DISQUS

Jon Phillips · 1 year ago

I'm self-employed, don't have kids, fashion kinda makes me sick, I know I'm not normal (who would want to be normal anyway?), I walk in the streets, I don't watch the idiot box, all the money I 'could' save for retirement the government will spend it before I ever see it again, laws are ok I guess except that some drug dealers are behind bars while rapists are walking the streets... oh well.. I guess I really am free, especially free to think this is not how I wanna live.

dee licious · 1 year ago

like it a lot.. simple and true

Mikey likes it · 1 year ago

I Agree. most have jobs they hate yet the MUST work. There is so many ways to educate your children other then "school" - how about reading to your kids? Fashion is dictated by boring people in offices. Act normal is boring (just got back from a cruise and everyone looked so unhappy just trying to fit in) The pavements and TV and law is all about following direction. We know right and wrong but why must we bombarded constantly with other people telling s what to do? Save for retirement - That is my favorite. Retirement accounts are set up so goverments can tax you as much now as when you retire and where I live if you have saved too much, you get no old age pension. In a week of 168 hours, 56 hours a day for sleep, 64 hours for work (commute, unpaid lunch & getting ready - not including overtime...) 20 hours doing chores (cooking, cleaning & shopping) leaves a person with just 4 hours a day to do what they want to do..... Is 20% of your time on this earth real freedom?

sam · 1 year ago

There _is_ so many ways to educate your children? A pity your parents never figure out any of those ways.

Cool graffiti.

abigreturn.com · 1 year ago

Funny sam. You made a statement a question by add a question mark and are mocking someone other person's education.

Dumb ass

abigreturn.com · 1 year ago

And yes dumb ass, I get it. It should have been written as "there are". Your still a dumb ass, dumb ass.

what? · 1 year ago

You mean "You're still a dumb ass, dumb ass" dumb ass.

DVG · 1 year ago

I'm fairly certain it is "You're" still a dumb ass, dumb ass... if we are making grammatical corrections.

You're - contraction of you are
vs.
Your - a form of the possessive case of you used as an attributive adjective

Zill · 1 year ago

figuring out why you weren't making any contribution to helping the commentary ....
hm....maybe...this is why what? called you a dumb ass ......and
if you figure it out....then you are not a dumbass........lol.....but if you dont........
.....which I highly doubt.................then please ........
you may want to correct my errors of writing......
and....touche if you do ......

Josh · 1 year ago

*figured* If you're going to comment on someones grammar, you should probably check your own. Idiot.

abigreturn.com · 1 year ago

God, I love the Internet! Touché!

tyler · 1 year ago

someone's*

Amelia Riyon · 1 year ago

Yes I agree.
The person who made this writing did disrespect the property of others.
I he must be a drop out from the school of dyslexics.

Flann · 1 year ago

hey, dyslexics are teople poo!

Sam · 1 year ago

Haha you rule.

DavidG · 1 year ago

You could spend your time subsistance farming for 160 hours a week if you like.

Amelia Riyon · 1 year ago

This is too offensive to some people who really like to watch TV.

pieter · 7 months ago

yea i love tv its one of my favorite things, IM WATCHING IT RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but the rest i do agree with

Arya · 1 year ago

Well we walk on the pavement to stop ourselves from getting killed, not to conform.
We watch TV to know about the world around us, not so we could conform to it, but because it helps us make better decisions.
Acting abnormally does not mean I have freedom, it means I am retarded.

Eric · 1 year ago

The pavement one, I'll give you. Weak as it may be, it is a simple part of it. You don't see all of God's creatures on our sidewalks like we do, do you? Anyway, I see why you jumped straight to that one to try and make yourself feel like you are an individual, or something like that. The TV one though, I mean come on. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but the reason I'm here at my computer is to avoid that magical idiot box. You don't learn about the rest of the world from that stupid thing. And, it definitely doesn't help us make better decisions. Look who the idiot box convinced America to vote for. Twice. What's happening in China right now? Can you turn on the idiot box and find out? Or can you find out who won the game? Can you learn about Muslim culture? Or can you learn to equate the way they dress with bombs? You know nothing about the world around you, and that is why you had to open your snotty little mouth. Oh, and by the way. You should pitch your last sentence to your Daddy's propaganda machine next quarter. It's catchy. Fox News might even pick it up. "Not conforming does not mean I have freedom, it means I am retarded." That ought to snag the rest of those non-conforming stragglers out there. Yeah.

Alex · 1 year ago

I'd actually question the pavement one. The pavement, in most places, is a very artificial guiding construct. It is usually easy to find many alternate routes, we just don't notice them. For evidence, look towards urban exploration or parkour, and mentally tone down the extremities of both. You will quickly see why some people feel baffled at our ritualistic sticking to the pavements, even among self-proclaimed non-conformists.

Christina · 1 year ago

Agreed. Not to mention, pavement is not naturally what our bodies are built to walk on. It's much harder than dirt, and being a runner, I know that running on pavement consistently for long periods of time will eventually damage your joints. It'd be much easier on the knees, ankles, and thighs to run on softer ground. I know this, but I don't do it. Because I'm stuck in suburbia at the moment and I don't want to waste time and gas driving to a dirt hiking path every day. But yeah... pavement fits in with the rest of them :-P

Michael · 1 year ago

Seriously, people? If you want to walk on dirt or back alleys then do it. You're twisting the pavement item way out of context here. 'Stay on the pavement' really just means 'stay out of the effing road so you don't end up like the bloody opossums and squirrels.'

pieter · 7 months ago

i only stay on the pavement cuz you cant longboard in the dirt :(

joboo · 1 year ago

parkour is lame... what you running from suckah?

