Empty Valor, by Tudor Naconecinii
It is often difficult for a young person to define oneself; even more so considering them not having any real past to cling to in search for identity. It is only natural that such people will display an inherent inclination towards looking outwardly for purpose (indeed, most of us lean that way to a certain degree). However, is the inclination more harmful than benign?
Debatable. At its core, there is nothing truly wrong with conformism. Despite all flaws one can find in the society he is living in and among his peers, truth remains that it is still a social construct of outstanding and mind-bending complexity which has nevertheless managed to maintain itself afloat and true to its core – it would be dishonest of anyone, no matter how rebellious they are, to deny that fact. Just being bleeding heart and fiery in your passion to advocate your own ideals and preferences does not make your opinion gain any ground, real world value, or recognition.
Those individuals we can doubtlessly deem responsible for scraping off old, outdated and malignant segments of mainstream societal thought, those true trendsetters that have looked so far outside the box that their complete and comprehensive vision cannot be fully grasped by anyone else; those are rare, one in a generation wonders. Whoever longs to be recognized as one of them, due to a mere dissent of how things are currently performed or, even worse, the instinctual thrill of not conforming, is but a pathetic display of arrogance, egocentricity and foolishness.
Genuine trendsetters are out there neither for themselves nor to simply “screw the rules”, but out of an ardent desire to change the status quo into something better for everybody. They refuse to conform not because of seeing the intrinsic virtues and benefits of rebellion (of which there is none), but because they know they can better things and bring about a superior status quo for the whole society to enjoy and take advantage of. They wish, ultimately, to offer people a new conformity that would benefit them more than what had been previously taken down.
Therefore, it is beneficial to conform to thought that is groundbreaking in its non-conformism when it has not yet established its firm base and would be regarded by most of the community-minded as all around edgy and unsafe, but has reached a certain level of inner consistency and objective value. What is immoral, unhealthy, and utterly antisocial, is doing this out of mere love for nonconformism, or backing out of it just because too many people have taken notice of the movement. Not only does such behaviour fall short in logic, but it is also the epitome of unmerited elitism.
In conclusion, it is my firm belief that conforming to nonconformism does indeed make one a conformist, but at the same time I commend such a decision as progressive and wise, at least when compared to the empty valor others put in the pointless pursue of uniqueness.
Acest eseu este castigatorul premiului III in cadrul 2012 Shakespeare School Essay Competition, grupa de varsta 15-19 ani. Premiul a constat intr-un voucher de reducere in valoare de 200 de lire pentru o scoala de vara de limba engleza in Anglia, curs intensiv de vara de 2 saptamani gratuit la Shakespeare School, voucher taxa de examen Cambridge sau IELTS oferite de British Council, carti si rucsac de la Fischer International si carti de la Carturesti. Il felicitam pe Tudor pentru eseul ei care s-a evidentiat din alte mii de eseuri trimise la concursul national de creatie in limba engleza organizat de Shakespeare School si ii uram mult succes in continuare!
