I hate Joe Average

[mswas]

I really hate the term Joe Average. I feel like it's a stereotype that people like to fall into to justify behaviors. If the behavior is benign, why do you feel the need to justify it? It it's malignant, then it's an absolution of responsibility for it.

I feel like the stereotypical Joe Average constantly defers to people who are "Smarter than they" to solve the world's problems, but if the person who gets delegated for this task makes them feel stupid, they get very angry. It's such a double-standard. First of all it implies that there is some mean average, but if you believe this mean average does not apply to you, then you are a snob or weird.

We are consistently made to feel guilty about not caring enough about "Joe Average", if we shop at Wal Mart, buy a foreign car, or don't believe in nationalized medicine. Why SHOULD I care about Joe Average? Why does Joe Average get a pass from thinking about things that make his head hurt? If Joe Average hadn't shopped at Wal Mart, Wal Mart wouldn't be the only source of employment for Joe Average, so why should I feel sorry for him when he gets fucked by it?

Certainly Joe Average is the best guy to have around when you want to just drink a beer and chill out, because he's not gonna get too pretentious on you, unless you bring up some sport he is passionate about. This brings up another point, why is it socially acceptable for him to try to make me feel stupid about Football, but it's not ok for me to make him feel stupid about music?

I think the idea of Joe Average is responsible for a great deal of the misery we end up heaping upon ourselves, and I know that the concept is exactly what it says, and is the average of all of our mainstream values lumped into a single archetype, but I get a little sick of it as a tool for agenda pushing.

Erek

[Eonwe]

I'm not following. Are you saying that the 'Average American' doesn't exist? Are you saying the 'Average American' is a whiny entitled brat? Are you saying the 'Average American' made his bed and now he should lie in it?

Ok, wait. On third read or so, I at least understand your first sentence. Do you really know people who say, "hey, the average American does this, so that's why I'm going to do it"?

But still, beyond your opening paragraph, I'm not sure what you're driving at. Who makes you feel guilty about not caring about 'Joe Average'? The examples you give are certainly things that folks will say matter to 'all Americans', or 'our community' or some such, but I don't think I've ever seen that directed at a specific sub-set of citizen.

I'm not trying to be obtuse, but the exact nature of your rant eludes me.

[threemae]

Out of random curiosity, how many slightly incoherent pit-threads relating to Wal-Mart, the inability of the general populas to kill people with their bare hands, or other behaviors that you see at typifying the stupid bergoise of America do you have in store for us over the next month?

[mswas]

I am saying that "Joe Average" is used in a very manipulative way. Like when someone wants to displace guilt. Almost invariably it is used when someone is trying to duck guilt, or when they are trying to shoulder you with guilt. The buck rarely stops with Joe Average.

[woodstockbirdybird]

Out of random curiosity, how many slightly incoherent pit-threads relating to Wal-Mart, the inability of the general populas to kill people with their bare hands, or other behaviors that you see at typifying the stupid bergoise of America do you have in store for us over the next month?

Or "populace" and "bourgeois", even.

[/spelling Nazi]

[mswas]

Out of random curiosity, how many slightly incoherent pit-threads relating to Wal-Mart, the inability of the general populas to kill people with their bare hands, or other behaviors that you see at typifying the stupid bergoise of America do you have in store for us over the next month?

At least three mae.

Erek

[GaWd]

Spring Break, eh Erek? Can't wait until you're back in school...

Sam

[Frank]

Out of random curiosity, how many slightly incoherent pit-threads relating to Wal-Mart, the inability of the general populas to kill people with their bare hands, or other behaviors that you see at typifying the stupid bergoise of America do you have in store for us over the next month?
Let's see, there is one about people who drink red wine with fish; people who collect little ceramic angels; people who forward glurge; people who misprounounce French phrases... Four. He has four more.

[mswas]

Spring Break, eh Erek? Can't wait until you're back in school...

Sam

Oh, you're so cute when you're acting all superior. I'm sorry if I sullied your one venue for socialization by posting flames in an area dedicated to flaming.

Erek

[AskNott]

How do you feel about Dame Edna Everage, if you don't like her cousin Joe? :p

[GaWd]

You haven't sullied it. You haven't really "flamed" it, either. Instead, you post inane, ignorant, silly, pointless rants in a place for flaming, when you really should just clean up the language and post in MPSIMS.

And I still can't wait until you're back in school next week. Cutie.

