Which sometimes makes sense and is very reasonable and at other times is completely retarded and unfortunate for all involved

There are also questions of "alienation" and the search for a meaningful identity involved. I don't approve of it personally as a resolution to these questions but I also appreciate it from time to time on its own merits

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5709109&forum_id=2#48837645)

Overall Tattoo Prevalence:

A 2021 study indicated that 23% of Gen Z have at least one tattoo, while 19% have multiple tattoos.

Comparison to Other Generations:

Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) have a higher tattoo prevalence, with 41% having at least one tattoo.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5709109&forum_id=2#48837657)

zoomers see many of the trashier parts of the millennial zeitgeist as being cringe shit, and for good reason

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5709109&forum_id=2#48837668)

One hopes so.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5709109&forum_id=2#48838674)

I'll give you an example. You know when youre listening to an FM radio station, and the song comes to an end. There is some kind of jarring scratch, explosion, scraping noise, lasers, etc., followed by an edgy voice, "NINETY SIX FIVE, YOUR HOME FOR ROCK", or something?

Compare that to what you might imagine hearing on the radio in 1950. It's intentionally *unprofessional* now. Like... its intentionally not smooth, not polished. It communicates the conceit that an amateur cut this audio.

Think now of advertising. Instead of calmly demonstrating the value of the product, in a way that communicates the most information possible, seeking clarity, the ad will be spliced up, with discordant music, incomplete audio, fast moving cameras, non traditional voicing, etc. Again, it aspires to some "punk" kind of approach. Non professional, lacking polish, lacking technical skill in editing.

This all, I theorize, aims to communicate "HEY YOU CAN TRUST ME. I AM NOT THE MAN. I AM NOT INSTITUTIONALIZED. IM STREET, IM DOWN, IM HIP, IM AM AMATEUR AND SO HAVE CREDIBILITY."

This is the same as tattoos. Im not square. Im not uptight. Im not safe. Im outside the mainstream culture.

Obviously, this is ludicrous. It IS the mainstream culture. If everyone is a rebel, and so credible, than no one is a rebel or credible.

But the incoherence of it doesnt mean anything to normies, they just follow and do.

But what is interesting is why we have this association in the first place. Why is smooth, professional, institutional UNTRUSTWORTHY? It would make no sense to the person in 1950. He would WANT his banker, his lawyer, his girlfriend, his radio announcer, et al to be institutionally trustworthy. Even if one could distance themself from this reputation, they would not want to, or see a point in doing so.

These institutions (banks, companies, churches, schools, etc.) after all are ours. They are American, made and inhabited by us. Why do we want to countersignal them? We are countersignaling our own selves.

Its all very jewish I suspect, and baby boomer. There was some rupture in the 60s where the worst thing you could be was white american male adult. Insanely bizarre ethos for a majority white american culture to adopt.

But yeah.... I think tattoos are still just an offshoot of this credibility crisis.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5709109&forum_id=2#48837734)

I always liked those radio station "transition' things

also ESPN has perfected that between plays on CFB football games with that split second "helmet" graphic that displays then shoots toward the viewer in between camera shot transitions

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5709109&forum_id=2#48837805)

society spent centuries developing systems and cultural narratives that made life livable but now those are taboo and oppressive, so instead of finding a home in homer or the bible they'll get tramp stamps that just serve to exalt their sexuality into something resembling transcendent meaning

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5709109&forum_id=2#48837781)

!!!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5709109&forum_id=2#48845888)

August 29, 2019 – Data from a recent Ipsos poll reveals that more Americans have tattoos today than in early 2012. Three in ten (30%) of Americans have at least one tattoo, an increase from 21% in 2012.

https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/more-americans-have-tattoos-today

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5709109&forum_id=2#48838489)

Those 35-54 year olds (the age range of XO, btw) got those when they were 18-24. A few decades has passed at this point, which is why I said that this has been true for a few decades now. The primary "increase" is because old people that rarely got tattoos (and it was generally men who got them related to their military service) have died out and been replaced by younger generations that now get trashy tattoos because they're trash.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5709109&forum_id=2#48849588)

https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/08/SR_23.08.15_Tattoos_1.png

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5709109&forum_id=2#48838496)