I know a lot of people who post status updates to Facebook about how skilled and proficient they are when it comes to pissing people off, and they seem to be proud of it. Pleased with themselves over their ability to irritate other people, enough so that some of them seem to use the internet almost exclusively to learn new ways to be annoying.
Myself, I have a strong tendency to- I don't avoid contact with people, not exactly. It's more right to say that I don't ordinarily seek out interaction with other people, and in most cases it has nothing to do with them. I don't have anything against people as a group or as individuals, for the most part. Individuals and groups of people have all kinds of goofy, unreasonable, stubborn, dangerous, misguided, and distasteful tendencies and attitudes, sure. But that's their thing, not mine. I like life, the universe, and everything better when there aren't people around.
That said, I can and I will interact with people. I can do small-talk as well as I can do thoughtful conversation.
Anyway, I see it in the real world as well: too many anecdotes have to do either with effectively pissing people off, or with being pissed off by other people.
Why is this a credential, a worthwhile skill?
Is it that some people so enjoy being pissed off that they can't imagine how everyone else doesn't also love it, and they think they're doing everyone a favor?
Is it that they can't - or won't - stand up to whoever pissed them off, so they take it out on alternate safe targets?
Is it simply for the sake of being a dick?
Or could it be because it's so very easy to do? I think this last one is most likely because, you know - minimal effort, instant results. But... Why is it so easy to piss people off? That's pretty easy, I think - it's because of the never-back-down attitude, the don't-take-no-shit attitude.
Pride.
The stubborn little crittur that keeps you thinking that yours is the only opinion that matters. The one that won't let you admit that you were wrong, keeping you in denial on the train tracks despite the growing evidence of Imminent, Severe Bodily Harm By Train. You might die, sure. You might even be horribly and permanently damaged and disfigured.
But at least you stood your ground.
I have an anecdote of my own. Not one about getting hit by a train, fortunately, but one in which I Prided Up and Stood My Ground.
I suppose I was 21 or 22, exactly the right age for clan elders to allow me to join the mastodon hunting parties, had the mastodon not so recently been hunted to extinction....
I was working nights at the time, and a random ne'er-do-well took advantage of the night-time darkness to relieve my car of one of its taillight lenses. When I discovered the missing car part at the end of a night shift, I was Pissed Off. Mostly because "Why-Can't-You-Keep-Your-Fucking-Hands-Off-My-Stuff?", but also because Being Pissed Off was one of my favorite hobbies when I was that age.
I was quick to share my Righteous-Pissed-Off-Ed-Ness with anyone and everyone who would listen, one of the better listeners being a guy named Bill. He listened to my ranting and raving with little or no comment until I got to the main point of my speech, which was this:
"Anyone who steals anything should go to jail!"
Which is a thing I said with a face that looked a little bit like this: DX
It might be because Bill wasn't suffering PTSD over missing car parts, or because he was more level-headed generally, but he was more reasonable about the situation.
"Anyone?" He asked. "Who steals anything?"
"Yes! That's correct!" (DX)
"So... You've never stolen anything."
It was at that point that I vapor-locked. I opened my mouth to speak, then closed it again.
I opened it for another try, then closed it again.
That's when Pride elbowed Righteous Indignation to the side and convinced me to Stand My Ground.
"No," I insisted. "Never in my life. Not once."
"Uh-huh," he replied, giving me That Look before walking off.
Did I look like an ass? Definitely!
But I didn't back down!
Friday, August 21, 2015
Monday, June 8, 2015
In Which I Choose My Team
What if all of the conspiracy theories are true? I bet you know more than one:
"chemtrails" as a population-reduction scheme.
Vaccines being made from mercury, aborted fetuses, and unicorn blood, used only to keep you sick and a ready source of income for the healthcare industry. And to cause autism in children, can't forget that one.
GM crops are unstudied and dangerous.
Fluoride in our water is unnecessary and makes us more susceptible to mind control.
Climate change is liberal trickery.
On and on and on, all manner of zany nonsense. But...
What if every last one of them is true and factual, and all the tinfoil-hatted gizmoids screaming the loudest about chemtrails and about vaccines and about GMOs and about fluoride and about climate change and about everything under the sun... What if those people are Gub'mint Shills?
