Posted by Agent seX on June 15, 2001 at 19:21:44:
Allow me to dismantle this rubbish jinx rant point by point. The jinx view is reprinted here for ease of reading, with my rebuttals after each of their 3 points.
____________BEGIN JINX___________
"You guys, just had to go for the glory,
didn't you... i read the article
in Details magazine and thought i'd drop you
a line...it would have
stayed a nice nifty operation we all had, just quietly
going about our
business, harmlessly dropping in to places and taking a quiet
look
around, but now every IDIOT and his cubicle partner is going to
go
try..."
- from a letter to Jinx magazine, 4/2000.
Undergrounders and rebels, having rejected the constraints of
societal
ethics, distressingly tend to create new rules and obey them
instead.
The tortuous codes of honor among thieves disappoint because
they
highlight our fear of freedom; they suggest man is incapable
of
independence, and would rather obey than think. A self-imposed ethic
has
lately arisen from the Urban Exploration movement. The rule, as
we
understand it, is Urban Explorers Don't Talk to the Press.
Three
arguments are offered to support this code of conduct. First, it
is
said, talking to the press will transform the cozy family of
Urban
Explorers into a popular movement, with yuppies and other
undesirables
getting into the act. Tourists, in this scenario, will shortly
arrive to
ruin our unspoiled sewer pipes. Second, publicity of the
illegal
activities involved will bring the attention of police. Third, it
is
unseemly to seek the attention of the media; the love of
exploring
should be enough. These meretricious arguments collapse under
Jinx
analysis, as follows.
1. Neither evidence nor logic supports a theory that yuppie tourists
will
encroach on Urban Exploration. The argument suffers from its
reduction of any
non-member of "the club" to a stereotype. Say we find
some uninitiated
wanderer in some favorite sub-basement, and it
transpires he has been drawn
into this hobby by an article in Details or
a televised interview with Jinx.
What basis have we for dismissing him
as a yuppie? The characteristics we
disparage in real-life yuppies are
not likely to describe someone crawling
through a storm drain. If we can
define a yuppie as a shallow, materialistic,
status-conscious careerist,
we can also define him as a very poor candidate
for sewer spelunking.
The fear that our beloved tunnels and rooftops will become
tourist
attractions arises from an analogy between these urban sites and
various
scenic natural settings. Day trippers, with their litter and brats,
have
ruined many a fine secluded spot; why shouldn't they do the same in
the
dark passages of urban adventure? The absurdity of this analogy
follows
as the night the day. The natural habitats of Urban Explorers are
not
conducive to tourism. They are always illegal, usually dangerous,
and
often dark, cold, filthy places.
______________BREAK - START REBUTTAL
_________________
This is valid when arguing against 'yuppies', yet crumbles under the immense weight placed on it by the fact that publicizing these locations also aids the criminal element in finding locations that are easily ripe for criminal activity: whether it be bashing walls, setting fires, or waiting for an explorer or curious citizen to come along and be victimized via assault, rape, and potential murder. These locations lend themselves well to such activities as many are unpatroled and unwatched by persons of legal authority. Jinx, via not removing posts to this board from the criminal element, and publicizing exploration in the media, must be perfectly comfortable with such an arrangement .
_____________BACK TO JINX:______________________
2. Certain UE buffs have gravely warned that the media coverage of
Urban
Exploration will bring police attention. Implied by this suggestion
is
that real harm will come of this attention; to wit: a rash of
arrests,
and perhaps violence, will result.
This kind of cowardly foolishness is the despair of all true
adventurers.
The disease of paranoia elevates a person's sense of
self-importance to such
absurd heights he believes others would bother
to persecute him. The fantasy
that the police would concern themselves
with the harassment and capture of
serial trespassers is strange enough;
it becomes incredible when we imagine
they would devote the resources
necessary to stake out every storm drain,
cellar, subway tunnel,
rooftop, hotel, and bridge.
_____________________BREAK______________________
That jinx would be so bold as to dare claim to speak for 'all true
adventurers' is both sad and pathetic. It also, ironically, is an attempt to
'elevate a person's (in this case, jinx) self importance to absurd
heights'
via an attempt to be the spokesmen for all the UE world. Adventurers are
individuals and groups, and always have their own views towards these matters
just as every human walking the face of this planet holds their own opinions on
a wide range of subjects.
