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The Stone November 17, 2012, 3:24 pm565 Comments
How to Live Without Irony
By CHRISTY WAMPOLE
Leif Parsons
The Stone is a forum for contemporary philosophers on issues both timely and timeless.
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If irony is the ethos of our age — and it is — then the hipster is our archetype of ironic living.
The hipster haunts every city street and university town. Manifesting a nostalgia for times he never lived
himself, this contemporary urban harlequin appropriates outmoded fashions (the mustache, the tiny shorts),
mechanisms (fixed-gear bicycles, portable record players) and hobbies (home brewing, playing trombone). He
harvests awkwardness and self-consciousness. Before he makes any choice, he has proceeded through several
stages of self-scrutiny. The hipster is a scholar of social forms, a student of cool. He studies relentlessly, foraging
for what has yet to be found by the mainstream. He is a walking citation; his clothes refer to much more than
themselves. He tries to negotiate the age-old problem of individuality, not with concepts, but with material
things.
He is an easy target for mockery. However, scoffing at the hipster is only a diluted form of his own affliction. He
is merely a symptom and the most extreme manifestation of ironic living. For many Americans born in the
1980s and 1990s — members of Generation Y, or Millennials — particularly middle-class Caucasians, irony is
the primary mode with which daily life is dealt. One need only dwell in public space, virtual or concrete, to see
how pervasive this phenomenon has become. Advertising, politics, fashion, television: almost every category of
contemporary reality exhibits this will to irony.
Take, for example, an ad that calls itself an ad, makes fun of its own format, and attempts to lure its target
market to laugh at and with it. It pre-emptively acknowledges its own failure to accomplish anything
meaningful. No attack can be set against it, as it has already conquered itself. The ironic frame functions as a
shield against criticism. The same goes for ironic living. Irony is the most self-defensive mode, as it allows a
person to dodge responsibility for his or her choices, aesthetic and otherwise. To live ironically is to hide in
public. It is flagrantly indirect, a form of subterfuge, which means etymologically to “secretly flee” (subter +
fuge). Somehow, directness has become unbearable to us.
How did this happen? It stems in part from the belief that this generation has little to offer in terms of culture,
that everything has already been done, or that serious commitment to any belief will eventually be subsumed by
an opposing belief, rendering the first laughable at best and contemptible at worst. This kind of defensive living
works as a pre-emptive surrender and takes the form of reaction rather than action.
Life in the Internet age has undoubtedly helped a certain ironic sensibility to flourish. An ethos can be
disseminated quickly and widely through this medium. Our incapacity to deal with the things at hand is evident
in our use of, and increasing reliance on, digital technology. Prioritizing what is remote over what is immediate,
the virtual over the actual, we are absorbed in the public and private sphere by the little devices that take us
elsewhere.
Furthermore, the nostalgia cycles have become so short that we even try to inject the present moment with
sentimentality, for example, by using certain digital filters to “pre-wash” photos with an aura of historicity.
Nostalgia needs time. One cannot accelerate meaningful remembrance.
While we have gained some skill sets (multitasking, technological savvy), other skills have suffered: the art of
conversation, the art of looking at people, the art of being seen, the art of being present. Our conduct is no longer
governed by subtlety, finesse, grace and attention, all qualities more esteemed in earlier decades. Inwardness and
narcissism now hold sway.
Born in 1977, at the tail end of Generation X, I came of age in the 1990s, a decade that, bracketed neatly by two
architectural crumblings — of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the Twin Towers in 2001 — now seems relatively
irony-free. The grunge movement was serious in its aesthetics and its attitude, with a combative stance against
authority, which the punk movement had also embraced. In my perhaps over-nostalgic memory, feminism
reached an unprecedented peak, environmentalist concerns gained widespread attention, questions of race were
more openly addressed: all of these stirrings contained within them the same electricity and euphoria touching
generations that witness a centennial or millennial changeover.
But Y2K came and went without disaster. We were hopeful throughout the ’90s, but hope is such a vulnerable
emotion; we needed a self-defense mechanism, for every generation has one. For Gen Xers, it was a kind of
diligent apathy. We actively did not care. Our archetype was the slacker who slouched through life in plaid
flannel, alone in his room, misunderstood. And when we were bored with not caring, we were vaguely angry and
melancholic, eating anti-depressants like they were candy.
