Memories of the 28th Century

It has been a few decades since I wore a beard, and back then I sometimes liked having a beard. In recent times beards changed significantly, and I don't much like the change. Back in those antediluvian times men wore full beards. When the beard became long, it might be trimmed, but regular trimming was not common.

Thinking back, it seems that the characters on TV who were bearded had full beards. I don't recall anything different, except for some strange people who grew full beards but shaved their mustaches. The single exception that I recall was Yasser Arafat, who carefully trimmed his beard down to about ten days growth. I thought that a strange and tiresome way to take care of a beard, but he probably had someone who did the work for him.

Then in the 1980's more people went with the Yasser Arafat look. It turned out that it had been popular in the '60's among the postmodernists, and the style floated across the pond. It turned out that clippers fitted with a comb of the appropriate length made it easy to gain that week's growth look. I don't generally care how men look or groom (although I would prefer that they didn't use perfumes), but something about that style irritated me.

This morning I realized exactly why it irritates me. It makes a man look like a bum. Someone with a week's growth of beard looks like he's too lazy to shave more than once a week, and that isn't a good sign. Conversely, being clean shaven or having a real beard makes a man look well-groomed; even if the person is has other counts against him. I the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy there was the matter of having a towel in one's bag, because some who saw that would think that some with a towel in has bag must be well provided with all sorts of things (I'd have to reread it to get the right wording, and I'm doing that right now. But someone who is cleanly shaven can look like a million dollars.

I am sure that others think otherwise, but to me someone who looks unshaven looks dirty and unkempt. It is clear why Gillette has made so much money through the decades. Don't be afraid to excoriate me, if that's what turns you on. Speaking of excoriation wasn't it Plato who wrote that Socrates said that the younger generation was not capable to continuing, or something along those lines. These days it frequently seems that there are some people who want to degenerate to the lowest level of society, and their emulation of the style of facial hair is just one example. Some have taken to speaking Ghettoese, and others replace every third word with an expletive. The matter of using expletives I have determined is usually a matter of low mental capacity; they simply don't have enough words to use suitable words in all cases. That is also why those of low mental capacity often believe conspiracy theories; they don't have enough brains to comprehend how things actually happen. It appears that Donald Trump is appealing to those people for votes. There are plenty of them, but Gary Johnson would be better.

Rake me over the coals for this, if you wish. I probably deserve it.

By the way there are many other styles of beard that require minimal maintenance. Search on google, and you will find more material than you would want. I always preferred an ordinary full beard without any trimming, but there’s a lot to be said for the square cut beard, and the finest beard I ever saw was forked. Another fine beard is the one that Aubrey de Grey has; search for him online. What sort of a beard one can have is partly defined by DNA, and a full beard to one man may not be to another. But follow Benny Bell's advice.



Benny Bell - Shaving Cream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8ffkDf0ol4