“Not Cool” by Greg Gutfeld – Society’s Awful Leaders

The concept of what is “cool” isn’t exactly a new one, with it being a very close bedfellow with competitiveness and the concept of personal ownership.

It seems that we are always trying to outdo others, and as is always the case, there are select people who become cool and set the standards for what is considered as such.

These people end up infiltrating various aspects of life, dictating to others how they should live, declaring that being different from them will lead one to have an unfulfilling life.

In Not Cool, Greg Gutfeld explores how the cool influence society, how they basically decide on how the masses behave, dress, speak, and even what they like. Going beyond that, Gutfeld also presents ways in which we can fight back against these illusions created for us by the “cool people”, claiming our own unique identity and basically becoming yourself, rather than what someone else wants you to be.

In Not Cool, Gutfeld’s approach to the subject is rather balanced in my opinion; there is a healthy dose of humor rooted in the style in which it’s written, complemented by the equal amount of important reflections and well thought-out arguments.

Gutfeld does make a very good case for this world heading in the wrong direction because of these so-called “cool people”, and though perhaps he oversells his proposed solutions to the problem, they are indeed worth a thought or two.

What I found the most interesting was Gutfeld’s dissection of what we consider to be cool in North America, the values and morals we attach to the concept. It becomes rather apparent that with time, the idea of what’s cool has undergone a lot of transformation, to the point where today it feels like the new “cool” is completely alien to the “real values” that we had in the past. And that, in my opinion, is where Gutfeld shoots himself in the foot.

These “real” values associated with the idea of being cool that Gutfeld is trying to push are no more real than the modern ones he bashes. These older ones are themselves replacements for even more ancient ideals that were also considered “real” by the folk of their time. In other words, nothing is really “cool”, and all we have is the search for ourselves to find that kind of fulfillment and acceptance from others.

All in all, Not Cool is a superb book by Gutfeld, looking into one of those topics older than time itself and offering some very valuable advice and insight which will especially be useful to those of you who feel a bit lost in terms of who they are or how life ought to be lived.

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Greg Gutfeld Personal site Greg Gutfeld is a blogger, magazine editor, humorist, political satirist, television personality, and an author. Though he has made many controversial remarks he still remains a very popular author with The Bible of Unspeakable Truths and The Joy of Hate being some of his more popular ones.