davehimself · 1 year ago

I watched the moon landing on the magical idiot box. Carl Sagan set a fire that's still burning in my brain through that idiot box. Sure I have peeked in on some of the dirtiest and most dangerous vocations. I have even laughed along with the laugh track of the occasional sit com. But then I set the DVR for NOVA, The Body Human, Deep oceans, Planet Earth, Bill Nye, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Michio Kaku and I could likely go on for a few more lines. Point is the TV is not for idiots. Poor choices are for idiots. The kid who scrawled that nonsense got his ideas from the magic idiot books that taught him heroin addiction is bad ass and that he should die young and leave a good looking corpse. He bought his paint with money he borrowed from a friend with a job. He is a joke. Who cant afford a TV.

saganfan · 1 year ago

Even so, he does have a point, dave, doesn't he? You're right though, TV is not ONLY for idiots. Some people, like you, watch good television (yes, believe it or not, it's still around). Most of television, and most of the people who watch it, unfortunately, are idiots.

pieter · 7 months ago

"Look who the idiot box convinced America to vote for. Twice"

correction America voted for him once.

ur mom · 1 year ago

ddduuuururrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Ana · 1 year ago

People do things for different reasons. If everyone didn't conform then everyone would be conforming anyway. And acting abnormally does not mean you are retarded. Many great things have been invented and discovered because people did things outside the box. There are pros and cons to both.

Guest · 1 year ago

It is all nice, except for follow fashion. That is for paris hilton wannabes

Bas · 1 year ago

Guess what: you don't get it.

Tyler · 1 year ago

Too funny

Rob · 1 year ago

ROFLMAO! n00b!

Kevin · 1 year ago

its the 'go to work' part that really makes me question my freedom. So much of my life is spent working for money to live a 'normal' life. Of course, I realize that the "freedom" rhetoric we Americans are fed throughout our lives is based on the freedom we have from Britain's monarch and our itemized freedoms detailed in the Bill of Rights. "Freedom" is just political rhetoric in my book. Of course, true freedom is not necessarily something healthy for a society and it is not something I am really interested in pursuing.

Bas · 1 year ago

How awesome is this!

derek · 1 year ago

Thanks grafitti, I will immediately quit my job, no longer send my children to school, dress like a fucking retard, spaz out for no reason, walk in the middle of a highway, become an uninformed rube who knows about global goings-on only by catching glimpses of newspapers thrown in the trash, blow all my money today so I have to live in abject poverty for the rest of my life, and of course I'll also rape, kill and steal.

Shit I feel so fucking free.

Ironically, the most free people according to that grafitti are stereotypical white trash.

Go to work? Sure, if you consider "smoking meth and occasionally feeding pigs" work.

Send your kids to school? No sir, none of that multiculture-lovin' nigger-toleratin' evolution-teachin' public school system for my young'uns, they all be homeschooled.

Follow fashion? Wearing plaid since the late 19th century, brother.

Act normal? Haha ok I don't even have to explain this one.

Walk on the pavements? We only got dirt roads 'round these parts, stranger.

Watch TV? Full of homosexuals, our 1956 black and white TV stays off until the COPS reruns come on.

Save for your old age? Ain't earning anything fer savin.

Obey the law? The law is that down here we drag niggers behind our pickup trucks.

So there you have it, Cletus is more free than you, as are his 28 children

? · 1 year ago

It really makes me sad everytime I realize again that ignorance like this is pursued, especially by those that claim to be "informed".

So, does that make me just another "piece of white trash" to think differantly then "derek"?

Cletus · 1 year ago

You are a very shallow person

sdf · 1 year ago

hahahaha

Claire · 1 year ago

the 19th century was from 1801 to 1900. so either you are at least 100 years old, or you don't understand when the 19th century was.

sigh · 1 year ago

Obvious Troll is Obvious.

Tyler · 1 year ago

Really it's just that you haven't the imagination, Derek-Who-Thinks-So-Little-Of-Himself-That-He-Refuses-To-Capitalize-His-Own-Name, to understand the possibility that there may be some other type of person beside Cletus who abstains from the activities described in the image. This might be because you watch too much TV.

Furthermore, Cletus is more free than you, you are correct. He smokes meth and don't give a fuck, so I hope that your final sentence was not meant to be sarcastic.

fyiguys · 1 year ago

All of the people who replied to this post that derek made are just name-callers. The people who like this graffiti are just wannabe artists who like to take meaning from things that don't have meaning in them, for example, our existence. This graffiti was made by a person who does what all human beings do, like eating, sleeping, and taking shits. The person probably does all these things that he/she tagged on the wall. People posting comments think they are better than other people because they can throw words they found in a thesaurus around, but what they should do is read some more poetry, get whatever meaning they want from it, keep it to themselves realizing that no one else gives a shit what they think about art. Art is art if you say it is. If YOU say it is. Take what you want from what you call art, but after that, SHUT THE FUCK UP. No one cares. Oh, and to the people talking shit to derek saying "Oh, you don't know your centuries" and "Oh, I'm a psychologist and I know that people have self-esteem issues when they don't capitalize their names on the internet," PLEASE shut the fuck up too. People like you argue without a point, which makes you a dumbfuck.

TL;DR: No one cares what you think about someone else's thoughts, so shut the fuck up please.

Fucking faggots.

Tom Germany · 1 year ago

^^ No one cares what you think about someone else's thoughts, so shut the fuck up please.

Victor · 1 year ago

you don't get it

wilhelm der schweiger · 1 year ago

Saw this just the other day -- very cool.

- · 1 year ago

Is there no one who won't take this message literally and try and understand the idea in it's general meaning?

Bas · 1 year ago

Yeah, that's what struck me. People feel attacked, and get defensive. Silly monkeys.

Hanne · 1 year ago

I believe that people generally think freedom means no regulations, no hindrances in action and so forth. But, freedom can be other things as well. What freedom is is subjective for each individual.

clay · 1 year ago

sounds pretty boring to me.
Follow fashion? What on earth for?