FROM this vantage, the ironic clique appears simply too comfortable, too brainlessly compliant. Ironic living is
a first-world problem. For the relatively well educated and financially secure, irony functions as a kind of credit
card you never have to pay back. In other words, the hipster can frivolously invest in sham social capital without
ever paying back one sincere dime. He doesn’t own anything he possesses.
Obviously, hipsters (male or female) produce a distinct irritation in me, one that until recently I could not
explain. They provoke me, I realized, because they are, despite the distance from which I observe them, an
amplified version of me.
I, too, exhibit ironic tendencies. For example, I find it difficult to give sincere gifts. Instead, I often give what in
the past would have been accepted only at a White Elephant gift exchange: a kitschy painting from a thrift store,
a coffee mug with flashy images of “Texas, the Lone Star State,” plastic Mexican wrestler figures. Good for a
chuckle in the moment, but worth little in the long term. Something about the responsibility of choosing a
personal, meaningful gift for a friend feels too intimate, too momentous. I somehow cannot bear the thought of a
friend disliking a gift I’d chosen with sincerity. The simple act of noticing my self-defensive behavior has made
me think deeply about how potentially toxic ironic posturing could be.
First, it signals a deep aversion to risk. As a function of fear and pre-emptive shame, ironic living bespeaks
cultural numbness, resignation and defeat. If life has become merely a clutter of kitsch objects, an endless series
of sarcastic jokes and pop references, a competition to see who can care the least (or, at minimum, a
performance of such a competition), it seems we’ve made a collective misstep. Could this be the cause of our
emptiness and existential malaise? Or a symptom?
Leif Parsons
Throughout history, irony has served useful purposes, like providing a rhetorical outlet for unspoken societal
tensions. But our contemporary ironic mode is somehow deeper; it has leaked from the realm of rhetoric into life
itself. This ironic ethos can lead to a vacuity and vapidity of the individual and collective psyche. Historically,
vacuums eventually have been filled by something — more often than not, a hazardous something.
Fundamentalists are never ironists; dictators are never ironists; people who move things in the political
landscape, regardless of the sides they choose, are never ironists.
Where can we find other examples of nonironic living? What does it look like? Nonironic models include very
young children, elderly people, deeply religious people, people with severe mental or physical disabilities,
people who have suffered, and those from economically or politically challenged places where seriousness is the
governing state of mind. My friend Robert Pogue Harrison put it this way in a recent conversation: “Wherever
the real imposes itself, it tends to dissipate the fogs of irony.”
Observe a 4-year-old child going through her daily life. You will not find the slightest bit of irony in her
behavior. She has not, so to speak, taken on the veil of irony. She likes what she likes and declares it without
dissimulation. She is not particularly conscious of the scrutiny of others. She does not hide behind indirect
language. The most pure nonironic models in life, however, are to be found in nature: animals and plants are
exempt from irony, which exists only where the human dwells.
Related
More From The Stone
Read previous contributions to this series.
What would it take to overcome the cultural pull of irony? Moving away from the ironic involves saying what
you mean, meaning what you say and considering seriousness and forthrightness as expressive possibilities,
despite the inherent risks. It means undertaking the cultivation of sincerity, humility and self-effacement, and
demoting the frivolous and the kitschy on our collective scale of values. It might also consist of an honest
self-inventory.
Here is a start: Look around your living space. Do you surround yourself with things you really like or things
you like only because they are absurd? Listen to your own speech. Ask yourself: Do I communicate primarily
through inside jokes and pop culture references? What percentage of my speech is meaningful? How much
hyperbolic language do I use? Do I feign indifference? Look at your clothes. What parts of your wardrobe could
be described as costume-like, derivative or reminiscent of some specific style archetype (the secretary, the hobo,
the flapper, yourself as a child)? In other words, do your clothes refer to something else or only to themselves?
Do you attempt to look intentionally nerdy, awkward or ugly? In other words, is your style an anti-style? The
most important question: How would it feel to change yourself quietly, offline, without public display, from
within?
Attempts to banish irony have come and gone in past decades. The loosely defined New Sincerity movements in
the arts that have sprouted since the 1980s positioned themselves as responses to postmodern cynicism,
detachment and meta-referentiality. (New Sincerity has recently been associated with the writing of David Foster
Wallace, the films of Wes Anderson and the music of Cat Power.) But these attempts failed to stick, as evidenced
by the new age of Deep Irony.
