this.  We used to have some basic decency. 

Others brag about owning 17 homes that they purchased after squashing a desperate family in a bidding war, and they have the audacity to say "it's not my fault, the government allows it".  Chasing cheap, worthless sex has created a gender war.  Hookup culture has replaced caring about one another with chasing a temporary high.  Record numbers of people are on anti-depressants and face mental health issues. How are you supposed to feel happy after being used and thrown away?

Game devs chase profit at the expense of fair gameplay, it started with loot boxes and only got worse over time.  Financial success should come at the end of your hard work, it shouldn't be the primary goal.

A society can't survive with selfishness at its core, as it destroys everything it touches.  That's like using a flamethrower to put out a fire.  This harsh reality has been with me since the start of this project, as I can't go along with what's going on.  This is my stand against our crap world.  Within the past few years fighting back has become even more necessary.  We can't see the beauty of how life could be, of what lies beyond our mutual destruction, but we could if  we all cared a little bit more.  I don't know how well I will do, but it is my wish to at least try to make it worthwhile and inspiring, like things were in the 80's.  It's a big project; my aim is at the stars, but maybe I can at least lift-off.