How about "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?"
I think that one is beautiful.

Tyler · 1 year ago

Missed the point

slow clay is slow · 1 year ago

how did u miss the point by this much?

it mocking people who follow fashion, not promoting it.

Liz · 1 year ago

You guys are ruining this graffiti. All it's saying is that everyone does those things. If you don't you're different or weird. Nobody is free to do whatever they like.

Carlo · 1 year ago

True through and through. Liz and Hanne are right on different ways. You can never truly be free, and freedom can mean different things for different people. If we delve more into the subject, we will just come out with Jean-Paul Sartre's view of existentialism.
Anyone seen the movie The Devil wears Praga, one of the characters says that even the "non conformists" follow a trend that was designed with them in mind.
Also depends on your view of what work is, some people do what they do because they like it, but... Latino's say You Work to Live and not Live to Work. Which one is conformism is your choice. Anyway you see it, you will fall into a trend that was designed for you, or carved out from and for people like you. We are not that unique.

Ian · 1 year ago

if only stumbleupon would let me double thumbs up this

Peter · 1 year ago

It shows how the money system is a subtle form of slavery. It forces you to go to work, and save for your old age, when in reality there is enough food to go around and feed everyone of only if was distributed evenly. We think everyone should have a job, even though this is not required to meet the production needs for everyone. And fashion and TV are used to distract people from noticing what is really happening.

Tanner · 1 year ago

Perhaps there is enough food to go around and feed everyone, but someone still has to grow that food. Someone still has to do the work. And if we have one group working to feed another who does nothing to earn that food, that would be slavery. In a true communist society, it would be each according to their own abilities. Those who would are good at growing, planting, herding, and all, would handle the food, and those good at carpentry would repair houses, and so on, to where everyone had a job, and did it for the betterment of the community. Essentially, we have something similar, but instead of everyone sharing the benefits of their labor we earn something called currency. How much a particular person in a particular job earns is determined by the worth of the job to the community, the ability of the person doing the job, the current economic situation, how stingy the company is, and other social factors. It's called capitalism. Not slavery.

Chemistry is hard · 1 year ago

We ARE free, free to choose to do those things or not.

I wish there was more stuff like that around where I lived, to praise or scrutenise it.

Good stuff

roost80 · 1 year ago

It is true that we are technically free to do or not do these things... however, true freedom is a life without attachments, and our materialist culture has us enslaved to the comforts that we are so addicted to for our illusions of happiness, which feeds the power-structures at the top and keeps us under control. We're fed these illusions primarily through TV (which also molds our entire manufactured, distorted view of the world), we work ourselves to death in constant persuit of all this worthless "stuff"... the illusions created by our "need for acceptance" illusion have us hyper-concerned with others' opinions of us, which explains fashion, keeping us spending money on stuff we already have perfectly good instances of (anybody ever heard of "percieved obselescence???"), and also keeps most of us from ever engaging in any truly spontaneous, or heart-felt actions in public (the act normal part).

That is the general message here... noone is more hopelessly enslaved than he who falsely believes himself to be free. True freedom is spiritual in nature, but doesn't necessarily need to be recognized as such. Wake up, humanity, we were meant for more than this!!

fireslinger · 1 year ago

idolo

dmax530 · 1 year ago

Ok... "I am free" :(

ticasse · 1 year ago

painfully true

besides....first !

Truth · 1 year ago

wow..... amazing!!!!!!!

modulor · 1 year ago

NIce :-D

BobT · 1 year ago

Expect others to support you. Reject education. Follow fashion(okay). Act like a looney, Walk in the middle of the road, don't understand the media, squander all your money and expect others to support you in your old age(again), disobey the law. Repeat after me. Fuck everyone else. I'm the only one that matters.

RainbowBarf · 1 year ago

if we didnt do any of those things what would life be like? just wondering. a world without work, education, fashion..so far seems like we would be regressing. And another thing, why do "non-conformist" attack those who choose to conform? Don't insult those who choose to not conform to you non-conforming ways, then u are just like the "conformist" except preachy.

? · 1 year ago

we have the illusion of freedom

richy81 · 1 year ago

WOW........I like it..........

JohnB · 1 year ago

We walk on pavements to stop our feet getting muddy.

Not sure that conforming (acting 'normally) makes us free. Free from what? OK, it stops people talking about us, that's freedom?.

Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Watching tv might keep you informed, but what are you going to DO about it? sit around around waiting for someone else to right wrongs?

There is freedom in ignorance, but no fulfillment. What value has freedom without it? I'm sure the Eloi thought they were free too.

Sky · 1 year ago

You're all a gaggle of morons.

the artist is saying that you should do what you want. If what you want to do happens to conform to the norm, well frankly that doesn't mean squat for shit. This is actually a very good personal description for what I WANT to do with my life, I look forward to living a decent life, having children, teaching them right and wrong, sending them to school and seeing them off into the world; I look forward to working hard and getting paid for it, saving so that I see that it wasn't all for nothing. EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU that is acting like following the rules is some kind of god awful sin is just a douche, who obviously doesn't know anything about what's going on around them.

Here: name me one revolutionary whose ideals stayed as non-conformist and "revolutionary". Just one. No? Why? because no matter what you do, if your ideals catch on, GUESS WHAT!? YOU ARE THE NEW CONFORMITY, and it will be good for a while, and then someone or some group will dislike the way you're running the show, and will repeat the process, this is how it is, this is how it's always been, GET THE FUCK OVER IT, YOU WHINEY LITTLE FOOLS.

I'm still young, and figured this out. You know the way for an individual to work around it? Work with it. Work along side the conformity, but keep your own ideas. I say keep them your own as in, gladly tell anyone and everyone that may ask about them, but don't go preaching it like it's the law of the cosmos. For example, you don't have to read any further (if you've gotten to this point) you can stop at any time, and I would personally be fine with that, because it's up to you whether you believe what I say or not, it's you're choice, and making that choice makes you: free.