Oh, sure. There are plenty of people who swallow a premise hook, line, and sinker. I'm not talking about the rank-and-file; people demonstrate their eager willingness to serve as rousable rabble every single day. I'm talking about the charismatic leaders of the movements, the anti-vaccination camp. The anti-GMO people. The climate-change denialists.
What if they're in league with the airlines and the FAA, in league with Big pHARMa, in league with MonSatan, in league with the Illuminati and the Reptilians and the NWO? What if their mission is to trumpet their nonsense so loudly and so abrasively and so absurdly, to make such outrageous and ridiculous claims that even legitimate concerns - voiced quietly and reasonably - prompt nothing but eye-rolling and a dismissive wave?
For that scenario to work, all you'd really need is a group of people willing to sell themselves. If The Government and The Companies are willing to pay to set up "resistance" to themselves, and if the "resistance" can generate additional income on its own, well! Is it so difficult to imagine that there are enough ethics-challenged folk around to carry it out? While we're circling the drain, what if the other side - the scientists and experts, the people who know about these things - is in league with the first? Experts of all stripes, in every field of research, working in tandem with the tinfoil-hatted gizmoids.
There are some necessary ingredients: a population with a significant number of people who are unwilling and/or unable to think for themselves, with the bulk of the remainder more interested in their own personal day-to-day routines than they are in activism.
Check.
And a group who sneeringly loathes anyone who's earned a degree. The group who'd gnaw their arm off at the elbow before they'd learn something that falls outside their interests. The single-mindedly intelligence-averse.
Check.
You also need the contingent who's authority-phobic, from the boss at work all the way up to the Authorityest people in charge of everything, these people fear and hate and mistrust The Man so completely that they could be convinced of anything, as long as it disparages authority.
Check.
Additionally, you need the nonconformists. The ones who take pride in being "different" or "weird" or who are "going their own way". These are the folk who, when they've bought in to an... "unconventional" notion, will shout from the rooftops that they're "awake". Maybe they call people who don't share their beliefs "sheep" or "sheeple".
Check.
Also critical: a generous helping of know-it-alls. They're the ones who are not only smarter than everyone else - combined! - they also have an opinion about everything. One of their main opinions has to do with how dumb you are for having opinions of your own.
Check.
There's a lot of overlap between the groups, and they're all of them a dime a dozen. They're everywhere.
The final, crucial ingredient is the growing, arrogant belief that the majority of people - across all groups, reasonable and not-so-reasonable alike - seem to have: that they're entitled to their own set of facts. Within the confines of this belief, a personal opinion about anything from "my sportsball team is the best sportsball team!" to "Tang is the best drink there ever was!" becomes a rule set in stone. Deviation from whatever personal "fact" is at hand will not be tolerated. Ever. Any move not in perfect lock-step with the "fact" holder will be considered a personal attack. The "personal attack" will be met with surly resentment at the very least. In most cases, the person who loves tang will respond quickly and aggressively. And loudly.
Very loudly.
Before you know what's happening, you'll be backing away hastily, wanting nothing more than to be away from this suddenly-rabid oik who somehow managed to get
"I TORMENT YOUR GRANDMOTHER BY POOPING IN HER SHOES EVERY DAY WHILE KICKING HER DOG AND PLAYING THE BAGPIPES!!!!!"
from
"I never really liked Tang all that much."
If you're really unlucky, you'll meet one from the other end of the "Hold-Your-Ground-No-Matter-What" spectrum, one who's willing to punch, kick, and stomp a worshipful adoration of Tang into your stubborn head.
So, all the pieces are in place.
The majority of people are busy keeping their lawns immaculate or posting selfies on Facebook or making dinner or generally living their lives. For people who like to argue on the internet, though, the game is set and the players are ready to square off. Scientists and researchers, authorities in various fields, people who are well-educated, assuring the mainstream that "chemtrails" aren't what they think. That vaccines are safer than the diseases they prevent. That GM agriculture and agricultural practices aren't tools of the devil. That fluoride isn't part of a mind-control scheme. That climate change is an actual thing they should worry about. That this thing and that thing and the other thing are harmless or beneficial or needn't concern anyone.
