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Accelerated Evolution

Worst Block in Harvard Square

amy

By amy
in Rant Pit

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amy Post Whore

amy

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So I biked through Cambridge today and I was writing an LJ entry about and I ranted on for like two pages on this one block I went by that I hated. XD Since the trip was overall awesome, it didn't really fit, so I took it out, BUT THE PUBLIC MUST KNOW HOW HORRIBLE THIS BLOCK IS AND I HOPE YOU NEVER EVER GO TO IT, so here you go AE, thanks for reading.

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One block in Harvard Square IMMENSELY ANNOYS ME though. The others I am positive-neutral with but this block, IF THERE IS A HELL, THIS BLOCK IS MUCH WORSE THAN IT. Actually, I just mean one side of one block, and this one side of one block has four stores on it. One store is a COMMUNIST BOOKSTORE called "The Revolution Bookstore" and their sign is a wooden red flag-shaped sign with yellow lettering on it. It's upstairs. They don't have a display window. Can you imagine how oppressive it must be to walk up there? WHAT KIND OF IDIOT IS COMMUNIST ANYMORE!?!??!? THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN FREEDOM OF RELIGION!???!?! UGH! Another store is a restaurant with $10 breakfast, actually that's OK with me, it is A Good Option if you like breakfast (I do) and have $10 to spend on breakfast. There's another store, that is second worst, called A TASTE OF CULTURE. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!??! THEY SELL JEWELRY AND CLOTHES FROM "EXOTIC" countries. Like you have to pay $30 for culture! And then all you get is a TASTE? HELLO CULTURE IS EVERYWHERE WHAT Lastly, the worst is a cafe with fair trade coffee and tea. That is great, I think everyone should buy fair trade coffee and tea. But the name kind of killed it for me, it's called the "Karma Cafe". To me that kind of implies that to drink tea in there is a Good Deed. I don't like that assumption. You're not a good person for drinking some kind of $5 green tea monk approved dolphin safe latte and talking to a pretty girl. What makes you a good person is working for your money and then donating it, and then buying that fair trade tea on the side, and being like, "Well, I'll indulge myself, since I am nice guy and it helps out people who need it." Anyway I just think the whole premise of calling it KARMA CAFE is really classist and gross. But it wasn't KARMA CAFE that made me as mad as the store design of Karma Cafe, which was bad. WHAT REALLY PISSED ME OFF WAS I SAW THIS DUDE SITTING THERE. GOD. THE MOMENT I SAW HIM IT WAS A HUGE WAVE OF REVULSION! He was inside sitting alone on a bench reading some kind of book and wearing glasses and he was a bit overweight and he was drinking tea facing the window. HE WAS UNATTRACTIVE AND PRETENTIOUS. Normally I don't care how people look but I hated the sight of him because for some idiotic reason I am usually attracted to this kind of guy once I have met them. It seems like they are my "type". I don't think they're attractive and I am not very interested in what they read and think. I don't know what I see in them. But anyway seeing this loser in the Karma Cafe really bugged me because I am probably going to end up with someone like that and I'm not going to be happy.

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Ceraziefish Post Whore

Ceraziefish

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I bought some stuff at a communist bookstore once, actually. Called Revolution Books... In Seattle.

They were selling awesome t-shirts, but unfortunately there were none in my size. I bought a book by Lenin I'd been meaning to read for awhile (State and Revolution, it's alright).

The interesting thing about this bookstore was that it was run by volunteers. It was sort of a community center for hardcore leftists, too (not just communists, they had anarchist and socialist books in there too).

I dunno, Communists don't believe in religious freedom for all the right reasons, IMO. I don't agree with them but I can totally see why they do it, especially in the case of Russian communists, where the church was definitely a negative thing in most peasants' lives. The church owned serfs, for example. If I were a revolutionary in early 20th century Russia, the first thing I'd do would be to outlaw that religion, but then I'd have to be fair and outlaw all religions.*

*It's worth noting that religion was never actually outlawed anywhere in the Soviet Union, at least as far as I know. It was discouraged, however, and lots of churches were seized and converted to other uses, such as warehouses, etc. Also the church was encouraged during WWII as a way to bring the country together.

