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It appears that we have reached the edge, that zenith where stimuli and comatose collide
Forty years ago, the man proclaimed the age of the gross to be upon us, and even though the man was destroying our heritage and insulting our intelligence
That era has become very real
We labor for pleasure and abhor the guilt of pressure
My generation will go down as the architects of contemporary disgust
Some have fought and died
Others have allowed the strong to be butchered for a price they themselves don't care about and will never understand
I myself am beleaguered by the selfish face of a kind of man that is not mankind
Distrust in information
Fundamentalism of opinion
Catastrophic boredom, and a fanatical devotion to that which does not matter.
Where is your glory now, people?
Where are your gods and politicians?
Where is your shame and salvation?
You rage for no reason because you have no reason
What have you ever fought for?
What have you ever bled for?
The face of the earth is scarred with the walking dead
The age of the gross is a living virus
This is the future you have created
This is the world you have set ablaze
All your lies are coming true
All freedom is lost
All hope is gone
Forty years ago, the man proclaimed the age of the gross to be upon us, and even though the man was destroying our heritage and insulting our intelligence
That era has become very real
We labor for pleasure and abhor the guilt of pressure
My generation will go down as the architects of contemporary disgust
Some have fought and died
Others have allowed the strong to be butchered for a price they themselves don't care about and will never understand
I myself am beleaguered by the selfish face of a kind of man that is not mankind
Distrust in information
Fundamentalism of opinion
Catastrophic boredom, and a fanatical devotion to that which does not matter.
Where is your glory now, people?
Where are your gods and politicians?
Where is your shame and salvation?
You rage for no reason because you have no reason
What have you ever fought for?
What have you ever bled for?
The face of the earth is scarred with the walking dead
The age of the gross is a living virus
This is the future you have created
This is the world you have set ablaze
All your lies are coming true
All freedom is lost
All hope is gone
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The original speech by Spirow Agnew (taken from geocities.com/pacific_future/speech_agnew220570.html)
An Effete Corps of Impudent Snobs
Houston, Texas, 22 May 1970 by Vice President Spiro Agnew
“Sometimes it appears that we’re reaching a period when our senses and our minds will no longer respond to moderate stimulation. We seem to be approaching an Age of The Gross. Persuasion through speeches and books is too often discarded for disruptive demonstrations aimed at bludgeoning the unconvinced into action.
The young – and by this I don’t mean by any stretch of the imagination all the young, but I’m talking about those who claim to speak for the young – at the zenith of physical power and sensitivity, overwhelm themselves with drugs and artificial stimulants. Subtly is lost and fine distinctions based on acute reasoning are carelessly ignored in a headlong jump to a predetermined conclusion.
Life is visceral, rather than intellectual. And the most visceral practitioners of life are those who characterise themselves as “intellectuals”. Truth to them is “revealed” rather than logically proved. And the principal infatuations of today revolve around the “Social Sciences”, those subjects which can accommodate any opinion and about which the most reckless conjecture cannot be discredited.
Education is being redefined at the demand of the uneducated to suit the ideas of the uneducated. The student now goes to college to proclaim, rather than to learn. The lessons of the past are ignored and obliterated in a contemporary antagonism known as the “generation gap.”
A spirit of national masochism prevails, encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as “intellectuals”.