Naturally, the nonthinkers, sneering loathers, authority-phobes, nonconformists, and know-it-alls will receive these assurances poorly, dismiss the experts as liars and shills.
Because the experts are experts.
Because they're educated and they're intelligent, and they have the gall to show it.
For an alternative to the hoity-toity experts, how about a Vani Hari, a Jenny McCarthy, a "Dr." Sherri Tenpenny, a Mehmet Oz or two, a few John Edward types, some televangelists, hordes of ignorant lawmakers to "legitimize" them, and any number of media outlets to spread the word? Charismatic and attractive people without any credentials at all, or credentialed people without any regard for ethics at all, leading the charge against progress. Rousers for the rabble, a grassroots opposition movement. How about that?! A clever super-conspiratorial maneuver to deflect attention from The Truth!
If I were fashioning for myself the most spectacular of Shiny Tinfoil Hats, I'd pamphlet up a manifesto, take a marker to a sandwich board, and hit the streets tomorrow. I don't hold much truck with aluminum headwear, though. "Balderdash" is a word that comes to mind. Another is "poppycock".
This isn't to say that I trust our government or the companies.
Our government doesn't care about us, other than to keep us docile and content enough that we're not causing them too many problems. Oh, they'll throw us a bone once in a while - legislation about "rights" or "protections", the occasional tax break - but on the whole they're interested in us only as single taxpayers among millions.
Individually, we matter almost not at all. Elected officials' jobs include keeping us content-ish and focused on pop-culture fluff, sports, and any number of individual concerns - probably the ideal situation. If we get concerned with social or policy issues, the best-case scenario for them is for us to be facing off against each other, deeply divided on everything from liberal-vs-conservative "core" issues, spiraling all the way down to all the nonsensical "tastes-great/less-filling" disputes. They manage this through doing the rest of their job, which is legislating as the banks tell them to.
I don't trust any company any further than I could throw one - they're interested only in their bottom lines. From the manufacturers and sellers of the most frivolous impulse items all the way across the board to those of the most basic necessities, they're interested in quality and product safety and customer satisfaction only to the extent that you'll continue to buy what they sell. Our purpose is to work and consume. We are here to serve the economy.
With that in mind, I have a choice to make. I can side with the organic-only, stop-going-to-the-doctor, climate-change-denial crowds, or I can side with scientists and experts. Someone's lying to me.
Maybe everyone is.
On the one hand, if I throw my lot in with the science deniers I need to reject a lot of seemingly common-sense things, and the only way I could know for sure is to earn myself all the credentials necessary to work in each and every "controversial" field. And then spend enough time working in each and every "controversial" field to become competent.
That plan is hardly practicable, though. At my age I might be able to earn one doctoral degree and put it to use for a few years, but I'd be hard-pressed for time - if I'm going to live my life that way, if I'm going to fully embrace the paranoia, most of my time is going to be spent farming my sub-suburban lot. You know, because I don't trust food I didn't grow myself.
But I don't really know much of anything about agriculture, so I'll probably have to learn some farming techniques. And I can't see myself giving up bacon. Or tasty burgers, so I'm going to have to learn some animal husbandry. I guess that'll push back my starting-college date.
I'll have to make my own pesticides and herbicides as well, since I can't trust any Evil Chemical Companies. So I'll have to learn to do that.
Oh, and I'll have to become a mechanic. On account of how I can't trust some corporate flunky to botch equipment repairs so I have to keep going back.
And a blacksmith. I can't stomach the thought of propping up Big Hardware, so I'll need to make my own tools.
And an electrician. And a welder. And a plumber. And a veterinarian. And a carpenter. And an electronics repair technician. I'll probably have to become a computer and software engineer as well.
Thank goodness for Google University! I'll be an expert in all those things in a few weeks, and then I can start applying to colleges.
Or I could just do a little bit of simple math and pick the group that isn't lying to me in order to hide the lies they told me to get me scared enough to buy their book. Or their organic running shoes. Or their dietary supplements. The organic movement operates in the here-and-now, without thought for the future. The anti-vaccination types lie for profit in the short-term, without regard for public safety. The same goes for all for-profit, anti-progress miracle-item sellers.
