Something that irks me

I hate it when people talk about foreign things and they make them out to be all like sacred and shit, when they're really quite mundane. Like, just because it originates in a foreign country, it's this incredible ancient tradition that we lowly life forms can only hope to accomplish in the next thousand years. Here's a couple examples:

fish printing: What really set this rant off is reading about this dude who's all into the "Ancient Japanese Art" of dipping your fish in ink and making a print of them on paper. Naturally, it has be all in caps. Now I'll admit, it does look pretty badass when you've got a big print of a salmon or something on your wall, looking all fishy. But the thing is, THIS DUDE DIDN'T EVEN CATCH THE FISH! He acts like the fucking print is the point, like it's an art form in and of itself, but that completely discounts the fact that they didn't have photography in the olden days of Feudal Japan. It's like talking about the Ancient Art of Having your Buddy Hold Up Your Fish to Take a Picture. How retarded would that sound?

Calligraphy: Once again, looks badass. Once again, pretty practical. Chinese characters are a fucking bitch to learn. Seriously, it's ridiculous. You use the brushes, you fucking practice a lot, or you're not gonna learn. Especially true in olden days.

"traditional" making of objects: Of course, for certain things, the personal touch really does make a difference. Amish furniture, gourmet food, all that. But when it comes to paper and leather and clothing, I'm gonna come right out and say it: The worst, WORST shit you buy at Wal-Mart is orders of magnitude better than old-timey stuff. I especially like these hippy fucks, supported by Yuppie fucks, who are just so proud of keeping a dead (for a reason) craft alive. You pulp up the wood, and you mash it flat. I think we can figure it out if there's an apocalypse.

Of course, it's especially bad when it comes to Asian countries, which ties into my well-established hate for Vague Asian Spirituality. Still, we can find examples of such douchebaggery in our everyday lives. I just hope to avoid catastrophic high blood pressure long enough to see it gone.

PS: according to FireFox, Douchebaggery is a word. Awesome.