That's what freedom is, making your own choices, having your own ideas, and realizing that there -just might- be other people in the world with very similar ideas, and accepting that you are more than likely only unique to a certain extent. I work, I save, I follow the system, I try to obey the law, do I think it's all perfect and peachy? do I lie to myself to make me think that the government isn't corrupt? No. All of you extremist non-conformists never help anything, you just make more problems, which then other people that actually see clearly what's going on have to clean up, and bare, because you all hard-headed and stupid. All of you think that your ideals will fix everything, and make it all good and to be frank, it won't make anything any more or less what it is now, whatever us humans do is only a small effect on the whole.

You think the universe cares about politics? religion? life, as WE know it? no. Furthermore, that's why I say, just live life as it is, if you want to be the bad, be the bad, if you want to be the good, but the good, but no matter what, there's always going to be one of each. Everything in humanity comes in twos, and what's good and evil is no exception, and it comes in many forms.

I think that's all I've got to say about that.

JohnB · 1 year ago

The human spirit is a noble thing. Lincoln's Gettysburg address is one of the most moving and humbling speeches i have ever read. It is not a pouting political proclamation. It is the stuff of which we dream to aspire. Bringing up children is one of the noblest things we can do. Should we teach them not to care?

You can live under a rock if we choose. You will be safe. Is safe enough? Lincoln went to war for an ideal, Was he wrong?

Sky · 1 year ago

At What? or any point did I say we need to live under a rock?

I say we should conform to a certain extent, not to just accept everything as it is. I agree, Lincoln was noble in every since of the word, but not everyone is noble, and do you think he got to where he was by going against everything? No, that's not how you do that. There is a copius amount of people out there that are plenty noble and good, that think of the right thing to do, I know a few of them, and they're wonderful, but the kind of power and trust of the people that Lincoln had wasn't gained solely through nobility; He had to work up to it, and no matter how you turn it, that means he had to wheel and deal a little bit. He new that whatever small conforming he had to do to get the trust of those in power, would be for the greater good.

And btw, I do apologize, upon a second reading of my post, it was less than wise and intelligent, but preached as if it was. And sorry, but the point still stands that anyone has to conform, be a part of the system, do for others(even if those others don't seem right), see our limits and accept them, then try to go beyond them, before we can be free.

I like to say we cannot go beyond our limit, if we do not know what our limit is.

pieter · 7 months ago

i would strongly disagree that lincoln was noble in every sense of the word (i know its off topic but i had to say it) unless you consider suspending habius corpus to imprison random people he didnt like and being in a family that owned slaves noble...

Tyler · 1 year ago

Reading the first sentence of your post I thought I was in for a treat, Sky.

How wrong I was.

Someone is whiney here, and it's you.

JohnB · 1 year ago

You're right, ideals are stupid.

Richy81 · 1 year ago

I seriously think that sky is young, has no ambition...or maybe to much. Once you become satisfied it doesn't matter what other think is a form
of slavery because that person is satisfied. Everyone has different expectations in life, and those who expect too much never get enough.

Be happy and quit trying to be rebellious. The system even with all it's flaws works...........stop the revolution "NEO".

Sky · 1 year ago

Stop the revolution. Really?

I think you don't see that even older folks can be childish, you're a good example.

I like the world just the way it is, but for it to work , someone has to fight, and someone has to be fought against. You should read up on Taoism some time.

z00110100 · 9 months ago

Sky, you are my hero.

Jordan · 1 year ago

This guy said gaggle. Enough said.

crismonay · 1 year ago

Hell no..we arent free. This is great.

love cris monay
www.pedagogyofmissfab.com

raee · 1 year ago

i think when it talks about walking on the pavement, it's speaking semi-figuratively. not literally just "walking on the pavement," but blindly following these guides that have been set for us without thinking to make our own path.

and the TV statement may be to place the image of a person sitting in front of a television, wasting their time and energy on reruns and nothing real instead of getting up, out, and living in the moment (though this is obviously just one way to see a TV).

i don't know, just a thought...

raee · 1 year ago

oh, and they never used to word conformity...

why is it so necessary to assume, criticize, and try to translate simple statements like this into an object of negativity?

again, just a thought.
:x

jammyd · 1 year ago

i love this! and from reading all your comments i guess its just a perfect summing up of the craziness of it all and how we make can make an arguement out of absolutely anything! thanks for sharing!

darren · 1 year ago

im guna write that everywherre i go

me · 1 year ago

Maybe a lot of people do those things because they find that they are good, freeing things. We don't have to scale a mountain or walk in the middle of the street to be free. We need to do that which makes sense to us. Sure, "following fashion" and "acting normal" are a little vague, but you really can't argue that they reduce your freedom, can you?

wise 1 · 1 year ago

words have no value, so it's all cool.

Sar-L · 1 year ago

free: ya right... very narrow minded view on life. conforming with the general population. work,kids, watching t.v, following the norm???(why) save for your old age... ha i would rather live life, and obey the law... well some laws were made to be broken or even challenged. ... do you really think this is being free?

Elle · 1 year ago

people take this far too literally. It's supposed to make you think, make you question yourself and the way you live. It's to make you question the government, and the media, and what your parents told you while you were growing up. It's to remind you not to take everything as fact without thinking it through first.

and for the people who said that if you never watched tv, you'd be uninformed; have you not ever heard of news sites??

christine · 1 year ago

philosophers of our generation are anonymous

tony · 1 year ago

That is amazing.

teraflop · 1 year ago

Free will is a myth

lisa · 1 year ago

awesome.

Ben · 1 year ago

READ MORE BOOKS !@!!!!!

