Just how common are people like Chris and Barb? -

[Henry Bemis]

Don't quite know where to put this-more idle speculation than anything-but here goes.

Both Chris and Barb can leave any wide-eyed (cock-eyed?) optimist utterly stumped as to the value of their lives, to themselves and to those around them, if not leading them to wonder the dreaded question of whether or not it would've been better had they not lived. (And no, we do not count passive-aggressive jabs like 'They make me feel better about myself' as valuable traits.)

But my question is as advertised: is their situation entirely uncommon, an utterly wasted and useless life, as far as anyone reasonable can discern? If not, what makes their hopelessness more potent?

 

[Satoru182]

wat?

 

[GFYS]

As far as wasted potential, they could be in the majority. There are so many sad-sack stories of people who claw their way to the back of the line, fighting tooth and nail to live as unhealthy and unproductive a life as possible. When I first moved to the states, there was a sense in most urban areas that everyone was entitled to not work, and live a life of "ghetto luxury." Chris and Barb seem to be living the Appalachian hillbilly equivalent of that. Nobody ought dare question the sovereignty of their lifestyle. They're the KING of their pile of Hungry Man dinners and Goodwill trash. In this sense, Barb is disturbingly "normal", among this segment of the population.

However, many of the cartoonish circumstances surrounding Chris are a lot more unique. Maybe one-in-one-hundred-thousand to maybe one-in-a-million, because he was one of the first generation of internet-fueled failure machines - his mental problems exposed to the world, via webcam and social media. He was a pioneer, but in the next decade or two, I suspect more and more kids will grow up under similar circumstances.

I've grown up poor in four countries, and eventually climbed the socio-economic ladder over almost 4 decades. I've seen just how diverse the human animal is, and how prone the proletariat* is to falling into a routine of failure and subjugation. I wouldn't be shocked to learn there are dozens of other "Сhris-Chan and Burps" in every state, just waiting to be discovered and pitied/hated/lambasted. :?

Edit: * Sorry if this sounds shitty. I just couldn't think of a more politically correct way to say that.

 

[OfflineCyberBully]

I'm sure each of us knows, or knows of, somebody where we live who is entitled, self-centered, never worked a day in their lives, manipulative, or loves to play the victim. Every town has people who can't be arsed to clean up their property, grown men who play with things geared towards children (in my town, for example, there's a dude who's in his 30's and still collects/plays Yugioh cards), folks who are content to lead lives that contribute nothing, and accomplish nothing, and they don't care as long as they get whatever form of keeps them subsisting. I think we'd be surprised if we knew just how many people in our towns and cities live similar lives, but they're just better at projecting that publicly acceptable face and behaving well enough in public to avoid closer scrutiny.And that's not to count the people who are grappling with severe mental illness.

What makes Charb the clusterfuck of fail that they are is the fact that they are a collection of faults held together by bad food and poor hygiene. They don't just have one of those terrible traits. They have all of them. Chris is like a walking embodiment of the Seven Deadly Sins (Pride, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Avarice, Gluttony, and Sloth). It's the sheer magnitude of their awfulness as people that makes them stand out.

 

[CatParty]

[youtube]yuTMWgOduFM[/youtube]

 

[MrTroll]

Losers are not uncommon, but these two elevate the practice to an art form. They've become an almost impossible paradox, because it takes real and sustained effort to be as lazy and worthless as they are. Just being unmotivated, disinterested, and unwilling to work towards something better isn't enough. Most losers are mere part-time hobbyists compared to them; they are consummate professionals. I think that puts them almost in a class of their own.

 

[QI 541]

People like Barb are fairly common.

People who are as psychopathic, creepy, and stupid as Chris are fairly common, but I've never seen someone quite like Chris before.

 

[sparklemilhouse]

How common? Just watch "Hoarders" or "My Strange Addiction" and there are tons of ppl like Chris & Barb.

 

[MrTroll]

How common? Just watch "Hoarders" or "My Strange Addiction" and there are tons of ppl like Chris & Barb.

Not even. Those are people with a few (sometimes nearly debilitating) quirks. Barb and Chris are the full monty. Between the two of them, I'd struggle to find a single character flaw that isn't represented.

 

[Glitter]

[youtube]yuTMWgOduFM[/youtube]

[youtube]ainyK6fXku0[/youtube]

 

[Picklepower]

People like this could not exist in 3rd world countries, and must be rare as fuck in like, Middle Eastern, or African nations. In Japan, as I mention a lot in the other LoLcow section, there are Hikkikomoris, and I know in other Western countries like Canada, England etc there are leeches as well. Even as an American, the fact that they can just collect money, because he has mild Autism, is baffling. He gets his video games from the government basically, JUST FOR EXISTING, I know...I know My bowels were full, I had to drop an A log.