I'm going to have to go with the experts and the scientists, the FDA and other regulatory agencies, and the medical establishment. For me, it comes together because the banks - who own and control everything - allow and/or encourage their lawmaking and public policy subsidiaries to endorse the safety of GMO foods, vaccines, medications, and hundreds of other "contentious" things. The banks - who own and control everything - have nothing to gain monetarily from poisoning us en masse, short- or long-term. Population isn't so much of a drain on resources that artificial reduction or control is a thing. Yet.
I have to be on the side that cares - at least peripherally - about my welfare.
"chemtrails" as a population-reduction scheme.
Vaccines being made from mercury, aborted fetuses, and unicorn blood, used only to keep you sick and a ready source of income for the healthcare industry. And to cause autism in children, can't forget that one.
GM crops are unstudied and dangerous.
Fluoride in our water is unnecessary and makes us more susceptible to mind control.
Climate change is liberal trickery.
On and on and on, all manner of zany nonsense. But...
What if every last one of them is true and factual, and all the tinfoil-hatted gizmoids screaming the loudest about chemtrails and about vaccines and about GMOs and about fluoride and about climate change and about everything under the sun... What if those people are Gub'mint Shills?
Oh, sure. There are plenty of people who swallow a premise hook, line, and sinker. I'm not talking about the rank-and-file; people demonstrate their eager willingness to serve as rousable rabble every single day. I'm talking about the charismatic leaders of the movements, the anti-vaccination camp. The anti-GMO people. The climate-change denialists.
What if they're in league with the airlines and the FAA, in league with Big pHARMa, in league with MonSatan, in league with the Illuminati and the Reptilians and the NWO? What if their mission is to trumpet their nonsense so loudly and so abrasively and so absurdly, to make such outrageous and ridiculous claims that even legitimate concerns - voiced quietly and reasonably - prompt nothing but eye-rolling and a dismissive wave?
For that scenario to work, all you'd really need is a group of people willing to sell themselves. If The Government and The Companies are willing to pay to set up "resistance" to themselves, and if the "resistance" can generate additional income on its own, well! Is it so difficult to imagine that there are enough ethics-challenged folk around to carry it out? While we're circling the drain, what if the other side - the scientists and experts, the people who know about these things - is in league with the first? Experts of all stripes, in every field of research, working in tandem with the tinfoil-hatted gizmoids.
There are some necessary ingredients: a population with a significant number of people who are unwilling and/or unable to think for themselves, with the bulk of the remainder more interested in their own personal day-to-day routines than they are in activism.
Check.
And a group who sneeringly loathes anyone who's earned a degree. The group who'd gnaw their arm off at the elbow before they'd learn something that falls outside their interests. The single-mindedly intelligence-averse.
Check.
You also need the contingent who's authority-phobic, from the boss at work all the way up to the Authorityest people in charge of everything, these people fear and hate and mistrust The Man so completely that they could be convinced of anything, as long as it disparages authority.
Check.
Additionally, you need the nonconformists. The ones who take pride in being "different" or "weird" or who are "going their own way". These are the folk who, when they've bought in to an... "unconventional" notion, will shout from the rooftops that they're "awake". Maybe they call people who don't share their beliefs "sheep" or "sheeple".
Check.
Also critical: a generous helping of know-it-alls. They're the ones who are not only smarter than everyone else - combined! - they also have an opinion about everything. One of their main opinions has to do with how dumb you are for having opinions of your own.
Check.
There's a lot of overlap between the groups, and they're all of them a dime a dozen. They're everywhere.
The final, crucial ingredient is the growing, arrogant belief that the majority of people - across all groups, reasonable and not-so-reasonable alike - seem to have: that they're entitled to their own set of facts. Within the confines of this belief, a personal opinion about anything from "my sportsball team is the best sportsball team!" to "Tang is the best drink there ever was!" becomes a rule set in stone. Deviation from whatever personal "fact" is at hand will not be tolerated. Ever. Any move not in perfect lock-step with the "fact" holder will be considered a personal attack. The "personal attack" will be met with surly resentment at the very least. In most cases, the person who loves tang will respond quickly and aggressively. And loudly.