What will future generations make of this rampant sarcasm and unapologetic cultivation of silliness? Will we be
satisfied to leave an archive filled with video clips of people doing stupid things? Is an ironic legacy even a
legacy at all?
The ironic life is certainly a provisional answer to the problems of too much comfort, too much history and too
many choices, but it is my firm conviction that this mode of living is not viable and conceals within it many
social and political risks. For such a large segment of the population to forfeit its civic voice through the pattern
of negation I’ve described is to siphon energy from the cultural reserves of the community at large. People may
choose to continue hiding behind the ironic mantle, but this choice equals a surrender to commercial and
political entities more than happy to act as parents for a self-infantilizing citizenry. So rather than scoffing at the
hipster — a favorite hobby, especially of hipsters — determine whether the ashes of irony have settled on you as
well. It takes little effort to dust them away.
Christy Wampole is an assistant professor of French at Princeton University. Her research focuses primarily on
20th- and 21st-century French and Italian literature and thought.
A version of this article appeared in print on 11/18/2012, on page SR1 of the NewYork edition with the headline: How To Live Without Irony.
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1.
gemli
Boston
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I would hate to live in a world that was so full of hipsters that I felt the need to write a column about them.
I'm thirty years older than Ms. Wampole, so maybe the view from up here is different from hers, but I
hardly ever encounter the people she's talking about, except maybe as comic figures in sitcoms.
The fact that fundamentalists are never ironic is to me the highest recommendation for irony that I can
imagine. Irony is the basis of humor, which has a way of illuminating truth and puncturing pomposity. I
would happily live surrounded by hipsters if they crowded out the self-important scolds and all the rest
who are dreary, humorless and rigid. I suppose people who purposefully adopt an ironic worldview might
be equally dreary, especially if they don't get their own joke.
There are a lot of interesting ideas in this compactly written column. There's not a wasted word; but I
found I had to come up for air every few sentences, possibly because it treats the ironic hipster without a
bit of irony itself. But that's just me. If I had friends who used phrases like "dissipate the fogs of irony," I'd
roll my eyes so high in their sockets I'd have to get them surgically put back in place.
Nov. 17, 2012 at 5:43 p.m.
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2.
sdavidc9
Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut
Verified
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Socrates was ironic. Kierkegaard was ironic. For both of them, irony was something very different from
what this article describes. Perhaps the irony of the hipsters is an attempt to achieve true irony in a society
where anything, including irony, is copied for commercial gain.
An ad that makes fun of itself erodes the power of ads; its power is the power of erosion, and it works
because people want the power of ads eroded, even if ironically enough this power is eroded by ads. Hegel
could make beautiful sense of this sort of thing because for him it was at the heart of reality.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 1:23 a.m.
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3.
Mike Marks
Orleans
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Like you, I was born in 1957. We also were and are very self involved. Remember EST and Lifespring?
Disrespecting authority we focused on ourselves. Greed became good. The all-natural lifestyle embraced
by today's aging boomers is more about longevity than helping the planet.
Irony is a lousy way to live. It distances you from feeling passions. But, in a day when sincere beliefs can
be mocked more easily than ever before, it makes sense as risk avoidance.
I tell my teen and preteen daughters that the best way to be cool is to be who they are and not care what
other people think (within the boundaries of respect for others).
In reply to Colin McKerlie
Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:05 a.m.
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4.
Mark E White
Atlanta
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You've hit the nail on the head with: "What young people lack now is not a world with available 'beliefs.'
What they lack is a world structured by viable and legitimate institutions."
Indeed, all of us suffer from a lack of legitimate institutions. As an aging boomer, I've watched the world
turn from the idealism of the 50's and 60's to mad greed and indifference and cheap irony. That said, most
of the young people I know cannot afford and do not want passive irony. They need to hustle just to say
alive..
Don't worry about the coming generation. I used to apologize to my sons (now in their 30's) for leading
them into a cynical and economically harsh time. They responded incredulously, "Dad, this is life. We're
scrambling like everybody else. Everybody does his best." No irony, no sarcasm.
The future is in good hands. They will build and rebuild legitimate structures if it can be done. No need to
waste time excoriating slackers and cynics of the past. Revel in the future and watch how this turn of the
wheel carries us onward.
In reply to Colin McKerlie
Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:09 a.m.