 

[DV 259]

They are the perfect storm of awful.

Yeah, we've all known people who are tremendous pains in the ass to society, but not like this. Hell, I'll even admit that for about 5 months, I leeched unemployment because I was making more a week than I was when I was employed, but I still put my big girl pants on and found another job; in my case, two, but I digress.

There are loads of people who have minor quirks like the Chandlers, but not to the extent that they've dug themselves into. Someone else said it best - they turned it into an art form.

 

[RP 520]

People like this could not exist in 3rd world countries, and must be rare as fuck in like, Middle Eastern, or African nations. In Japan, as I mention a lot in the other LoLcow section, there are Hikkikomoris, and I know in other Western countries like Canada, England etc there are leeches as well. Even as an American, the fact that they can just collect money, because he has mild Autism, is baffling. He gets his video games from the government basically, JUST FOR EXISTING, I know...I know My bowels were full, I had to drop an A log.

The thing about 3rd world countries though is that the people that would be considered lolcows anywhere else are usually the leaders of the countries, see North Korea, the short lived Central African Empire, and Libya for example.

 

[Picklepower]

People like this could not exist in 3rd world countries, and must be rare as fuck in like, Middle Eastern, or African nations. In Japan, as I mention a lot in the other LoLcow section, there are Hikkikomoris, and I know in other Western countries like Canada, England etc there are leeches as well. Even as an American, the fact that they can just collect money, because he has mild Autism, is baffling. He gets his video games from the government basically, JUST FOR EXISTING, I know...I know My bowels were full, I had to drop an A log.

The thing about 3rd world countries though is that the being that would be considered lolcows anywhere else are usually the leaders of the countries, see North Korea, the short lived Central African Empire, and Libya for example.

Oh yeah, that's true.

 

[WhiteKnight]

The closest I can think of that fits Chris and Barb to a tee is Canada's Rootbrian and his mother.

 

[Picklepower]

British Chris from Earth 3 is funny, but you have to pay attention a bit more, the humor will grow on you after a while.

 

[Lefty's Revenge]

People like Barb are fairly common. Fat, lazy, living off welfare and eating remarkably shitty food in a hoard. You can find almost that exact description in most episodes of hoarders.

Christian Weston Spanish name Ricardo Chandler of 14 BC? Hes a once in a lifetime sort of failure. Maybe even once a century.

Autistic people are common, most live successful happy lives. Losers are common. Manchildren are common. Badly parented people are common. But no one can quite match the amount of failure Chris has put into 31 (or 32?) years of living. I can't think of a single thing Christian has succeeded at.

We always say that A-Log is worse than Chris Chan. And in the purest sense of the term he is. I'd lunge at the opportunity to help Chris get his life back on track. A-log can go fuck himself. But think about it A-log can chalk up at least the most minor of victories to his name. He had friends at one point. They all left him but at least they didn't pity him like Chris'. Hes at least working on his craft (voice acting), Chris hasn't drawn a sonichu comic in forever. He also had the common sense to leave the internet and abandon his fuckery. Chris still hasn't gotten that lesson down yet. Don't get me wrong. A-log is still a fucking asshole who needs to hold himself to a higher standard than the world's greatest manchild. But he hasn't quite failed at everything like Chris.

My ultimate point is this. There are people like Chris (A-Log, Nick Bate) but only in the general sense. Comparing these people to Chris to these people is like comparing a hydrogen bomb to a Nuclear Warhead. Yes they both explode and kill people. But the latter is simple operating on an entirely different scale.

 

[A-№1]

Believe it or not I meet people who are probably worse than Chris, more mean spirited, more delusional, more selfish, out on the streets all the time. Their only significant difference from Chris is that he, despite a few close calls, has been fortunate so far in that his personality and behavior have not yet managed to bite him on the ass. Also unlike them, Chris managed to draw the attention of the internets, which has modified his behavior somewhat. Whether the internet has hastened his eventual fall from grace by aggravating his condition, or delayed it by giving him a bit of paranoia and curbed his worst excesses I won't speculate.

As far as Sonichu, there are many precedents for that as well. As a famous example, I see creepy crazy Henry Darger and his Vivian Girls as a sort of proto-Chris and proto-Sonichu, who may well have gone the way of Chris had he not died decades before the internet.

Barb's a dime a dozen.

 

[Ruckersvillian]

Christian Weston Spanish name Ricardo Chandler of 14 BC? Hes a once in a lifetime sort of failure. Maybe even once a century.

Chris is like the Mozart of failure.

 

[Overcast]

I'm sure there's a bunch of people like Chris and Barb, heck, I'm sure there's probably a bunch of people that are even worse. Most are probably a bit more quiet about it though. At least internet wise.