"Taste of Culture" and "Karma Cafe" are both pretty bad names, though. There used to be a deli by my house called the "Psyche-Deli," though, and it was awesome. Lava lamps EVERYWHERE.

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amy Post Whore

amy

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It's funny when we talk about communism because you know a lot about the Soviet Union and I know about China so we never use the same evidence. XD And China isn't as bad as it would have been here I guess because they were mainly Confucian/Taoist at least in the east and those are more philosophies/ways to rule than religion, and the Christians there were like "corrupted by the West". But still, if you have a bookstore like that here, it implies you want that system here also

That said I'm not a huge fan of any kind of revolution because they are glamourized civil war. I understand sometimes it's been necessary but I'm not about to wave any banners.

Psyche-Deli, that is awesome! I would totally purchase a sandwich there!!

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Ceraziefish Post Whore

Ceraziefish

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Well, there's a difference between "Revolution" and "Civil War." For example, the Russian Revolution was a (relatively) bloodless affair that took place over a few weeks, as the Communist Party took control of the government (the only people who were killed were a few army officers and old Government heads).

The Civil War, on the other hand, was four years long with ten million deaths, mostly civilians.

But, a revolution just implies big changes, not necessarily violence. When I say I'm for a revolution, I don't necessarily mean I'm going to get some molotov cocktails and an AK and raid my neighbors for supplies.

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Gundampilotspaz Post Whore

Gundampilotspaz

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Freedom of religion os probably the last thing to worry about when talking about Communism

Also; why is there this sudden streak of pulling away from being "Pretenious".

Doesn't judging these places and that person make you pretenious as well? In which case you should hate yourself more then the things you listed because you are trapped in an infinate loop of having feelings of superiority over people who like to drink tea and read and calling them pertenious?

Also, don't you think this is the last thing we have to worry about in our culture. Where most people grow up fatherless and end up in gangs, where reading is slowly disappearing and ignorence is conquering the vast majority of the population.

Doesn't all of these factors make you a hypocryte so cought up in your own baseless emotions that you can't see the bigger picture.

And I know where it comes from, all of these factor are the reason I really hate lindsay. I don't want you to do down the same arragent path because you are far smarter then herl and are capable of more then this post suggests.

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amy Post Whore

amy

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Lindsay is my friend and I respect her a lot and I think she is much smarter than me.

Anyway yeah I realize this whole rant is pretty immature and hypocritical, but come on this is the RANT PIT, everyone's immature sometimes.

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Ceraziefish Post Whore

Ceraziefish

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I agree with GPS (about the communism thing and about the pretension thing). Although I like Lindsay.

I think its just weird how much you hate these things. Sure, it's annoying when people are stupid and pretentious, but I think you're a bit more hostile than perhaps you ought to be. They're just people searching for truth and meaning etc, just because you're doing it the wrong way doesn't mean that you have to hate them for it. After all, where do you draw the line between "freedom of religion" and "freedom of going to trendy coffee bars"? (remember that some religions are pretty silly).

With all that being said, it's perfectly acceptable to hate a specific block just because there's stupid shit in it. I mean, I hate West Seattle for no reason other than it's there.

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amy Post Whore

amy

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I only hated him for about an hour. Now I think he is just a normal guy doing what he thinks is right and yummy and supporting fair trade on the side. I was just explaining how I felt at that particular time because I think it gets across the idea of what I think is wrong with that block.

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Gundampilotspaz Post Whore

Gundampilotspaz

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I only hated him for about an hour. Now I think he is just a normal guy doing what he thinks is right and yummy and supporting fair trade on the side. I was just explaining how I felt at that particular time because I think it gets across the idea of what I think is wrong with that block.

Do you really think the world will be at all effected if this block was any different?

What would you do to make it better?

How can an area be right or wrong?

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margot Post Whore

margot

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everyone is disgusted by certain ideas/people even if it seems undeserved. it is okay and if there is going to be a major problem (spiritually even) with it, you will change without too much force from yourself. you just have to let things be how they are.

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