Hell Is Other People

Jean-Paul Satre once said that Hell is other people. Well, actually he said "L'enfer, c'est les autres" which is obviously some sort of French mumbo-jumbo, but it's usually translated to Hell is Other People, and I'm quite fine with that.

I won't pretend to know what in the hell it means. I don't. I also won't pretend that I read the play that the quote is found in, No Exit. Honestly I know nothing about Satre except for the fact that he wrote this awesome line and his name kinda sounds like he should be a goat-person.

Anyway, I don't know how other people interpret this line, but I'm guessing the usual consensus is that other people suck. Hard. Now, the reason why I like this quote is because other people do suck hard. They suck harder than a vacuum stuck on turbo mode (or your mother, hardy har). But people don't suck in the way that that hippy down at the convenience store wearing the suspiciously store-bought looking Urban Outfitters shirt explained it to you. His version is more, "Humans are a plague, man, we're a virus on the Earth man. Earth would be better off without us." I'm gonna call bullshit on that one. Earth is an inanimate space rock hurtling through the universe because of the sun's immense gravity. Without us, it'd still be pretty much that. But we're here, and we can appreciate it's beauty and marvel at nature.

And we can also take whatever we want, whenever we want. I'm not saying it's not bad that we waste resources at a terrible rate, but humans aren't some sort of plague, we're the best things to ever happen to Earth. Would an artist want no one to see his painting? Of course, the guy who comes look at the painting might take a shit on the carpet, but hey, he saw your painting, and maybe now you can stop eating ramen.

The way I interpret the line is simple; people can cause the greatest stress to you. Whether it's that dumbass who cut you off today, or that political pundit who just makes you want to murder puppies in a blind rage, people suck. But people can also be awesome, it's true. We can be hilarious, intelligent, generous, anything. First we have to look at why people suck. And the reason why people suck is because we care so darn much about each other. Face it, if we didn't care about each other, why would we care if someone doesn't share the same opinion as us, or why would we care if someone's embarrassing themselves? It's because they're wrong, and we can feel it, and we want them to be right, to see the light. Sure, it's selfish, but it's also caring. Something can only bother you if you care about it enough to begin with; if you don't care, nothing it can do will bother you, because, again, you couldn't give a shit.

And now down to why people suck. Sure, we're upset by people and their stupidity because we love them, but the stupidity itself is still there. People are idiots, myself included. Aside from the select few who are abnormally nice, we suck, every single one of us. That's just the way it is. People piss me off so much, and I'm sure they piss you off to. Which is why I created this blog, so I can detail to you my frustration with people. Feel free to tag along for the ride as I explain why you guys are such assholes and why I love everyone of you.

Peace.