These ideas that you guys are touching the sruface of have all been written about, discusses, debated, rewritten, forgoten, rethought about, written again and recorded...

READ BOOKS!!@!

Plato Aristotole, Camus, Jefferson, Hobbes, Locke, etc.. etc.. etc..

b · 1 year ago

Don't send your kids to school... be original!

And have some dumbshit kids.

Russ · 1 year ago

I personally think school is important. But I know I'm smart enough that even if I didn't send my kids to school they wouldn't be dumbshits.

Maybe yours would, but certainly not mine.

axelm55 · 1 year ago

Sounds like something Radiohead would put on their album art.

anon · 1 year ago

zing

Obsever · 1 year ago

Forget the beautiful, its awfully true

joe · 1 year ago

only in english speaking countries
Fuck America, its got your brainwashed

Ben · 1 year ago

Graffiti is not beautiful. It is vandalism by criminals damaging others property.

THEGODDAMNMAN!!! · 1 year ago

Why did you scribble your rant over a smiley face? It looked like such a happy face too; unaffected by the lame complacency and misdirected angst of a brooding, young, wannabe philosopher. You don't have to do any of those things. Once you realize that, you will truly be free... you are at a turning point of your enlightenment.

props for using the word "obey". :P

joboo · 1 year ago

parkour is lame... what you running from suckah?

J · 1 year ago

I find it interesting that most of the people I know who make an effort not to conform feel more trapped than those who have preferences in line with what is most common in the society they live in.

steve · 1 year ago

I think the point was to make you think. Pretty noble goal for graffiti. Look at these comments. Look at how pissed people are getting. That's art.

T · 1 year ago

Is getting pissed at something someone says to you at work, or something you hear a politician say on TV also "art"? Is everything that makes you question your lot in life "art"? Somethings are what they are, no label needed.

Jordan · 1 year ago

And somethings are rhetorical.



The name says it all.

mirko · 1 year ago

Have you heard what Renton says during both the beginning and the end of "Trainspotting"?

treefiingers · 1 year ago

Nice. Absolutely.

Truth · 1 year ago

Yea! I always walk on the road! sure its more dangerous, but god dammit I feel Free!

LOL · 1 year ago

Sounds like SOMEONE hates the game because they suck at playing it.

Above · 1 year ago

rebelling for the sake of rebelling isn't freedom either.

bombfunk · 1 year ago

...ghey....

T · 1 year ago

You are free to not do any of those things

Dude · 1 year ago

What's so wrong with conforming? There's reasons why people conform. There is nothing wrong with conforming, just like there is nothing wrong with not conforming. Some people just like to live differently than others, if it doesn't affect others, who cares?

Dude2 · 1 year ago

i bet you smoke weed

david ehlers · 1 year ago

yes. beautiful

anon · 1 year ago

Collect unemployment, raise ignorant brats, dress like a homeless person, behave like you have a mental disorder
Get run over, stare at the wall
waste all your money, commit crimes
repeat after me: I am a total fucking loser

Fat Free Milk · 1 year ago

I'm just here for the free food.

Jordan · 1 year ago

Exactly.



I've wasted damn good internet money on your comment.



I have lost all I've spent.

kiera · 1 year ago

lame as balls,,,,,, u ARE free to decide not to follow that life style.....stop being so ignorant

Reflexology London · 1 year ago

obviously this artist is young. It's perfectly understandable to reject what you are destined to do. You'll just regret it later.
In terms of freedom, this young mind cannot understand that its limits. Fair enough.
I'm sure he'll have kids and save for his old age and be happy too.

Shatter Sub One · 1 year ago

Brilliant

anup · 1 year ago

Indeed Beautiful.............

neo · 1 year ago

there is no spoon

Hypernation · 1 year ago

The best irony I have read all year. 'Act Normal', 'I am free.' Superb.

Marc · 1 year ago

You can seem where the council have painted over older graffiti with a slightly different colour of paint, they do that around my area too

rob cornelius · 1 year ago

surely this is a paraphrase of the old Trainspotting movie promotional materials

Mitchell · 1 year ago

Upon closer inspection the point being made here crumples to pieces (like one of those quantum wave functions or something, i dunno im not a scientist). Individuals are free to deviate from any of these points (except the part about the law, of course), they just typically yield negative consequences. It's entirely unreasonable to complain about a lack of freedom just because stupid actions have harmful consequences.

mike · 1 year ago

Freedom is something everyone wants and no one has, sadly, everyone thinks they have it.

abeman · 1 year ago

from the movie trainspotting...

Dali Lama · 1 year ago

Who wrote this shit? Be more original like, "Fuck Bush," or "Big Brother is Watching You." Fuck these retarded artsy people.

Victor · 1 year ago

It's saying that we shouldn't be victims of our own mindless cycles. It's a message telling us to think.
It's funny that people are reading it in the most absent minded manner. Don't read it literally.

Here's my interpretation, but most certainly not the only one.
-Go to work: What are the reasons I am working here?

-Send your kids to school: be active in your kids education;don't let their only education be at school

-Follow Fashion: Aesthetics that please the senses can sometimes obscure our minds from thinking

-Act Normal: Be your own person, not a sheep

-Walk on the pavement: There are so many other places to walk and explore

-Watch TV: TV shows allow us to escape reality, which can be good, but don't make it a habit.

-Save for your old age: (Not necessarily pertaining to money) Savor your youth, don't save all your regrets for old age.

-Obey the law: Again, don't be a sheep. Question authority.

Repeat after me: I am Free— THINK, only the absent-minded can be enslaved.

Djs · 1 year ago

work from home (create production), home school ( do you want brain washed kids), fuck fashion (stock up on real goods), Fuck TV, READ/Internet!!!!, Use artistic talent for something legal, Save, Silver, Grow food! Interpret the law. Stay off doc's meds. make friends, use less., have fun, fuck alot, dont reproduce!!

