my howard roark

[hiccup]

Where for art thou my love, etc etc, woe is I without ye.

But seriously, getting to the what could be a long winding point with many fks and screws and what not (yes I'm every builder/architects dream gal). Where are you?

I've been looking for you what seems my whole life. Maybe If Id met you before, (a not-so well placed ****, you as this is metaphorical and tahts not about to happen.)
Then maybe I'd not be so cynical, sarcastic and all round speak like I'm eating-lemons. (insert swear word).

Do you not feel that society is a *****, that the way things are are not the way they were meant to be?
People were not meant to be fake and giving a generous BS coating to every other sentence, (almost as though their parents owned a manure farm).
What happened to honesty to yourself? Integrity being the key word and good old self respect. Or did that go out of fashion with the top-hat and modesty.


Basically I'm wondering if self respect has any place left in a society such as ours, where money yells and spin (not elementry particles) dominates all corners of the well-rounded individuals life. Where the soul is sold to many demons and all at once. Where society dictates morals and religions change like shoe-fashion. And censorship with idiots in power is the norm.

Is there any room left for the individual?

And if there is, where is he?

[RT Wolf]

You're an indivdual, and I'll be damned if you ain't an amazing one.

[PyariCgudia]

howard roark? he was great in many ways, but hell, what about the rapes?

[ravage]

Seek independence. Independence is the ultimate, purified outcome of self respect. Independence from becoming a creature of money, of acceptance, of smiles or frowns. Independence from your vanity, your affected humility, your obstacles... delving on them only demeans who you are, your petty victories..glorification of which would only imply acceptance of the limitation of your potential. Independence from anything you do for maintaining that image of yourself which you prize in others.

Become independent and society is irrelevant. Yes, the world is full of crap, and aunties with electric blue saris may hug you in public and ask you if you remember them even though you werent born the last time she thought about you, but that is irrelevant, because you are who you are, and 'they' are fleeting memories, the noise between the switching of radio channels.

you define morality according to your standards. you decide whether this shoe is your religion or not.

And yes, when you accomplish that rarefied sense of self you will wonder what to do with it. To continue living a life worthy of your free spirit, reveling in your unsullied "I", or to surrender your freedom to Allah or the next best thing, She.

[hiccup]

edited by moi

[KAKA-ATOM-BUM]

Agreed....
the society is slowly going back to the zamana e jahilia.
There might be individuals who are still ethical, moral, true and honest, but they are hardly welcomed in today's society.

Sadly, us muslims are supposedly the better society, according to us, which is a wishful thinking on our part. If you consider the society 1400 years ago, we were how it should be. But right now, I think we have left the west far behind in hypocrisy.

The individual however, is still there. It hardly gets a chance to look up though.

[ç[email protected]†ii]

hiccup, good piece of writing.

I know, standards of the society are degrading day by day. We as a part of it are responsible to some extent, don't ya think? I only wonder what difference would it make even if we try changing ourself.. the whirlpool is too big and too powerful to let go of us.

The individuals who dare to be different are either crushed or ignored. But there is hope, some do overcome all this **** and make a difference, no matter how little.

[zulaykha]

The Howard Roarks of the world remain at the very bottom of the food chain, you said so yourself schvetums - we live in a society where integrity is considered destructive and bootlicking is considered fine art. The sugar-coating of every other statement is I think a part of the whole undignified obsequious (my new word for the day) trend you were discussing earlier. A less intelligent example (but one that more can relate with) is the fact that everyone's so concerned with what everyone else is wearing, doing, listening to and talking about. We've all become victims of pop culture, and what's sad is so many are using that as a measuring stick in deciding the value of a soul. We're taught to be superficial hypocrites, and the best of us are fawned over while the righteous who dare propose new ideas that may lead to progression are shunned.

Sadly its the Tooheys that dominate our society, defending altruism by lifting the weak and banishing the capable, in the form of maasis (like the ones with electric blue saris that hug you in public) and it's sad but yeah - Toohey was right about one thing. As individuals some of us may have the power to influence, but as a society, we can almost be invincible. It's still the individuals with influence within the society, with the power to influence the masses that count, and that's what makes it all the more scary - knowing that most of these individuals with power are just recycling what they've been taught to learn and what they've been taught to fear. The real dilemma is that it is *almost* (the key word here) impossible to maintain integrity if it is influenced in great part by others.

PyariCgudia, no, I didn't find that part too pleasant either. To tell you the truth, a lot of what goes on between Roark and Dominique seems to be unhealthy and the power struggle is almost frightening, as it's a well-known fact that a man of strength isn't one that should feel the need to use it on his beloved. Kinda makes you wonder whether or not after reading the book, we're to be convinced that harshness and brutality is a trait to be considered irresistible, or at least appealing. I decided, finally, that I wasn't gonna let that trivial detail spoil the book for me. Everyone's equipped with their own little imperfections (it comes with the territory of being human, no?), although in this case it's not quite an "imperfection". I guess with a character as powerful and awe-inspiring as Roark's, Rand might'a just felt she needed to find a flaw or an act of transgression that could equal his own character's immensity.

hiccup, if and when you do meet your Howard Roark, do find out if he's got an older brother and lemme know? After all, some things do run in the family.