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.
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