Susan · 1 year ago

Hi, I'm going to put the photo in my blog (with obviously a link to yours) and translate the message in Italian, if you have problem just tell me and I'll remove it.

darkpixie · 1 year ago

You are different and unique....just like everyone else :P

aware · 1 year ago

um, can't you see that the author is being sarcastic? this isn't an inspirational or beautiful message: the jokes on you.

brenan · 1 year ago

this is totally pretentious rubbish... as if this is the first time graffiti has questioned society...

amir · 1 year ago

I once saw this graffiti, it was like this: marriage is like light bulbs, you keep screwing till one of them works, and they don't last for ever and this is the best you can wear them out: love the hell out of them, marry them or don't, just get in the game. Forever is not the point!

I have the details and the picture in my blog at http://amir97522.blogspot.com

Jordan · 1 year ago

“go to work, send your kids to school
follow fashion, act normal
walk on the pavements, watch T.V.
save for your old age, obey the law
Repeat after me: I am free”

Anthony · 1 year ago

"stay inside the house with the burkha on, please your husband unconditionally
learn to hold a machine gun, act normal (like your house isn't being bombed)
you won't reach old age, don't question your president because he can behead you
Reapeat after me: people who are truly free are selfish, petty, spoiled brats who think walking on the pavement makes them slaves."

Yes, truly beautiful philosophy there.

Gaz · 1 year ago

Define "free" - it's in the mind

What if you love your job?
What if you want your kids going to school?
What if it's enjoyable to follow fashion?
Pavements are meant for walking it is safer?
TV is entertaining of course it going to be watched?
Saving for old age is a great idea what's your problem?
Law is there to avoid freedom-destroying anarchy?
What if you're the guy who has to scrub this shit off of the wall?

Repat after me : grow up

Seems to me that the person who wrote this is trying to blame "something" for his unhappiness - he is missing the point that life is a controllable perception

"Beautiful"? Ha ha

Gaz · 1 year ago

"um, can't you see that the author is being sarcastic? this isn't an inspirational or beautiful message: the jokes on you."

How do you know? Did you write it?

pokey · 1 year ago

betcha thats banksy's

Adrian · 1 year ago

Banksy isn't an idiot. His work has class and actual meaning. He isn't a complete tool.

E$ · 1 year ago

I like the part where the baby is walking on the ceiling.

DSugermand · 1 year ago

All our lives we sweat and save, building for a shallow grave

Must be something else we say, somehow to defend this place

Everything must be this way, everything must be this way.

Joe · 1 year ago

Well, I can write false stuff on a wall as well. It does not take originality or skill. Just a can of paint. Why it's beautiful I don't understand. And I don't see what people see so beautiful in it. It's a saying made up by some teenage dude or las, who though found the answer to life's questions, but failed. Eventually most of us will work, have kids, act normal, and guess what, life will still be pretty good and you will be free even though you are not breaking the law and so on. Money does give you a certain amount of freedom. You should not make money a goal in life, that's for sure, but you should have enough to live good and respect yourself.

bob · 1 year ago

I'm guessing the person who wrote this can only dream of achieving most of those things on the list. Is sitting in a cold damp bedsit living off social welfare supposed to be freedom? Or maybe hanging out on streets getting drunk and stealing cars is his definition of freedom?

The Man · 1 year ago

Dumbest shit ever.

jae · 1 year ago

An unnecessary reality... sadly our species chosen (greed inspired) existence.. nice! :(

Brian · 1 year ago

Every single one of you are tools.

Raven · 1 year ago

Everyone just as to know, we are all different. Each and every one of us. HEH

I would like it more if it was not just so easy. I mean they just took the norm and said the opposite. I do disagree with the obey the law bit. I don't think I have met a person alive that does that one. What I would like is to see some sort of middle ground. Why the hell if I am pro gun but I also be anti abortion eh? You all should take a quick sec and e-mail your government officials and see if you can figure out that one.

aa · 1 year ago

Im sure this message was debated ad nauseum when people heard it on ok computer, and it was nowhere near new then, even by a longshot.
It's like an art project for a high school philosophy class. it's art, in that it comments on modern life, and it could to an extent be seenas intelligent, in a sense that someone sees a hole in a raft complains about it and drowns cause they didn't try to fix it, cause they don't understand how a hole works and therefore cannot save himself. Or maybe the artist is some old dude lashing out at what he considers a wasted life

Sriram · 1 year ago

Beautiful...

HernandezUSA · 1 year ago

Wow, useful.........not hateful..............graffiti

What a concept.......

Need more positive messages like this ..........instead of 187 and 13th street......bla bla bla

brad · 1 year ago

And misdirection.

You can work however you want so long as you increase the value of your world in the process.
You can choose not to send your kids to school and have them be ignorant idiots OR you could make sure they get an education at home. The better their education , the better they will be able to take care of themselves, AND THAT is your real goal, to make your children self sufficient.
Normal these days means just about anything. You pick.
There is an off button on the TV.
Don't EFFING expect me to pay for your old age. You are self sufficient RIGHT?
Always remember the golden rule, and the rest of the "laws" will follow fairly easily. The laws that are stupid? I exceed the speed limit on my roads all the time. I follow them as I feel appropriate, BUT I DO NOT endanger others in the process.
I am free because I recognize that this grafitti writer KNOWS nothing.

Justin · 1 year ago

I think our natural will to survive pushes us to conform, fear of what might happen in the future keeps us from experimenting with new things that might enlighten us and make our lives a little easier. Being afraid can also bring out the hatred in people..like alot of the hateful comments said in this very blog..

To have no negative thoughts in your mind..even no thoughts at all, I think, is the only thing that could make us feel 100% "free". If you want to be free in this life embracing love is a good start.