Sam

[Captain Amazing]

I don't think I've ever heard the term "Joe Average".

[CynicalGabe]

I think Joe Average would get along just fine with American Woman.

[mswas]

You haven't sullied it. You haven't really "flamed" it, either. Instead, you post inane, ignorant, silly, pointless rants in a place for flaming, when you really should just clean up the language and post in MPSIMS.

And I still can't wait until you're back in school next week. Cutie.

Sam

Dear Sweetykins,

I don't think my threads were silly at all, and they got interest and people actually debated. Maybe people don't like this one. However, I'm not really sorry I posted three threads in one weekend.

As one who is obviously superior to those of school age you'd think you'd understand that one weekend does not equal a whole spring break.

Besides the fact that I'm not in school. ;p

I posted three threads, all in reaction to other things I saw in the pit. One was in reaction to some dumbass gun control debates. One was in reaction to the requisite dumbass hating on Wal Mart that is required about once a week apparently, and this one was just in response to someone saying that I must not care about Joe Average if I am willing to forgive Wal Mart for it's transgressions, and then she went on into some foolish rant about the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and basically how it's people like me causing all this corporate horror. So I posted this rant about Joe Average being an excuse to shift blame around. No doubt my OP was not very concise, I'd definitely agree with that.

But no such luck for you. I will not be heading back from Spring Break, well ever. I'm done with school as far as I know, have been since 1996. So you're fucked sweetykins.

Besides, who wants to clean up the language?

Erek

[Cliffy]

At least three mae.

I decalre that this was funny. (Would have been better without the self-conscious misspelling -- unless you're actually Scottish, in which case it would still have been better without the erroneously phonetic misspelling.)

--Cliffy

[Cliffy]

Gaudere's Law can bite my choad!

--Cliffy, again

[threemae]

Or "populace" and "bourgeois", even.

[/spelling Nazi]
I'll admit to not knowing how to spell "burgoise," but populas? "Populas"? I swear to god that was a typo. If you don't believe me I'll go back and pull cites from the boards, I promise.

[FinnAgain]

You're right, what's with this Joe Average shit?
It's Joe Sixpack. Duh ;)

[monstro]

I really hate the term Joe Average. I feel like it's a stereotype that people like to fall into to justify behaviors. If the behavior is benign, why do you feel the need to justify it? It it's malignant, then it's an absolution of responsibility for it.

I do not understand this. If I criticize you for driving around in a Japanese car, won't you feel the need to justify it? Does the very act of you justifying your behavior mean that it ISN'T benign?

The sentence It it's malignant, then it's an absolution of responsibility for it. does not make sense either. I cannot even imagine what you're trying to communicate.

I feel like the stereotypical Joe Average constantly defers to people who are "Smarter than they" to solve the world's problems, but if the person who gets delegated for this task makes them feel stupid, they get very angry.

There is a huge difference between "You are smarter than me" and "You are making me feel stupid". I can acknowledge the fact that my boss is much smarter than I am. But I don't feel stupid when I'm around him, nor do I feel that he tries to make me feel stupid.

We are consistently made to feel guilty about not caring enough about "Joe Average", if we shop at Wal Mart, buy a foreign car, or don't believe in nationalized medicine. Why SHOULD I care about Joe Average? Why does Joe Average get a pass from thinking about things that make his head hurt? If Joe Average hadn't shopped at Wal Mart, Wal Mart wouldn't be the only source of employment for Joe Average, so why should I feel sorry for him when he gets fucked by it?

I am not made to feel guilt or anything else about "Joe Average". I care about expoitation and oppression because I don't think these things belong in a society. I also think they ultimately affect everyone in a bad way. But no one makes me feel this way. If you don't want to feel sympathy for others, don't.

And who says that Joe Average gets a pass from thinking? I can say it's fucked up that Joe Average keeps voting for politicians that have agendas that go counter to his welfare, and very few people will disagree with me (we'll just disagree on who the politicians are). I can also say it's fucked up how politicians pander and exploit Joe Average by making pie-in-the-sky promises and devising seductive propaganda. Most people I see (around these parts at least) routinely place the blame on and away from Joe Average.

Certainly Joe Average is the best guy to have around when you want to just drink a beer and chill out, because he's not gonna get too pretentious on you, unless you bring up some sport he is passionate about. This brings up another point, why is it socially acceptable for him to try to make me feel stupid about Football, but it's not ok for me to make him feel stupid about music?