The jinx thesis is further eroded by a monsoon of hard facts concerning
current police science: increasingly, police departments are utilizing military
hardware, often to arrest those 'going where they are not supposed to be'. You
only need look in jinx's hometown to see this: the NYPD, frustrated by
infiltrators, the homeless and graffiti artists in the
subway tunnels, are
now utilizing heat-sensing scanners, night vision equipment, and hidden video
cameras to keep an eye on a growing number of tunnels. They have dedicated,
specially trained personnel focusing on this issue. This is common knowledge to
anyone who cares investigate.
These are undeniable facts, which crush the jinx opinion like the roach it is.
____________________BACK TO JINX:_____________________
3. The significant
part, driving all other arguments opposing the
publicizing of Urban
Exploration, is a cringing hatred of fame itself.
Without resort to rationale
of any kind, some among us are tempted to
lash out at others for being "media
hungry," for seeking glory. This
invective raises an essential question about
adventure. Why do we
explore?
Exploration is a grasp for power. It is a bloodless path to new
territory.
The urge to expand ever outward, as a tree reaches ever
deeper into the dark
soil and higher into the air, is the central drive
of all life. Every new
environment on earth, however harsh, yields life
- bacteria grow on the
superheated volcanoes at the bottom of the sea,
in the waste water of nuclear
power plants and in the solid fuel of the
space shuttle. It is no accident we
feel an instinct to probe the
unknown. It is our most fundamental purpose.
The same will to power that tempts us into new territories will urge us
to
jealously guard them. Having gained a new outpost, we fortify it
against
others who might seek to share it with us. Likewise, we guard
the new
identity gained through exploration. We struggle against its
dilution by
latecomers. The wish to enshroud our urban proving grounds
in secrecy is
finally an attempt to stave off trespassers from land we
claim as our own.
The wish to keep the general population excluded from
our movement is a fear
that popularization will water down our identity.
This is the dark side of power, a wish to protect out of cowardice what
we
have won by courage. In clinging to our status as explorers, we
forfeit it. A
true explorer isn't wedded to his land. He is rootless and
striving. When we
barricade ourselves in fortresses, we imprison
ourselves there. The true
spirit of exploration admits no exception to
the Infiltration credo: go
places you're not supposed to go.
Fear must not silence us, Nor must territoriality or unreasoned
moralism.
We have an obligation to the truth, and to the brave
everywhere seeking new
grails to hunt for. The tradition of exploration
has always brought an open
exchange of information, both with fellow
explorers and with the laity. The
news and entertainment media are
weapons. Will we use them, or let them be
used against us? Will we cower
in the darkness as outsiders define our
profession? Or will we guide the
press in defining Urban Exploration for the
world, so that true
adventurers might join us in our task, and softhearted
dilettantes might
know where they must fear to follow?
___________________END JINX:_______________________
The question here is 'why would one seek publicity and the attention of the media, as the love of exploring should be enough'. Unfortunately, jinx's response fails completely to address the criminal and legal attention such publicity has brought UE. Indeed, it is very easy to argue in light of the above mentioned facts regarding police and criminal action that Jinx has single-handedly done more damage than an other in this regard.
Seeking out the press for jinx is a way to make money. to publicize their media design firm, and ink lucrative contracts. Profit is the main motivation behind Jinx's drive to explore .This is a cold, hard, undeniable truth, plain to anyone with their eyes open to see.
You can delete this post, and delete all the posts from the criminal
element that has taken to this board, and stop talking to the press as well, but
your reputation will forever be tarnished. I did not need to
make this post -
as a vast majority of true explorers already hold these and similar views as
truth. I can only suggest you cease embarrassing yourselves with this site and
move on. One more dot-com failure won't make any headlines.
This is my last post to this board, because any reply you can muster will be only be damage control not worth further effort. In case you have not figured it out yet, your organizations image has been mortally wounded. You can try to stop the bleeding, but the damage has been done. It is only a matter of time before you are drained dry. While I might be said to enjoy causing such damage, it must be stated that it is jinx via it's own arrogance and foolishness that has destroyed jinx, thus I can claim no credit for this destruction (though I have painted the image of this damage for all the UE to see quite well, I must state). Thus I thank them for saving the society the trouble of dragging them down.
Love,
Agent seX,
Your worst nightmare.
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman" - William Jefferson
Clinton.