These are my thoughts..feel free to misinterpret them and even respond negatively ...you may never see things from my perspective and that's ok.

xparker · 1 year ago

I am going to use this as a post on my blog, if you don't approve than please send me a message. I will put a link of this up too.

Ali · 1 year ago

Love it.

Reality · 1 year ago

Ummmm.....this is stupid. Whoever thinks it's beautiful probably thinks the "art" peice of shit on a canvas was amazing as well...

joshua · 1 year ago

sit around, unemployed
don't worry about your looks, let yourself go
walk in the streets, watch out for traffic
don't have any retirement plans, work till you die
Repeat after me: I am free

Murkertrer · 11 months ago

Interesting proposition. But you can say, that that is what he was saying.

You see, that's waht you belive is the contrary, but it isent. that In logic can be called a contradiction, but not the CONTRAry.

el · 1 year ago

OR we could all do what we want and have complete anarchy, no stable countries, no technical advancement. So is that free or just stupid?

linas · 1 year ago

very very true words. simply amazing.

Scott · 1 year ago

what a load of Junk, Freedom isn't about the absence of rules. Freedom is trying to live with the least amount of rules.
A world without rules and some conformism is not a society its anarchy
Only someone who has never had to raise children could come up with such a simple explanation of real freedom.

Simon · 1 year ago

a semi copy of trainspotting

lesley · 1 year ago

why is this beautiful?

Hazmat · 1 year ago

I don't find this beautiful - I find this to be the scripted opiate of a social outcast who has mastered neither his internal nor external environment. This is the childish 'I hate adults' writ slightly larger (and more illegally) which will likely echo throughout this man (or woman's) life as they move from nothingness to nothingness.

Beautiful is to do something. This is hardly beautiful

brenan · 1 year ago

Im so sick of people putting stuff like this up on the internet, then everyone is suddenly a graffiti expert. If this message wasn't written on a wall, but on a pamphlet or on a blog, no one would be cumming over it. The message is somewhat ambiguous as well... its not some scathing commentary about our society. Is it saying "we aren't free because he do all these predictable things?" I cant tell... but if so (it would be quiet a stupid message to be honest), this is certainly not the first time Ive seen writing on a wall like this. sending your kids to school, walking on pavements, wasthing tv and saving for old age is in no way oppressive... so why add them? Why try to add the little ironic "you're free because we say so" bit? I would bet some 19 year old kid saw this on the internet somewhere and went and wrote it on a wall.

Aside from the subject being irritating... its just chicken scratch anyway. I dont see how any artistic work was put into this, it was scribbled with black paint.

Amelia Riyon · 1 year ago

Some people like to do the exact same staff that is criticized in this graffiti.
The person who made it is far worth than the people that he criticizes, because he can not accept that others choose to live different from his way of life.

alex · 1 year ago

This is retarded. No one is 'free' in society. You give up liberties to get along and it's always been that way. Unless you're Atilla the Hun or some sort of ubermensch, doing what your id commands is a rediculous way to live your life. Grow up.

d0obie · 1 year ago

he knows what's up

robzombie · 1 year ago

this is gay and so are you

http://s10.invisionfree.com/SHFTK/

Adrian · 1 year ago

Its better than: Try and find work to feed your kids, hope that they'll live long enough to get jobs of their own, walk miles barefoot because you cant afford anything else, watch your friends and family die because of disease you cant afford to have treated, hope that you aren't hit by a stray bullet on your way home." People these days are so damn selfish, seriously, get over yourselves.

Ed · 1 year ago

Yeah we are sooo not free, cause we live a normal life....why dont you get a fucking job and grow up

E* · 1 year ago

There is a LOT of angst in this chat room...

Sam · 1 year ago

But really has anything changed since early man? We had to work to get food, we had to teach our kids or they had to learn from the elders of spiritual stories and how to hunt. We had to act in a certain way inside the social group - those who acted out were looked at as being outsiders and could be kicked out of the tribe, banished or burned as a witch. We had to be part of the commmunity to ensure we were looked after at an old age. We had to follow tribal laws. So nothing has changed so I can say "I am free!".

r0dy · 1 year ago

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Ur'Kwan · 1 year ago

Sad but true! But I say to myself: It's not important to do what I like, it's important to like what I do. Every thing has something good inside, and it's art to find it. May be just another lie, but it works for me.
p.s. I still have no kids, don't follow fashion, don't watch TV, don't save for my old age and disobey the law when ewer is chance to do so. I'm 31, engaged to be married because I love her, IQ around 144, work as a high-school psychologyst in Croatia and despise western civilization, capitalism and consider democracy as a biggest lie ever.

abe · 1 year ago

This is very true.We are told that we are free,yet if we violate a norm,we are automatically considered"a threat".i think that we should just cut our losses,and stop with all the patriotism crap.we are not a first world nation anymore,we are now a second world,and if we continue at this rate,we will become a third world nation.it's funny how we have all these plans for 2025-2050 but our economy is decreasing at such a rate that,by then our dollar will be worth less than a Pesso.i my self am going to move to england and actually have a chance at having a life.In the end,im sure the united kingdom will survive.

Frick · 7 months ago

The UK started it. We are them/they are us now, the real ones in power are the very same that are over there, esp. since the Euro, get ready for the Amero. Obama is going to get the willing support of South America that G.W. couldn't force - then 2/4 of the NWO is complete. China and Russia will be the only ones left to preserve the last bit of Freedom - ironic.

Rene · 1 year ago

So, this graffiti is saying if I wander the streets jobless, penniless and illiterate, at the mercy of other street people, then I am 'really' free? Don't make me laugh. Freedom is primarily freedom of thought and speech. There are superb reasons for following the status quo at a minimum level. Once that is accomplished you can exercise your freedom to engage in high risk activities. The poor and illiterate are not free, they are the slaves of the world.