Who says it's acceptable and not acceptable? Joe Average? Why should you care, since you hate this imaginary, non-existant man?

I think the idea of Joe Average is responsible for a great deal of the misery we end up heaping upon ourselves, and I know that the concept is exactly what it says, and is the average of all of our mainstream values lumped into a single archetype, but I get a little sick of it as a tool for agenda pushing.

You often end your posts and threads with something grandiose like this, but offer little to back it up. Our society includes lots of little annoying stereotypes like "Soccer Mom", "Stupid Dad", and "Yuppie". I believe they enjoy more or less the same amount of power as "Joe Average". We are miserable because this is the human condition. It has nothing to do with stereotypes.

[Excalibre]

Dear sugarpants,

You might not realize that your threads are silly, but that reflects nothing more than your own idiocy. You are entitled to your opinion that you have posted incisive social commentary, but that's not terribly relevant, as you've actually posted something both less coherent and less entertaining than the rants on the side of a bottle of Dr. Bronners. In fact, the drug-induced ravings of the many pleasant urban outdoorspeople that I pass on my way to work are considerably sharper in terms of providing a cutting, stark revelation as to the state of society.

I guess what I'm asking is this - if I give you a cigarette and some money for booze, will you please be quiet?


Besides the fact that I'm not in school. ;p
Actually, I think this is quite obvious. I suspect the sorts of schools that generally admit people such as yourselves don't permit enough freedom to access the internet on weekends. Hopefully, eventually, you'll find the treatment you need, or at the very least develop a more entertaining schtick.

I wish you all the best in future endeavors. Remember, don't scratch too hard - there aren't actually bugs crawling under your skin, and you'll only end up injuring yourself.

Yours affectionately,
Excalibre

P.S. You seem to be misspelling your first name. "Eric" and "Erik" are acceptable spellings. It's tough, but if you keep trying, I bet you'll learn to spell it one day!

[ZebraShaSha]

Excalibre, I take it you haven't heard of Erek the Vekeng.

[mswas]

[quote=Excalibur]Actually, I think this is quite obvious. I suspect the sorts of schools that generally admit people such as yourselves don't permit enough freedom to access the internet on weekends. Hopefully, eventually, you'll find the treatment you need, or at the very least develop a more entertaining schtick.[quote]

You might be surprised to know there's only one of me.

I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of spelling your name correctly when quoting you. I figured a scholar such as yourself would appreciate the gesture.

Look, I'm not gonna try and defend this thread. I was half asleep when I wrote it in response to some person's annoying comment in another thread. However, I feel like I did you all a public service, I gave you yet another opportunity to be righteously indignant in public. You should thank me really.

Erek

[AskNott]

Dear mswas,
Erek, you'll notice eventually that some monikers on the SDMB contain jokes or puns. Excalibre contains at least two. With the mythic spelling, Excalibur, it's not funny at all. It might be that mswas is also a joke, but I haven't figured it out yet.

I suppose I missed something, but I haven't yet figured out why these folks find you so annoying. I don't really care, and if you are truly annoying, I'll get it before long.

I don't think you have to swear and breathe fire to start a Pit thread, or to post in one. I believe if you can't make your fucking point without cussing, you need to polish your vocabulary.

[mswas]

Dear mswas,
Erek, you'll notice eventually that some monikers on the SDMB contain jokes or puns. Excalibre contains at least two. With the mythic spelling, Excalibur, it's not funny at all. It might be that mswas is also a joke, but I haven't figured it out yet.

I suppose I missed something, but I haven't yet figured out why these folks find you so annoying. I don't really care, and if you are truly annoying, I'll get it before long.

I don't think you have to swear and breathe fire to start a Pit thread, or to post in one. I believe if you can't make your fucking point without cussing, you need to polish your vocabulary.

Yes, you did miss the point. He told me my name "Erek" was spelled incorrectly, so I made a joke about his name being spelled incorrectly. Jokes require context, the context was provided by his post.

I reread my original post:

Number of times I used the word:
Fuck: 0
Shit: 0
Ass: 0
Cunt: 0
Bitch: 0
Dick: 0
Prick: 0
Damn: 0
:smack:

So do you assholes have a fucking point about the goddamn obscenities?

:cool:

Erek

[monstro]

Whooooooooooooooooooosh!

[AskNott]

I take back the part where I said I don't understand why they find you annoying.

[Frank]

I take back the part where I said I don't understand why they find you annoying.
At least he didn't correct the spelling of your name.

