Something I'd like to share
In my old Subeta account I had written this thing in my journal there; unfortunately you have to have a Subeta account to read it. It's an issue I think everybody should consider; the callousness I often see online and when people debate about socio-political-economic issues is mind boggling for me and makes me loose faith in humanity.
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Imagine this: A guy parks in a parking lot of a store, there is only one parking available at the moment(as usual) so he parks there next to this shiny new car. But as he opens his door to get out, the space between his car and the next one(which happens to be the shiny new car) is rather narrow, so the only way he can get out is by hitting the car door next to the other one. So that's what he does, but he does so gently as not to make a dent or scratch on this new car. But here comes the owner of the shiny new car; back just in time to see this careless douchebag come of out of his car and scratch her precious new car! Suddenly a fight breaks out:
"You jerk you hit my car!"
"But I did it gently! and I had too!"
"No you didn't if you weren't so irresponsible about other people's cars then you would never had done that!"
"There's nothing on your car! See it's still shiny!"
"It doesn't matter you jerk! You HIT MY CAR!"
"Well it's your fault because you have to expect that cars will and do get not so pretty over time! GET OVER IT!"
"YOU GET OVER IT"
And pretty soon it sounds like kindergarten again.
Blame is a hot potato, nobody wants it. When someone cuts us off in the freeway we shout obscenities and think that faceless, nameless person is the biggest jerk in the world and does not even deserve a face or a name. Yet when we cut someone off from the freeway we excuse ourselves, perhaps feel horrible about it for awhile but then feel we are justified because maybe we didn't see it; or maybe we were rushed?
One of the hardest concepts to drill into people's heads in American culture, and perhaps even the rest of Western culture and those other cultures that try to emulate it is the fact that no man is an island. Nothing lies in a vacuum, and the circumstances of a person's actions are just as important as the actions themselves. We like to believe that people are totally responsible for themselves and their actions, until it's our turn in the hot seat. Yes, people are responsible, but not entirely, for every human is just like a small figure in a vastly larger painting, and not a separate entity but one with the surroundings.
But at the same time people should not always be able to get away with things, otherwise excuses would be rampant, and nobody would take any responsibility for anything.
It seems the phrase "Never judge a man until you walk a mile in his shoes" is dead, and only echoed in old books written by a distant culture about a few generations ago. Yet it is one of the most fundamental moral understandings, and one that without only creates more chaos.
Also is that in many pieces of classic literature such as Madame Bovary and The Bluest Eye does there exist the concept that sometimes people we think are just pitiful and wrong are not that way because they are monsters, they are that way because they are the product of society. Another dead piece of wisdom that is only echoed in Social Science classes in colleges. And it is rightfully echoed so in Social Science since research points to this conclusion often, if it didn't we wouldn't have youth groups to prevent gangs, and wouldn't have rehabilitation for criminals.
Now why is it dying? Maybe it's the sheer mindlessness and facelessness of the internet, texting, calling, and of course being on the road. To me it's rather sad that someone needs to see the facial expression of the person they are talking to to fully empathize with them, but alas research on road rage points to the idea that humans need face to face contact to fully connect with another human being.
Hence why if I ever have a very personal issue, I usually talk to it to an RL or a very close online friend, rather than posting it on a forum or any other place full of predators lurking waiting to tell me to shut up and stop "whining"
I am awfully ashamed I used to be one of these people.
Maybe it's our generation's sheer immaturity, and uncritical hedonism harvested by consumerism?
And heck it may not be limited to just our generation.
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And when it comes to this whole healthcare reform thing; it only makes me madder that people are panicking into spoonfed bullshit like "COMMUNISM"! "MARXISM!" "OH NO WE'RE GOING TO WAIT 5 HOURS IN THE HOSPITAL LIKE IN CANADA!"(which does not happen often in Canada!).
The very notion that how hard you work is equal to the amount you are paid is asnine. There are people who have been working in blue collar jobs and have many medical expenses and go to work every day even if they are on dialysis or have diabetes; and they know quitting their job is even riskier since they might not get another. And then there are people whose pursuits in life are beyond income and yet they ought to be treated as second class citizens because they aren't "working their ass off?", we're talking about our artists here people who are responsible for shaping and refining our culture and enriching our lives. Not only that but this overwrites the very idea of equal human rights; I know that there will be freeloaders and such but we live in a society that shuns them already.
And really "Why couldn't you have saved money to pay for health insurance/mortgage/college, etc?" Blah blah blah not everyone can magically sort out their budget like that. And I might as well tell you to live like a wandering ascetic? Only eating and living to the bare minimum so that less fortunate people can also live. And why can't you? You don't need a computer to survive, and you don't need ice cream and books either; you're LEACHING RESOURCES! OMG!