Very loudly.
Before you know what's happening, you'll be backing away hastily, wanting nothing more than to be away from this suddenly-rabid oik who somehow managed to get
"I TORMENT YOUR GRANDMOTHER BY POOPING IN HER SHOES EVERY DAY WHILE KICKING HER DOG AND PLAYING THE BAGPIPES!!!!!"
from
"I never really liked Tang all that much."
If you're really unlucky, you'll meet one from the other end of the "Hold-Your-Ground-No-Matter-What" spectrum, one who's willing to punch, kick, and stomp a worshipful adoration of Tang into your stubborn head.
So, all the pieces are in place.
The majority of people are busy keeping their lawns immaculate or posting selfies on Facebook or making dinner or generally living their lives. For people who like to argue on the internet, though, the game is set and the players are ready to square off. Scientists and researchers, authorities in various fields, people who are well-educated, assuring the mainstream that "chemtrails" aren't what they think. That vaccines are safer than the diseases they prevent. That GM agriculture and agricultural practices aren't tools of the devil. That fluoride isn't part of a mind-control scheme. That climate change is an actual thing they should worry about. That this thing and that thing and the other thing are harmless or beneficial or needn't concern anyone.
Naturally, the nonthinkers, sneering loathers, authority-phobes, nonconformists, and know-it-alls will receive these assurances poorly, dismiss the experts as liars and shills.
Because the experts are experts.
Because they're educated and they're intelligent, and they have the gall to show it.
For an alternative to the hoity-toity experts, how about a Vani Hari, a Jenny McCarthy, a "Dr." Sherri Tenpenny, a Mehmet Oz or two, a few John Edward types, some televangelists, hordes of ignorant lawmakers to "legitimize" them, and any number of media outlets to spread the word? Charismatic and attractive people without any credentials at all, or credentialed people without any regard for ethics at all, leading the charge against progress. Rousers for the rabble, a grassroots opposition movement. How about that?! A clever super-conspiratorial maneuver to deflect attention from The Truth!
If I were fashioning for myself the most spectacular of Shiny Tinfoil Hats, I'd pamphlet up a manifesto, take a marker to a sandwich board, and hit the streets tomorrow. I don't hold much truck with aluminum headwear, though. "Balderdash" is a word that comes to mind. Another is "poppycock".
This isn't to say that I trust our government or the companies.
Our government doesn't care about us, other than to keep us docile and content enough that we're not causing them too many problems. Oh, they'll throw us a bone once in a while - legislation about "rights" or "protections", the occasional tax break - but on the whole they're interested in us only as single taxpayers among millions.
Individually, we matter almost not at all. Elected officials' jobs include keeping us content-ish and focused on pop-culture fluff, sports, and any number of individual concerns - probably the ideal situation. If we get concerned with social or policy issues, the best-case scenario for them is for us to be facing off against each other, deeply divided on everything from liberal-vs-conservative "core" issues, spiraling all the way down to all the nonsensical "tastes-great/less-filling" disputes. They manage this through doing the rest of their job, which is legislating as the banks tell them to.
I don't trust any company any further than I could throw one - they're interested only in their bottom lines. From the manufacturers and sellers of the most frivolous impulse items all the way across the board to those of the most basic necessities, they're interested in quality and product safety and customer satisfaction only to the extent that you'll continue to buy what they sell. Our purpose is to work and consume. We are here to serve the economy.
With that in mind, I have a choice to make. I can side with the organic-only, stop-going-to-the-doctor, climate-change-denial crowds, or I can side with scientists and experts. Someone's lying to me.
Maybe everyone is.
On the one hand, if I throw my lot in with the science deniers I need to reject a lot of seemingly common-sense things, and the only way I could know for sure is to earn myself all the credentials necessary to work in each and every "controversial" field. And then spend enough time working in each and every "controversial" field to become competent.
That plan is hardly practicable, though. At my age I might be able to earn one doctoral degree and put it to use for a few years, but I'd be hard-pressed for time - if I'm going to live my life that way, if I'm going to fully embrace the paranoia, most of my time is going to be spent farming my sub-suburban lot. You know, because I don't trust food I didn't grow myself.
