Old Men and the Honest Truth

As I read an endless list of Diogenes' actions, I was reminded of one of my favorite Internet characters: dear old Dad. I was introduced to Dad after his son started posting his father's little jewels of wisdom on a website called shitmydadsays. Just like Diogenes, Dad blesses those around him with anecdotes like, "He's a politician. It's like being a hooker. You can't be one unless you can pretend to like people while you're fucking them," or "Stop trying so hard. He doesn't like you. Jesus, don't kiss an ass if it's in the process of shitting on you." Both Dad and Diogenes believe that they have mastered the art of living and use interesting tactics and language to get their points across. While their stories have endless comic value, the stories also provide their audience with advice that these individuals have learned over a lifetime of experiences. Old age and the confidence of a lived life seem to provide these men with the willingness to express their feelings on an assortment of topics. Unlike a younger individual, elders have less ties to society and therefore are less willing to submit to the disciplines of normalized behavior. Dad and Diogenes both feel free to express their empirical knowledge because they are more free from the expectations and mores of the communities in which they live. As dad says, "They're offended? Fuck, shit, asshole, shitfuck; they're just words...Fine. Shitfuck isn't a word, but you get my point."

Shame

Diogenes taught a number of things. Among these things he taught pahesia, free speech. In addition he also taught Anaidea, shamelessness in actions. Diogenes, a cynic, introduced these things to society in a exemplary lifestyle. Diogenes believed in a lack of shame. Even though, i believe Diogenes often uses a method of an extreme to get to a point, I completely agree with him. Shame does normalize humankind. I believe society uses shame as a force to control human behavior. Shame is established in society through laws, as well as, "taboo". For instance, some examples of taboo would be things such as young pregnant mothers, or speaking your mind in public. History truly repeats itself, and I believe society will always use shame to control human behavior. If you look back in time specifically during times of racial tension you see multiple examples. White women dating black men, or a black man, such as Martin Luther King Jr. speaking up. Laws that exemplify shame would be public nudity, which Diogenes would be to outraged and displaced if he lived in society today. People such as Diogenes would be considered a radical in modern day society. Diogenes and many other cynics used an extreme to set the bar to raise the standard of society. I believe in some cases it is needed because humankind can tend to get out of control if they have to much power. However, i believe if intelligent people spoke up more, regardless of shame the world could be a better place.

Then there is the opposition who believe people like Diogenes, who take things to the extreme are the reasons for problems in today's society. Some would argue there isn't enough balance. However, as i stated previously Diogenes acted above the norm to get people to at least step up.