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5.
wysiwyg
USA
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Ironically enough, this article, while well written and thought-provoking, ultimately creates a straw man
argument. Not all "millennials" exhibit the tendencies portrayed here. As the parent of a millennial, who
has had deep and meaningful conversations with my child and her friends and acquaintances (replete with
eye contact, sincerity, humility, and "presence"), I'm pleasantly encouraged by their wide-ranging abilities
to respond thoughtfully to a variety of topics. They are well educated, aware of the effects of corporatist
and religious intrusions into our social institutions, and eager to adopt alternative approaches and solutions
to current dilemmas and conundra. They are not vacuous narcissists who ignore important issues of the
day.
To stereotype these young people in such a negative manner because of their outward appearance,
adaptive social conventions, or their greater propensity to use technology is reductionism at its worst, and
reminds me of the famous Socratic comment, ""The children now love luxury; they have bad manners,
contempt for authority; they allow disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise..."
Oh, the irony of it all!
Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:17 a.m.
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6.
Beyond Frustrated
Ohio
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I take issue with much of the author's assessment of hipsterism. First, I disagree that the hipster's choice of
attire and accessories is particularly "nostalgic." The hipster may borrow certain "retro" things, but always
with an eye to mixing them in a new way. This is something humans have done for centuries--just look at
Western Civilization's constant adaptation of classical motifs in art.
It is also unfair to characterize hipsters as not having values. A major premise of hipsterism is a rejection
of modern consumer culture. It is a way of asserting one's independence from the influence of advertising
and mainstream trends. It is really just a contemporary version of the punk or alternative subcultures. Yes,
there is a bit of naiveté involved, but no more so than is commonly found in young people. I certainly
wouldn't characterize it as "ironic."
But most important, I think, is that hipsterism is a fad, just like any other fad that young people dabble in.
To extrapolate from this--as the author does--that hipsters are not serious people, or that they have never
"suffered," or that they come from a particular socio-economic background, is prejudiced and wrong.
I, for one, am glad to live in a world with hipsters. It is surprising to me that so many people here find
them annoying.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:27 a.m.
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7.
Barbara Allen
MD
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Irony in our time is fundamentally a way to deal with ineffectuality and despair. The ambient anxiety of
the Cold War; consider Saturday Night Live, or the Daily Show. Most of us feel helpless to do anything
useful about the state of the world; the ridiculous makes us laugh. Consider the vulgarity of our time:
quality is no longer affordable or available; kitsch makes us laugh. Most of us would choose sincerity--if
we weren't so miserable, if it were an option.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:27 a.m.
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8.
HT
Ohio
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The 1990s were "relatively irony-free?"
Somewhere, Jerry Seinfeld's heart is breaking.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:41 a.m.
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9.
jk
NV
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In an era which your cultural history is constantly being subverted by a rabidly capitalist country via print
and image, informational and advertising media -- thereby reducing all societal relationships within to
mere economic transactions -- the described hipster in the article is a natural byproduct. Or whatever.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:45 a.m.
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10.
Ken Harper
Patterson NY
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Perhaps what is really being decried here is the 'conforming hipster' who, by his adoption of a shallow,
superficial form of irony, assumes himself to be a trendsetter. By definition a trendsetter would seem to
cease to be trendy once enough followers begin to mimic his style or opinions and therefore the
widespread adoption of irony as being hip immediately renders it trite. Similarly, true irony requires
something of an improvisational ethic, losing its impact and purity once repeated by the same individual
or anyone aware of its origin. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery but it rarely is ironic or hip.
Irony is commentary on the world; hip is more of an attempt to create an alternate world.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:45 a.m.
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11.
guiseppe17
Portland, ME
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This article sells Millennials short. I am mother to a Generation Y-er with a mustache, who brews beer and
plays wind instruments. Being intelligent, he does see the absurdity of modern life, but in his social
interactions, he is sincere and has no need to feign disinterest. He also gives wonderful, thoughtful gifts.
Perhaps this generation has a nostalgia for the past they haven't lived because they sense that the 50's and
60's were more "real." In any event, this was a mostly thoughtful essay, even if based on a stereotype to
which I could not relate.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:45 a.m.
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12.
Torrey Hyatt
Brooklyn
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Decrying the apathy and irony in "hipsters" is so generationally provencial, always coming from someone
in their early thirties who sees the group immediately behind them as somehow doing it all wrong. The
same claim was already tired when it was aimed at me and my ridiculous wanna-be punk friends in 1988.
