Disposable Outcome

The term (and I'm assuming lifestyle) known as "hipster" has taken...well, probably not the world by storm, but I know I'm excited. I haven't been known to prescribe to any sort of style, but if I did, I would probably like to be a hipster. They seem pretty cool and off-beat-like. It may be artificial, but what isn't these days?

I have a certain respect, if not for the hipster lifestyle, for the ideology behind hipsterdom. It is a rather retro movement (although mixed with new-age technology... a hipster may be anachronistic, but dammit, they look fancy doing it), and I rather enjoy the old things in life. For instance, the passion for vinyl. Recently, my partner and I have become enamored of our record player and searching out classic rock records to play on the old gal. Whilst it is an outdated mode of music-listening, it is rather more enjoyable than downloading an Mp3 and listening to it on my computer. That just doesn’t have the same flavor.

I think mixing the modern with the not-so-modern is a wonderful thing. While technology has offered us so much, it has also taken something away. For me, it is the connection between our thoughts and what is created with those thoughts. Even as I type on the computer, I feel nostalgic for the days of the typewriter, where a few clicks created a concrete word on the page. My words may be easily typed, but also easily deleted. It gives a sort of unstableness to the entire affair.

The fact is vintage clothing and record stores hearken back to an era of endurance, an era before we became a disposable society. The United States has always been a bit of an improvisational gig, but never before has it been so very disposable as it is today. When they built Fords and Chevys, they did build them tough, because they were supposed to last longer than 5 years. Washers and dryers weren’t fried after a few years: sometimes, they lasted decades. Some people might say that it’s necessary for technology to be cheaply made: why make something quality that will just be replaced in 6 months with something better?

I suppose I don’t have an argument for that. However, I see the influence of our consumerism affecting our society in surprising ways. Relationships seem just as easily thrown away and devalued as technology becomes the primary form of communication. Why spend the time calling someone when you can just throw them a comment on Facebook or send them a quick text? Friendships are more disposable now than ever, it seems: if you lose a friend, you have 200 others online and a few websites for finding new ones. We all know the attitude toward marriage and divorce—easy come, easy go. It seems possible that the way things were, while comparatively primitive, may have been more conducive to enduring relationships.

I sometimes feel kindred toward the hipsters. It might be more than a fad—it might be a philosophy which holds onto the best of the past while looking forward to an uncertain future.