debka_notion (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
debka_notion) wrote2004-07-09 12:06 am
debka_notion) wrote2004-07-09 12:06 am
Why This Meme Irks Me, and Programming
"98% of teenagers do or have tried pot. If you're one of the 2% that hasn't, put this in your journal."
As it so happens (and I'm sure, to no surprise to my friends) I've never tried pot. But I think that a meme that slanders people who don't put it in their journal, for whatever reason- if they don't do memes, if they think this one is dull, whatever. It then suggests that they're not putting it up because they have tried pot/smoke up regularly, and don't want to lie. It's sort of insiduous. I'm not in favor of anything that effectively coerces you into using it. And, to my eyes, this meme seems to be doing just that- if your friends are putting it up, then not putting it up will effectively wind up in you slandering yourself.
Tonight I programmed for my Israeli Dance session. Technically I was running the session along with Mom, Dad and Leng. Mom and I tried to teach Debka Dor to the beginners, because we recently learned it, like it, and Mom thought they could do it. And then Dave Siegel walks in, and I totally revamp the program I had set up, because he's definitely not a beginner, things were feeling sort of drag-y, and he's hard to please. So I had him helping me program some. And then a set of one older lady and 4 middle aged ladies from Fairfield came in- and I had to utterly revamp again- and what they knew/were up for didn't match what my beginners could handle, or what our advanced regulars wanted. It was a real struggles, and people were nudging right and left, and seemed to have no idea about my needing to work it all into a cohesive and flowing program. As far as they were concerned, they didn't think anything of going from Eretz Nehederet to Debka Larrden to Yareach Limon to Mocher Prachim. (Translation for those outside the world of IFD: slow and flowing to fancy footwork and Arabic music to lively pop to old and fast.) But- I made it work, somehow. Not without its couple of moments where there were only 3 people dancing- but not too many of those. I think Dad took a good bit of the nudging that to be effective should have been aimed at me, because he was mostly sitting in front of the computer. I'm grateful. But well- it gave me a real feeling of accomplishment, if nothing else. But I hope next week is easier. I really do. By the end I couldn't even think of what I wanted to do myself- and in the course of the night, I put on almost every dance that I absolutely abhore for the sake of the dance. (There are a few I avoid for other reasons, usually to do with the meaning of the lyrics/dance- but as for dances that I dislike for aesthetic reasons- we played all but 2 of them.)
As it so happens (and I'm sure, to no surprise to my friends) I've never tried pot. But I think that a meme that slanders people who don't put it in their journal, for whatever reason- if they don't do memes, if they think this one is dull, whatever. It then suggests that they're not putting it up because they have tried pot/smoke up regularly, and don't want to lie. It's sort of insiduous. I'm not in favor of anything that effectively coerces you into using it. And, to my eyes, this meme seems to be doing just that- if your friends are putting it up, then not putting it up will effectively wind up in you slandering yourself.
Tonight I programmed for my Israeli Dance session. Technically I was running the session along with Mom, Dad and Leng. Mom and I tried to teach Debka Dor to the beginners, because we recently learned it, like it, and Mom thought they could do it. And then Dave Siegel walks in, and I totally revamp the program I had set up, because he's definitely not a beginner, things were feeling sort of drag-y, and he's hard to please. So I had him helping me program some. And then a set of one older lady and 4 middle aged ladies from Fairfield came in- and I had to utterly revamp again- and what they knew/were up for didn't match what my beginners could handle, or what our advanced regulars wanted. It was a real struggles, and people were nudging right and left, and seemed to have no idea about my needing to work it all into a cohesive and flowing program. As far as they were concerned, they didn't think anything of going from Eretz Nehederet to Debka Larrden to Yareach Limon to Mocher Prachim. (Translation for those outside the world of IFD: slow and flowing to fancy footwork and Arabic music to lively pop to old and fast.) But- I made it work, somehow. Not without its couple of moments where there were only 3 people dancing- but not too many of those. I think Dad took a good bit of the nudging that to be effective should have been aimed at me, because he was mostly sitting in front of the computer. I'm grateful. But well- it gave me a real feeling of accomplishment, if nothing else. But I hope next week is easier. I really do. By the end I couldn't even think of what I wanted to do myself- and in the course of the night, I put on almost every dance that I absolutely abhore for the sake of the dance. (There are a few I avoid for other reasons, usually to do with the meaning of the lyrics/dance- but as for dances that I dislike for aesthetic reasons- we played all but 2 of them.)
Re: stupid meme
Re: stupid meme
Re: stupid meme
I don't see the slander involved in this meme, since it only says specifically whether you've used pot if you post it; in the absence of the meme, it says that either you've tried pot or that you didn't want to do the meme, but not necessarily both. P or Q does not imply P.
(Besides which, using pot and doing memes are both, as far as I'm concerned, morally neutral (enough) choices. If you're inclined to argue me on that point, bug me on IM.)
Re: stupid meme
Slander is perhaps not the best word to use- but if there is a significant enough concentration of the meme in one's friends livejournals, then not putting it up would certainly suggest that one is likely to have tried pot, which if it isn't true, would work out into something insulting. It isn't so much the logic as the way people read it.
Using pot is a morally neutral choice given a blank slate. But in a country where it is illegal, there is a choice between breaking the law and supporting it which Is a moral choice...
Re: stupid meme
Putting that aside, if your sole moral objection to pot is its current illegality (as you seem to be saying, though correct me if I'm wrong), then would it become moral if it were (independently of you, most likely) made non-illegal?
Re: stupid meme
Re: stupid meme