(On the cover of Spy Magazine, something like "When Did Everything Become Ironic?") And it will be
tired when aimed at 25 year olds 20 years from now. You know why 25 year olds are ironic and pathetic?
Because they have nothing else to show yet. They're young, they're untested. They're pretty. They grow
funny mustaches. Yes, it's irritating, but after you've read one version or another of this criticism every
couple of years for a few decades, you'll just find that it's not very interesting.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:49 a.m.
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13.
PB
Paris, France
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This is going to sound very hipstery of me, but this article feels about 5 years late. I would say the ironic
hipster was in his prime in the mid aughts and has for the most part disappeared from the scene. This isn't
to say that young Americans don't still use irony as a way to greet reality, but I honestly think the days of
people dressing purposefully terribly in order to project a studied insouciance are all but behind us.
From what I can tell, which granted is a limited scope, I would say hipsters nowadays dress in a seemingly
nostalgic way not because of a longing for an era of greater meaning but simply because many of the
old-timey products are of materially high quality. They are rejecting the mass-production culture in favor
of artisanry. We can see evidence of this in the renaissance of many historic American brands such as
Woolrich Woolen Mills, Pendleton, and Alden.
Most hipsters I know care deeply about the various projects in which they are engaged be it brewing,
woodworking, what have you. In fact, they are some of the most painfully earnest people I know.
It is not that middle class young Americans don't care about anything, it is rather that they are disheartened
by the perceived futility of many of the previous generations' activism and therefore move towards a more
local but nonetheless passionate engagement.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 9:55 a.m.
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14.
Chris Buczinsky
Arlington Heights, IL
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I think to fully understand the hipster you have to place him alongside the fundamentalist. The hipster and
the fundamentalist are two sides of the same fake coin; they are both fearful people. The first is too afraid
of looking like a fool to risk being wrong or right; the second is so afraid of ambiguity, of not knowing the
difference between wrong and right, that he throws himself blindly into "faith." They are equally fearful
responses to the moral ambiguity of life. The hipster stands outside every attempt at sincere living,
mocking anyone who tries to find a moral center; the fundamentalist pretends there is no question about it,
there is only one center, one God, one true, one good, and he has found it.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 10:08 a.m.
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15.
Swatter
Washington DC
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Actually, self-deprecation has been around for a long time, longer than gen-xers et. al. have been alive witness Woody Allen's movies. The same is true of most of what you attribute to being recent
phenomenon, perhaps the navel-gazing irony in your piece - you might argue more effectively that it's a
matter of degree and scope, that it has gotten worse. There can also be many reasons for these behaviors,
some not bad others not good, e.g., self-deprecation can be anywhere from being honest/fair/open to false
humility to lack of self-respect to protecting oneself as you say.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 10:09 a.m.
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16.
crispin
new freedom, pa
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i too am annoyed by irony. the only alternative is extreme cynicism, which i highly commend as the next
historical phase and the only real hope.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 10:09 a.m.
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17.
ChristopherH
Denver, CO
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I can't help but wonder if the practitioners of irony caricatured here are more profoundly authentic than the
writer allows. In history (and various cultures), the jester has frequently been a gifted practitioner of irony
who often spoke to (and influenced) authority without losing his head. That seems to me a valuable trait.
The young people skewered here have also in recent years demonstrated a tendency to show up at
important junctures of protest or political advocacy more frequently than the most earnest among us.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 1:22 p.m.
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18.
Kevin Kelly
Brooklyn, NY
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The so-called "hipster" ethos is my generation's reaction against the daily life and world we have
inherited, a world of inescapable media onslaught, advertising, and being told what to think and like by
unimaginably huge and invincible corporate forces out to make us into good consumers. We are also
jobless, bored and media-addicted. But we weren't born this way. Before all you "children of the 60s" or
Generation X'ers condemn us, try understanding the world we grew up in and what we're coming from.
Many of us resort to irony because the reality of the world around us seems so deeply depressing and our
efforts to combat it feel so futile.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 1:31 p.m.
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19.
RDG
Cincinnati
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And yet, so many of the Millennials this aging Boomer knows, his son, his son's friends, his friends' kids
and his colleagues, are actually trying to live up to some of the ideals we 60s kids threw over by the time
we were in our early 30s.