Alexandra · 11 months ago

The poor and illiterate are your slaves. Guess that graffiti is saying that you should make your own choices (whatever those are) and the consequences of them, that come along, not just simply follow some patern, for patern`s sake. That`s what it says to me..

Yourmom · 1 year ago

Freedom isn't about living in anarchy (or avoiding sidewalks, disobeying laws, or not becoming educated); it's about having the ability to make choices which matter in life. This comes from living responsibly in a society which is built up to support healthy happy lives of individuals.

Alexandra · 11 months ago

An (utopic) anarchist society would be exactly what you are talking about...No society fits your description.
Anarchy is not about headbanging or pogo like a bloody stoned punker or pissing wherever you feel like. Anarchy would be heaven. But it`ll never be..

Frick · 7 months ago

Damn Right Alexandra - why are people so afraid of the word 'Anarchy' ? It means no leader, you can be your own. If someone Foxes with you, put together a big posse and Fox 'em back. Sweet Street Justice - so what if it's a little Mafioso - They have respect, integrity, and extreme justice (for the most part).

Gaz · 1 year ago

I wish I was a hamster then I wouldn't have to face this shit. I just want brocolli and the Parallax music

galgen/lappen · 1 year ago

yes galgen and lappen agree

gazaar · 1 year ago

This is total BS! How to conform in a nutshell.

Thiago P. · 1 year ago

Simply perfect!

LoXieL · 1 year ago

"we are free to choose what or who governs to us"

Frick · 7 months ago

Not anymore, there are laws against it. If I were to say something like "Let's boycott Company X - because they mistreat their employees and use slave labor, and pollute" - or any other reason - I, and anyone that listened or agreed, would be jailed indefinitely for Homegrown Terrorism.

Those in Power serve only to protect theirs.

FTW - Faith, Trust, Wisdom; or is it F@#K The World ?

francis mcclean · 1 year ago

"we watch t.v. to know about the world around us" !............hahahahaha, some people just don't get it, do they? t.v., like religion=indoctrination. wakey wakey people!!!!

punylittlehuman · 1 year ago

Repeat after me: Either I stole spray paint or I bought it with money I made at work and I since I was able to write this I guess my parents sent their kids to school. There is punctuation in my graffiti, but no period at the end so I guess that is when I got arrested for breaking the law. Now I am in jail: I am free.

That IS beautiful.

Alexandra · 11 months ago

Just sit and think for a moment. That moment would be enough.

Anyone · 9 months ago

Beautiful

sage · 9 months ago

everyone for the last 5000 or more years has had to work, except for a lucky few. if you dont work
you are poor and struggle through life, people send their kids to school to get an education, so they
may work for more money or better conditions than their parents, school is important. The rest are
personal choices, you dont have to do any of them.

The only one who is not free, is the author of the graffiti, he is stuck in his pessimistic, antagonistic lifestyle,
probably dropped out of school and is not working, bored, and some occasional drug use, probably
harrassed by the police for loitering and some petty crime, like graffiti. He is not free. Hes a prisoner in
his own head.

Frick · 7 months ago

Really? Education is a personal choice too, but the shit "they" teach in the institutions of the gov't are only teaching what this guy graffiti'd. I prefer to educate myself through questioning, researching and critical thinking or philosophy, the very same things that are avoided and demonized in 'Skool'

High school is only to keep teenage boys off the street. College is where we go to catch up with the basic learning skills taught all over the world by age 12 (along with 3-4 different languages).

We are "Free" to express our ideas/speech but not in "Free Speech Zones" where it's a criminal offense to offend the Oppressors. We even need to get a permit for it - WTF is that? Would this country have ever earned it's freedom (lasting only 3 generations) if it had to get a permission permit?

If you don't believe "they" are out to get ALL of us, you are either one of "them" or the first one to the showers.

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY! IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH! VIOLENCE IS PEACE!

mweiksner · 9 months ago

holy cow there are a lot of comments. jeesh!

Anyway, the counterpoint here is: "freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" (janis joplin). I don't feel so bad being as free as that guys says.

Cheers!

Frick · 7 months ago

This is a Cliff's notes version of their Instruction Manual, 1984. Ignorance is Strength!

pieter · 7 months ago

freedom is living in a cardboard box in the street, freedom is not having anything to lose, freedom is doing whatever the hell you want to do and not worrying about it, american freedom is a lie told to keep the stupid obedient, true freedom is the loss of all hope

Adam · 7 months ago

I like the graffiti and it's statement, though I find the comments slightly more entertaining.

Matt · 7 months ago

rise with sun, love your woman, wear what is comfortable, be yourself, walk the land, watch fields grow, stay active, respect any living thing, live life to the fullest and you'll be free!!

InfectedDaemon · 6 months ago

The last sentence is what draws my mind. But in the end... what do you consider freedom?
Is there such a thing? And to what degree do you desire it? Under the most popular terms,
the more 'freedom' you have, the more your trample on other people's 'rights' and diminish
their 'freedom', hence laws.
...walk on the pavements, save for your old age... is there any leeway in any of of really? Is there
any real choice we have? I refer to our general activities beyond a deterministic view. Do we
have a choice? Maybe the choice the graffitist gives us is live hard and die quick?

Fred Kenpo · 6 months ago

Ah, the beauty of a socialist society. But lest you take offense, we in the States will be there soon enough.
The UK is like our old relative of the same gender. We are horrified we'll be just like you in a few years,
and when told that we are doing the same things to get there (e.g., nationalizing education), we go
"No, not us!"

Ryanlikesanarchy · 4 months ago

whoever is like me and is as sick with society as i am needs to start doing somthing about it and stop talking about it all the time as if sombody else will fix it for you. join with me and stand for freedom