This piece is another hard-won-wisdom Gen-X lament. Most of what I have intended to get across in it, I think, is pretty much self-contained within the piece, itself. With regards to outside influences, one of the most obvious is the song: Wake Me Up When September Ends, which was by Green Day on their 2004 album: “American Idiot”.

I don’t claim to be any sort of voice for my generation (as that’s way more arrogant than I could ever be), but perhaps I can be “a” voice from that far-too-large part of Generation X, who ultimately feel like we’ve often gotten precisely nowhere, despite well-intentioned and strenuous efforts,* and eventually came to understand that any attempt to fix things just generally made it worse.

Hence, the idea of a certain form of apathy that isn’t necessarily born of laziness and/or cowardice, but rather, one born of the realisation trying to change situations that are truly beyond one’s control is a fool’s errand. Of course, if you’re the type of person, who is still arrogant and cocksure enough to refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer, even genuine stoicism looks like laziness, and you’ll just say I’m full of shit.
Such is your right, of course.

Hence, if Stoicism is seen as noble, I see the Good Apathy as a slightly poorer, more raggedly-dressed, but still quietly-dignified nephew of Stoicism.

There is also mention of Gen-X Slacker Mountain-Man (and natural herbal medicines-enthusiast) Paul “Bear” Vasquez, who was responsible for the “Double Rainbow - What does it mean?!?” YouTube meme, and who recently passed at the age of 57 on 9 May 2020.

A lot of interviewers always tried to mock him and his lifestyle, yet Bear Vasquez’s childlike enthusiasm and genuine wonder and love for the natural world around him made you end up respecting him. In truth, Bear was always far too honest and forthright about his general situation to ever be called a ‘Stoic’. Nevertheless, I think that even in his last few videos, where he’d gained a significant amount of weight, and was constantly short of breath, and it was very clear that his health was failing, he still managed to hold onto his Good Apathy.
I admire that.




* I hesitate to use the term "Best Effort" because it's one of those slippery phrases that, let's face it, no one ever really believes.