Maybe the "irony" is something of an act; the current way to appear cool. After all, they seem to have far
less prejudices and bigotries than their elders, drive less, live closer to work and/or in a more citified area,
eat healthier, are more environmentally conscious, and, yes, ride their fixed gar bikes to work. (How they
do it in my hilly town is beyond me)
There's nothing wrong with goofing on a screwed up system while still trying to make a positive
difference and make a little money as well.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 1:35 p.m.
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20.
Jason
Lincoln
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Beginning an article by heaping judgment on legitimate activities/hobbies people engage in may not be the
best way to engage a reader. I'm not a hipster, but I do play trombone, ride a fixed-gear bike, and I love a
good home brew with my brewing friends. Music and bicycling have been major parts of my life for
nearly 30 years.
All but very few people adopt fashion sensibilities that identify themselves as part of a tribe. Are the
trappings of the hipster any less authentic than those of the business set? Is somebody riding a track bike
around Brooklyn any more ridiculous than somebody driving a Porsche down the same streets?
My experience with "hipsters" is that they read, think and are very aware of what is going on in the world.
They are able to give real gifts to their friends and live meaningful lives. They are more likely to work for
nonprofits or in other jobs doing real good in the world. Maybe I've only met a few good ones, but I'll give
the rest the benefit of the doubt. To say they are "siphon[ing] energy from the cultural reserves of the
community at large" is irresponsible and ridiculous.
Lastly, what are your thoughts on such meaningless characters as Cocteau and Satie?
Nov. 18, 2012 at 1:45 p.m.
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21.
Dan Sullivan
Long Island
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Having children is a good antidote for the 'ironist'. Strip away the multilayered, often indulgent, self
awareness, in pursuit of a selfless, serious act and the pretense is often diminished.
To those who think this article is 'reductionist' or ''stereotyping' i urge you to watch any documentary or
man on the street type interview from the 80's and earlier. People, because of reality-tv, and technology
have become annoyingly self-aware, as if every word uttered is part of some self-projected image.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 1:45 p.m.
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Joe
New York
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I was born in 1991, currently attend NYU, and have noticed first hand that this "irony" phenomenon tends
to be more prevalent among my older brother's generation: 80's babies, around 25+ and hitting 30, even
older. It's the people losing grip of their youth that most desperately cling to ironic "expression". Though
this isn't a universal observation, it's worth noting for those older readers who aren't really familiar with
the nuances of "hipsterism" and young people in general.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 1:46 p.m.
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23.
gilgunn
pittsburgh
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irony, like every other construction or facade behind which we live, has a natural limit, because even the
most ironic amongst us has to eat, has to sleep, has to defecate, will die. Eventually, reality overwhelms us
and crushes all our defenses against its onrush, and this itself is the great irony, in my opinion - that to live
successfully, reality must be treated with great irony and with great seriousness. This is beautiful in itself
and we should appreciate the hipsters for being avatars of irony; they give us the opportunity to oscillate
between these states and provide a lens through which we can perceive the incremental evolution of all
our conditioned forms.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 1:58 p.m.
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Matt
Albany, NY
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You listed a few groups that you consider non-ironic and I would like to add one to the list: Nerds.
By nerds I mean actual nerds themselves as opposed to just nerd culture or awkward people in general.
Our country (and world) is filled with people who are serious and passionate about everything from
chemistry to music to Star Wars. These people fight constantly against social pressure to care about
"cooler" things or to simply not care at all.
If we are looking to turn away from apathy and irony perhaps the people we should be looking to for
guidance is nerds.
Nov. 18, 2012 at 1:59 p.m.
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schwellenbach
Dolores, CO
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I can't help but say this, but the ironic thing about this article is its obsession with the exterior as an
indicator of what people believe. Simply because someone wears a trucker hat or a fedora does not mean
they do not have deeply held beliefs and work at them. It does not mean they do not have a family and are
good fathers and mothers working hard in jobs. It does not mean they are spoiled upper middle class brats.
I'm not quite sure where the ideal image of the hipster comes from. I've certainly met some hipsters who
don't seem to care about anything, but I've probably met a larger percentage of hipsters who are activists
than the population at large. And you can find plenty more non-hipsters who are complacent, don't seem to
care about anything and dress horribly (in a non-hipster way).
Frankly, who cares how people dress or if they think a plastic mexican wrestler is funny? The anti-hipster
mentality is perhaps more disturbing: why spend so much time and energy getting annoyed at someone
with a unicorn on his shirt?
Nov. 18, 2012 at 1:59 p.m.
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