Who were you in your first incarnation, mswas?

[Ferret Herder]

Who were you in your first incarnation, mswas?
Still mswas, apparently, though according to the search enging we got a break for about a year from any new threads, until last month some time.

[Frank]

Still mswas, apparently, though according to the search enging we got a break for about a year from any new threads, until last month some time.
But he was showing as a guest, if I remember right. I assumed he was under a different name before, and the admins blended him in. No reason I can't be wrong though.

[mswas]

At least he didn't correct the spelling of your name.

Who were you in your first incarnation, mswas?

Mispellings of names are reserved for people who make dumb jokes about the spelling of my first name, that I haven't heard since like 2nd grade. Everyone else gets a pass. He is correct though Luchalibur is at least two jokes.

As far as my first incarnation. Prior to my manifestation upon this plane I was MsWas, as I still am on other planes. However, before October 2000 I wasn't anyone on this plane, I was nothing incarnate.

The joke behind mswas is obscure to anyone who is not Erek spelled the correct way. I'll explain it though. I was reading a biography of William S. Burroughs. It had a sentence. "The ms. was none other than an early copy of the Naked Lunch.", so being that I liked the way it sounded together with the fact that it was William Burroughs, I decided to take it out of context and use it as one of my internet Nicks. It stuck. Later on I invented a character around MsWas that was this sort of strange technocratic demigod with a stick up her ass that went around in a power suit with a clip board making sure that the flow of time was working properly, and no one was fucking with it. That character never really went anywhere, but the name remained.

So now I have incarnated in this plane. I have trouble with it's strict adherence to pseudo-intellectual thought, and am unable to compete with the superior High School debate and unsolicited dopefest titty grabbing skills. However, I like this board, I learn a lot from about 20% of the populace, and have many friends who post here, and it helps improve my writing skills, so I stick around much to the chagrine of many an Anal Cunt (http://www.darklyrics.com/a/analcunt.html).

Love,
Schnoogy

[mswas]

Still mswas, apparently, though according to the search enging we got a break for about a year from any new threads, until last month some time.

Correct, due to the overly serious nature of the pecking order on the straight dope, a few disappointing dopefests, and the sudden pay nature of the boards, I decided to take a break.

Erek

[Frank]

As far as my first incarnation. Prior to my manifestation upon this plane I was MsWas, as I still am on other planes. However, before October 2000 I wasn't anyone on this plane, I was nothing incarnate.
Thank you for the ?info? Let me put my question more plainly. What was your original user name on the SDMB before you recently returned? I think I may be the only person who does not believe it was mswas. Am I wrong? I'm not trying to jump you (for this, anyway, as obviously the mods are cool with with it, and I am too), I'm just curious.

[mswas]

Thank you for the ?info? Let me put my question more plainly. What was your original user name on the SDMB before you recently returned? I think I may be the only person who does not believe it was mswas. Am I wrong? I'm not trying to jump you (for this, anyway, as obviously the mods are cool with with it, and I am too), I'm just curious.

It is, and has always been mswas, as you can see by the "Member since October 2000". I have no reason to change my name. No mod has ever called me on my behavior that I can recall. I've been to several dopefests, so people here know me, and know who I am.

I honestly left because I didn't like the brand of elitism on this board. I think it's gotten better since I've been gone, or at least I like it better now, than I did when I left. That's the reason I left, if you're implying that I was incognito or something. I don't hide my actions, I have no problem making an ass of myself in public, and then regretting it later.

So if my assumptions about your implication are incorrect, please set me straight, but otherwise, I have always and forever been mswas for purposes of this board.

Erek

[Frank]

It is, and has always been mswas, as you can see by the "Member since October 2000".
OK, thanks for straightening out my confusion.

[Harborwolf]

You're right, what's with this Joe Average shit?
It's Joe Sixpack. Duh ;)

I thought it was Joe SixTooth.

[mswas]

Joe Average is the supremely irritating middle brother between Joe Sixpack and Joe Sixtooth.

Erek

[BubbaDog]

.... Later on I invented a character around MsWas that was this sort of strange technocratic demigod with a stick up her ass that..... Bolding Mine

A-HA!

So it is a girl's name then!


I want my bunk back.

[mswas]

Bolding Mine

A-HA!

So it is a girl's name then!


I want my bunk back.

No, you assumed that I WAS a girl because I was using a Ms. You do not get your bunk back!