THE ELEMENTS OF NEW DISCORDIA - Principia Discordia

It strikes me that with the wealth of skill and talent
at our disposal, we should be making a much,
much bigger splash than we are. This community is
unique in that almost each of us is good at
something and capable of learning how to be good
at other things. We are creative, we have quite
impressive rhetorical and media skills, and I don't
think I'm really exaggerating when I say that if an
advertising company had a pool as technically and
creatively competent as this, it would have a
marked advantage in the industry of making people
believe stupid things.
So what is holding us back? We have the talent, the
skills, and the ideas to make waves, but I don't
think we are living up to our potential. So, in this
post, I'll set out my sincere and constructive
criticisms of the Discordian Society in general, and
the PDCOM community in particular.
1. Lack of Identity
For all the energy we spend trying to make sure
we're not getting stuck in dogmatism or typecasting
the Discordian movement, it's ironic just how
predictable and dogmatic we've become. Instead of
saying FNORD or spouting 23 every ten seconds,
we're laughing at FNORDs and 23s every ten
seconds.
Discordia doesn't need a definition, but it needs a
culture. As varied as Discordians are in our
personal lives, we need cultural landmarks we can
relate to and point to in order to communicate
Discordian ideas that have no easy analogies in
normal communication.
We shouldn't overhaul everything to be a carbon
copy of the PD, but we need to recognize the
cultural significance of those aspects of Discordia,
Discordia:
A Brief Critique
and be able use them constructively without
belittling each other.
Internally, we need to be able to communicate with
a standard vocabulary and be able to recognize ­and
accept ­­ one another quickly and efficiently.
2. Lack of Vision
We've got distaste for the Status Quo down to a
science around here, and most of us aren't lacking
in a general nonspecific desire to change things
whether on a large scale or just locally. Many of us
have taken to the streets in furtherance of various
GASMs, so I don't think we lack motivation,
dedication, or determination.
But we are, generally speaking, easily jaded and
thoroughly cynical. We tend to think larger goals
are either unacheivable or pointless. Either the task
is too hard or it's too inconsequential; it's either
impossible to change the world or such change is
meaningless because it is corruptible.
This is complete horse shit, even if it is true. Of
course any change we can make is corruptible.
That's why we're HERE, because an idea that
started out promising and new has become an
entrenched, corrupted, stale, sour, and rotten
System. That's why ten or ten thousand years from
now, someone will be around to get rid of OUR
stupid ideas.
The Discordian Community itself has become
corrupt. Maybe it hasn't been mass­marketed or
pre­packaged yet, but we have been sold out for
some time on the idea that the ultimate goal of a
philosophical revolution should be a static Utopia
where everything is perfect.
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