But I don't really know much of anything about agriculture, so I'll probably have to learn some farming techniques. And I can't see myself giving up bacon. Or tasty burgers, so I'm going to have to learn some animal husbandry. I guess that'll push back my starting-college date.
I'll have to make my own pesticides and herbicides as well, since I can't trust any Evil Chemical Companies. So I'll have to learn to do that.
Oh, and I'll have to become a mechanic. On account of how I can't trust some corporate flunky to botch equipment repairs so I have to keep going back.
And a blacksmith. I can't stomach the thought of propping up Big Hardware, so I'll need to make my own tools.
And an electrician. And a welder. And a plumber. And a veterinarian. And a carpenter. And an electronics repair technician. I'll probably have to become a computer and software engineer as well.
Thank goodness for Google University! I'll be an expert in all those things in a few weeks, and then I can start applying to colleges.
Or I could just do a little bit of simple math and pick the group that isn't lying to me in order to hide the lies they told me to get me scared enough to buy their book. Or their organic running shoes. Or their dietary supplements. The organic movement operates in the here-and-now, without thought for the future. The anti-vaccination types lie for profit in the short-term, without regard for public safety. The same goes for all for-profit, anti-progress miracle-item sellers.
I'm going to have to go with the experts and the scientists, the FDA and other regulatory agencies, and the medical establishment. For me, it comes together because the banks - who own and control everything - allow and/or encourage their lawmaking and public policy subsidiaries to endorse the safety of GMO foods, vaccines, medications, and hundreds of other "contentious" things. The banks - who own and control everything - have nothing to gain monetarily from poisoning us en masse, short- or long-term. Population isn't so much of a drain on resources that artificial reduction or control is a thing. Yet.
I have to be on the side that cares - at least peripherally - about my welfare.
Friday, March 13, 2015
The Needs Of The Many
what is it about the "me-first" mindset?
that's not even a legitimate question, i guess. if you're from the US, you're sharing all your space with 320,494,962 other people as of Wed 11 Mar 2015 11:44:07 PM CDT. you want to be in line in front of them, when you have to queue up. you want them to be driving acceptably when you're on the road with them. you don't want to have to wait for them to do this, or to do that, or to do the other thing. i get it, we're all the center of our own little universe, and it's galling to have to wait. or to defer. or to give way.
what happened to empathy? to sympathy?
i'm introverted and pretty asocial on my best days, so i don't really give a shit about most people under ordinary circumstances. unless i remember to try to put myself in their shoes, to see things the way they might. i've gotten better about this over the past several years, but my failure rate is still pretty high - i have far more patience with things than i have with people. so i'm still trying to grow.
of the people i'd consider friends and close acquaintances - admittedly not a huge pool of people from which to select - nearly all are empathetic, sympathetic, generous, thoughtful, and kind. the type of people who give without thought of reward or praise. i want to be more like them, because who am i to make anyone else's life more difficult?
i know that i'm not in the minority in this, having been shown kindness and nobility by strangers. time and again.
so, then, what is it about the mindset that so many people seem to have that has them thinking that only their rights matter, or that they're the only people in the world? i don't mean the anonymity given by social media that makes many people say and do things they (hopefully) wouldn't say or do in the real world, i mean actual practices and beliefs that not only run counter to those of others, but can actually be harmful. the kind of mindset that could make a person establish a pride of lions in their back yard regardless of potential safety and other problems, for instance.
or the kind of mindset that could make a person fall for unethical hucksters peddling alternatives to... oh, say vaccinations or GM agriculture.
small side note here: i'm not inviting any kind of "debate" on the merits of not vaccinating your children, because i believe that there are none (except in cases where an individual medically cannot be vaccinated). i choose to side with people who have done pre-med and medical school, then completed residencies in established medical institutions and facilities, working under those who have done the same. i choose to side with people who have earned advanced degrees and who are building or have built careers in medical research, working for organizations dedicated to the advancement of our understanding of humans and all their components.
i'm also not inviting any kind of "debate" on the merits of shunning GM-related agricultural practices or of going organic, because i want there to be a sustainable way to feed me and 320,499,909 other people in the US, as of Thu 12 Mar 2015 08:12:06 PM CDT.
