After living in New York City for 18 years, it's hard not to find something about fellow New Yorkers to complain about. The difference between New Yorkers that are a product of society and a New Yorker like myself, however, is that I'm a non-conformist and I form my own opinions. Sadly to say, there aren't that many of us left.
The most pathetic aspect of New York society as a whole is the lack of individuality that is present. Your typical New Yorker will seek to conform into one or more of the many subcultures that exist in NYC (more on this later in the post). One who abandons their personality in attempt to gain acceptance from society can't claim to have any dignity from that point on. Conformists like these don't realize that their actions make it apparent that they're cowards with no backbone that feel the need to associate with a crowd in order to possess any type of power. A good example of this was during the Occupy Wall Street protests, where a small amount of the occupiers actually had a purpose to be there while the rest were just hipsters with nothing better to do. This same majority falsely thought that they irrepressible "menaces to society" that were causing large scale disorder and civil unrest. No, you're just a 20 year old with tight clothing and oxfords. Stop.
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| Typical Wall Street Occupier |
Speaking of hipsters, NYC is home to many subcultures that deserve to be mentioned on this post. However, the most annoying ones by far are hipsters and what I like to call "swaggots".
Hipsters tend to inhabit "trendy" cities, or liberal cities that are overpriced and usually have an art, fashion, and music scene. They are easily spotted, as they wear flamboyant clothing such as tight jeans and shirts, loafers, and large-framed glasses. They also wear sunglasses or scarves regardless of the weather. In New York City, the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and the Lower East Side are plagued with them. Equipped with their trusty iPhones and other Apple products, hipsters are known to frequent Starbucks, content with spending more than $5 on what is possibly worst-tasting cup of coffee in the city. Since hipness is inversely proportional to notoriety and popularity, the hipster's interests are fleeting and every six months a hipster will throw out all of its collections. This raises the question: What happens when the "counterculture" ideology of hipsters becomes mainstream?
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Hipster or homeless person? The world may never know.
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On the other end of the spectrum, we have what I call "swaggots". As opposed to hipsters, swaggots seek to conform by means of purchasing the most valuable and "stylish" consumer goods and by following the hip-hop culture. These creatures exist on a large scale throughout the entire city of New York. They are likely to be the most materialistic and collective people you'll ever meet in your life. Although it's hard to accurately describe the appearance of a swaggot considering they wear anything their favorite rapper wears in their latest interview or endorses, they are known for particular articles of clothing. The typical swaggot will wear an Obey hat, overpriced plastic-framed Ray Ban glasses despite whether they are visually impaired or not, plain T-shirts that have a brand's logo on it (raising the price by $100), overpriced tight, saggy jeans with a $500 belt (the jeans are worn below the waist anyway, defeating the purpose of the belt) and finally, Air Jordans, even if they don't play basketball. This whole outfit is bought for them by their parents of course. I mean, when was the last time you saw a swaggot with a job? No, that time at the McDonald's drive-thru doesn't count.
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| Swaggot logic |
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| Need I say more? |
