The earnest guy is great, and there's a great way to spot him: First, think of that guy everyone says is really earnest. Got him? Good. IT'S NOT THAT FUCKING GUY. If someone is really living a selfless, ethical life, dictated only by their personal integrity, then 9 times out of 10 you don't notice them at all. Earnest guys don't talk, blog, or tweet about how earnest they are. They just do their thing for the right reasons, never calling attention to their good deeds, and often go unnoticed by the other, far shittier people in the world.
There is a certain Twitter-famous individual who rose to prominence by shitting on a piece of human garbage that all decent people hate. Certainly, a bold choice. Then, shortly after that well-earned fame was cemented, Whitney Houston OD'd, and this Twitter celeb tweeted about how she wasn't making Whitney Houston jokes because she wasn't an asshole.
An asshole like me, I'm guessing.
But y'know what? People who think they're doing God's work by not tooling on dead celebrities don't need the validation of the Internet. Genuinely earnest people know their actions are their own reward. If someone's famous for being earnest, then that personality is just a persona. An act for attention no different or more admirable than someone juggling kittens or busking John Mayer songs in the subway.
1332 Comments