this can't be new, the dissent on issues that would seem to be common-sense, this-is-good-for-all issues. which brings me back 'round to social media.
anyone with access to a computer or a phone or a tablet that's internet-connected can create their own virtual soapbox. multiple soapboxes, even. and with that connection comes access to an endless array of information - and misinformation - and thus a ready back-up to support anything and everything you can imagine. and probably a lot of things you shouldn't. it's become much easier to disseminate the information you want to disseminate, and much easier to assimilate the information that fits your view, whatever that might be.
the danger in this is that you'll start to see the world as you want it to be, not as it is. if you're promoting something harmless, great. have at it.
but if you're promoting something harmful, or potentially harmful, well... stop and think for a minute. there's more to the world than just you. or just you and your family. or just you and your family and your circle of facebook friends and followers. there are 320,500,250 people in the US with you as of Thu 12 Mar 2015 09:37:07 PM CDT, and 7,230,006,560 on the planet with you as of Thu 12 Mar 2015 09:38:25 PM CDT.
who are you to make anyone else's life more difficult?
population figures above were found here.
that's not even a legitimate question, i guess. if you're from the US, you're sharing all your space with 320,494,962 other people as of Wed 11 Mar 2015 11:44:07 PM CDT. you want to be in line in front of them, when you have to queue up. you want them to be driving acceptably when you're on the road with them. you don't want to have to wait for them to do this, or to do that, or to do the other thing. i get it, we're all the center of our own little universe, and it's galling to have to wait. or to defer. or to give way.
what happened to empathy? to sympathy?
i'm introverted and pretty asocial on my best days, so i don't really give a shit about most people under ordinary circumstances. unless i remember to try to put myself in their shoes, to see things the way they might. i've gotten better about this over the past several years, but my failure rate is still pretty high - i have far more patience with things than i have with people. so i'm still trying to grow.
of the people i'd consider friends and close acquaintances - admittedly not a huge pool of people from which to select - nearly all are empathetic, sympathetic, generous, thoughtful, and kind. the type of people who give without thought of reward or praise. i want to be more like them, because who am i to make anyone else's life more difficult?
i know that i'm not in the minority in this, having been shown kindness and nobility by strangers. time and again.
so, then, what is it about the mindset that so many people seem to have that has them thinking that only their rights matter, or that they're the only people in the world? i don't mean the anonymity given by social media that makes many people say and do things they (hopefully) wouldn't say or do in the real world, i mean actual practices and beliefs that not only run counter to those of others, but can actually be harmful. the kind of mindset that could make a person establish a pride of lions in their back yard regardless of potential safety and other problems, for instance.
or the kind of mindset that could make a person fall for unethical hucksters peddling alternatives to... oh, say vaccinations or GM agriculture.
small side note here: i'm not inviting any kind of "debate" on the merits of not vaccinating your children, because i believe that there are none (except in cases where an individual medically cannot be vaccinated). i choose to side with people who have done pre-med and medical school, then completed residencies in established medical institutions and facilities, working under those who have done the same. i choose to side with people who have earned advanced degrees and who are building or have built careers in medical research, working for organizations dedicated to the advancement of our understanding of humans and all their components.
i'm also not inviting any kind of "debate" on the merits of shunning GM-related agricultural practices or of going organic, because i want there to be a sustainable way to feed me and 320,499,909 other people in the US, as of Thu 12 Mar 2015 08:12:06 PM CDT.
this can't be new, the dissent on issues that would seem to be common-sense, this-is-good-for-all issues. which brings me back 'round to social media.
anyone with access to a computer or a phone or a tablet that's internet-connected can create their own virtual soapbox. multiple soapboxes, even. and with that connection comes access to an endless array of information - and misinformation - and thus a ready back-up to support anything and everything you can imagine. and probably a lot of things you shouldn't. it's become much easier to disseminate the information you want to disseminate, and much easier to assimilate the information that fits your view, whatever that might be.
the danger in this is that you'll start to see the world as you want it to be, not as it is. if you're promoting something harmless, great. have at it.
