Nah, "original" died in the '70s...

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Anything original died the minute the internet came to fruition and that's a fucking fact.
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Nah. The only thing that's changed is availability. Same as it ever was, just ratcheted up a bit; same as it ever was.

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Johnny, I do agree with you.

Here's what I see.
The culture (at large) is made up of mindless bored fools.
(well, those people who don't have to struggle for their sustenance
and have the luxury to be bored)

And the mindless board fools are constantly looking for something
that will take their minds off of being bored.
And that's where society and advertisers and all that mucky-muck steps in.

And for a while they will ridicule something because it is alternative,
and that gives the bored fools something to snicker at.
Then they start to imitate, co-opt and market that which they recently ridiculed.
which gives the bored masses something to feel cool about.

But, what we're talking about is nothing new.
Different word for an old idea.
"Alternative" is dead.
It came to life and died after "Counter-Culture."
Which held its own after "Bohemian."

The concept we are really talking about is originality.
And originality never dies.
Originality has been under attack from the right wing
ever since the first artist started beating a rhythm on a log
and the first fool stepped up to call it "noise."

If you are an artist, you have to put up with the ridicule
and then the co-opting. (as well as trying to balance your own doubts)
That comes with the territory.

I'm unsure how you're suppose to balance it.
But when they ridicule, you know you're onto something great.
And by the time they start to market your originality
You will have moved onto a new artistic challenge.

In Alchemy, it is represented by the elemental symbol: Salt.
The salt surrounds us, like the stars.
The artist simply reaches out and and plucks the salt from the ether.

We can look at the co-opting as a blessing,
Otherwise artists might be tempted to rest on their laurels.
And some do.

I say, "Alternative is dead, long live Alternative!"

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"the I belong to something movement" ?

I think everybody here belongs to something. We humans tend to be social creatures.

What does it mean to be "alternative" and why is that label important to some people?
Is that which is not mainstream considered alternative? What happens now that alternative symbols such as tattoos or body piercing have become the norm?

I consider myself alternative, but find it difficult to define. For instance I see no conflict in being alternative and still embracing modern medicine for treating disease. Does this make one less alternative?

Just wondering.

Still Waters:
You are quite insightful, and your outlook is quite similar to mine. I think what you're saying is being "alternative" anything doesn't mean you are that way in every single aspect of your life or every single second of the day, but there are certain situations where you are considered alternative based on the fact that some choices that you've made place you in direct opposition to your current surroundings and the overarching thought or culture of where you live or work.

I work in Miami, which has a strong Cuban and Conservative community, and the other non-Cuban residents tend to be mildly conservative and Christian. My liberal views, then, are quite alternative indeed! However, I probably wouldn't be that alternative were I to move to, say, the Bay Area. So, being alternative does not necessarily mean being ABSOLUTELY original (nothing purely is, come to think of it), but it means being original within given contexts.

Thanks for that explication, SW. : )