Yeah this is the kinda stuff I posted on Subeta; some of you will now hate me immediately
-------
Imagine this: A guy parks in a parking lot of a store, there is only one parking available at the moment(as usual) so he parks there next to this shiny new car. But as he opens his door to get out, the space between his car and the next one(which happens to be the shiny new car) is rather narrow, so the only way he can get out is by hitting the car door next to the other one. So that's what he does, but he does so gently as not to make a dent or scratch on this new car. But here comes the owner of the shiny new car; back just in time to see this careless douchebag come of out of his car and scratch her precious new car! Suddenly a fight breaks out:
"You jerk you hit my car!"
"But I did it gently! and I had too!"
"No you didn't if you weren't so irresponsible about other people's cars then you would never had done that!"
"There's nothing on your car! See it's still shiny!"
"It doesn't matter you jerk! You HIT MY CAR!"
"Well it's your fault because you have to expect that cars will and do get not so pretty over time! GET OVER IT!"
"YOU GET OVER IT"
And pretty soon it sounds like kindergarten again.
Blame is a hot potato, nobody wants it. When someone cuts us off in the freeway we shout obscenities and think that faceless, nameless person is the biggest jerk in the world and does not even deserve a face or a name. Yet when we cut someone off from the freeway we excuse ourselves, perhaps feel horrible about it for awhile but then feel we are justified because maybe we didn't see it; or maybe we were rushed?
One of the hardest concepts to drill into people's heads in American culture, and perhaps even the rest of Western culture and those other cultures that try to emulate it is the fact that no man is an island. Nothing lies in a vacuum, and the circumstances of a person's actions are just as important as the actions themselves. We like to believe that people are totally responsible for themselves and their actions, until it's our turn in the hot seat. Yes, people are responsible, but not entirely, for every human is just like a small figure in a vastly larger painting, and not a separate entity but one with the surroundings.
But at the same time people should not always be able to get away with things, otherwise excuses would be rampant, and nobody would take any responsibility for anything.
It seems the phrase "Never judge a man until you walk a mile in his shoes" is dead, and only echoed in old books written by a distant culture about a few generations ago. Yet it is one of the most fundamental moral understandings, and one that without only creates more chaos.
Also is that in many pieces of classic literature such as Madame Bovary and The Bluest Eye does there exist the concept that sometimes people we think are just pitiful and wrong are not that way because they are monsters, they are that way because they are the product of society. Another dead piece of wisdom that is only echoed in Social Science classes in colleges. And it is rightfully echoed so in Social Science since research points to this conclusion often, if it didn't we wouldn't have youth groups to prevent gangs, and wouldn't have rehabilitation for criminals.
Now why is it dying? Maybe it's the sheer mindlessness and facelessness of the internet, texting, calling, and of course being on the road. To me it's rather sad that someone needs to see the facial expression of the person they are talking to to fully empathize with them, but alas research on road rage points to the idea that humans need face to face contact to fully connect with another human being.
Hence why if I ever have a very personal issue, I usually talk to it to an RL or a very close online friend, rather than posting it on a forum or any other place full of predators lurking waiting to tell me to shut up and stop "whining"
I am awfully ashamed I used to be one of these people.
Maybe it's our generation's sheer immaturity, and uncritical hedonism harvested by consumerism?
And heck it may not be limited to just our generation.
---------
And when it comes to this whole healthcare reform thing; it only makes me madder that people are panicking into spoonfed bullshit like "COMMUNISM"! "MARXISM!" "OH NO WE'RE GOING TO WAIT 5 HOURS IN THE HOSPITAL LIKE IN CANADA!"(which does not happen often in Canada!).
The very notion that how hard you work is equal to the amount you are paid is asnine. There are people who have been working in blue collar jobs and have many medical expenses and go to work every day even if they are on dialysis or have diabetes; and they know quitting their job is even riskier since they might not get another. And then there are people whose pursuits in life are beyond income and yet they ought to be treated as second class citizens because they aren't "working their ass off?", we're talking about our artists here people who are responsible for shaping and refining our culture and enriching our lives. Not only that but this overwrites the very idea of equal human rights; I know that there will be freeloaders and such but we live in a society that shuns them already.
And really "Why couldn't you have saved money to pay for health insurance/mortgage/college, etc?" Blah blah blah not everyone can magically sort out their budget like that. And I might as well tell you to live like a wandering ascetic? Only eating and living to the bare minimum so that less fortunate people can also live. And why can't you? You don't need a computer to survive, and you don't need ice cream and books either; you're LEACHING RESOURCES! OMG!
Yeah this is the kinda stuff I posted on Subeta; some of you will now hate me immediately