but if you're promoting something harmful, or potentially harmful, well... stop and think for a minute. there's more to the world than just you. or just you and your family. or just you and your family and your circle of facebook friends and followers. there are 320,500,250 people in the US with you as of Thu 12 Mar 2015 09:37:07 PM CDT, and 7,230,006,560 on the planet with you as of Thu 12 Mar 2015 09:38:25 PM CDT.
who are you to make anyone else's life more difficult?
population figures above were found here.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Politics AND Religion
i'm not a religious guy at all, and i haven't been for a long time. i've no belief in any sort of creator, i don't attend church services and haven't done so since i lived with my parents, and i don't pray. i guess that makes me an atheist, though i'm not comfortable with with the term. to me, an atheist is someone who wears their disbelief as a badge, someone who's ready to "argue" about religion at the drop of a hat. someone who's ready and willing to mock and ridicule anyone who professes or advocates any sort of spiritual belief. i can't get on board with that, and i don't really want to be associated with it.
i'll allow that there could be a creator, so that puts me in the "agnostic" pigeon-hole. i don't really like that label either, though. i've met too many people who call themselves agnostic but who are basically insufferable know-it-alls with opinions about everything under the sun. i don't really want to be associated with that either.
in any event, maybe it's my lack of belief that's not allowing me to understand why this
transcript of national prayer breakfast speech
has caused so much of this type of outrage and upset and so much more. over... what?
that our president had the gall to suggest that a vocal minority of nut-job zealots do not represent the mindset of a religion? that, basically, if you want to judge all of islam based on this, you better judge christianity based on the westboro baptist church?
yes, granted: Bassem Youssef is less a public figure than is Barack Obama. an interview on the daily show is unlikely to be as well-publicized as a presidential speech. but there wasn't any outrage over that.
so, the people who are the loudest in their outrage over this "scandal" - are they really so afraid of anyone who isn't white, old, and rich that in the name of contrariness they're willing to make themselves look insane? or stupid? or both?
our president is in an historic position, one which puts him in control of a power - nay, a superpower. he could simply and single-handedly short-circuit everyone who needs to be in continuous disagreement with him, and he could do it immediately. all he'd need is a brief statement, just a few words broadcast to the public.
something his detractors can't disagree with.
the result: similar to downloading terabytes of porn after removing your antivirus software. similar to having too many tabs open on google chrome. similar to dividing by zero. but, you know... with people.
because they can't admit he's right, either.
i'm sure he's aware of it, but i can't imagine what it is that stays his hand. could be compassion. sense of fairness, maybe. or pity. i think he should just do it. that way, the rest of us could finally get to the business of being alive in the world without having to worry about the loud, volatile, intolerant chest-thumpers.
and while i'm dreaming, i'd like world peace. and a unicorn, please.
transcript of national prayer breakfast speech
has caused so much of this type of outrage and upset and so much more. over... what?
that our president had the gall to suggest that a vocal minority of nut-job zealots do not represent the mindset of a religion? that, basically, if you want to judge all of islam based on this, you better judge christianity based on the westboro baptist church?
yes, granted: Bassem Youssef is less a public figure than is Barack Obama. an interview on the daily show is unlikely to be as well-publicized as a presidential speech. but there wasn't any outrage over that.
so, the people who are the loudest in their outrage over this "scandal" - are they really so afraid of anyone who isn't white, old, and rich that in the name of contrariness they're willing to make themselves look insane? or stupid? or both?
our president is in an historic position, one which puts him in control of a power - nay, a superpower. he could simply and single-handedly short-circuit everyone who needs to be in continuous disagreement with him, and he could do it immediately. all he'd need is a brief statement, just a few words broadcast to the public.
something his detractors can't disagree with.
the result: similar to downloading terabytes of porn after removing your antivirus software. similar to having too many tabs open on google chrome. similar to dividing by zero. but, you know... with people.
because they can't admit he's right, either.
i'm sure he's aware of it, but i can't imagine what it is that stays his hand. could be compassion. sense of fairness, maybe. or pity. i think he should just do it. that way, the rest of us could finally get to the business of being alive in the world without having to worry about the loud, volatile, intolerant chest-thumpers.
and while i'm dreaming, i'd like world peace. and a unicorn, please.
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