People are stupid
I know my subject line is a news flash for y'all...
Today I read a comment from someone on an article on the Peter Watts beating. Their Q - How is this news? Yeah... I laughed out loud, I admit, mostly because I wanted to cry. How is it news that border guards are beating people up? Oh GOD. What to say to that? Just laugh, just laugh...
I don't know how anyone can claim whatever folly comes to man, he won't deserve it. While I've heard arguments that not ALL people are like that (i.e. awful/moronic/uneducated), as long as we live in a democratic society, we choose to accept the will of the common man over the will of the smart and educated (who are the VAST minority). Since that is the choice made, then how can we not accept responsibility for the stupid, ignorant, and small-minded choices society makes?
It's very convenient to always be able to say "Oh, *I* didn't do that." whenever some awful thing is done or decision is made. But by accepting and abiding by the rules that allow such decisions to be made, one is just as guilty. People need to accept the repercussions for their actions. Just because the DIRECT repercussions are not bad doesn't mean the ones two, three, ten steps along the line are also not bad. And if they are bad, then what you did had a bad effect. That doesn't mean you can't do it, it just means when you do it you must accept responsibility.
Example:
WalMart - wow, what fab prices. They employ sweatshops, they decimate small economies, they treat their vendors like shit, they treat their employees almost as poorly, they rule through fear, and they censor. But they're very convenient! So shop there, I'm not telling you not to. I'm just saying don't be a moron and pretend what you're doing has no bad effect. Of course it does. Just accept it and move on. Don't argue and say it's alright because X and Y. Sure, those reasons may be true. But that does not invalidate all the other bad things they are doing.
While I do not shop at WM because I cannot make myself comfortable with all they do, I do shop at other places that do bad things. I'm positive H&M uses sweatshops, how can they not? But I'm accepting that I'm supporting a negative thing when I go there. Does that make me a bad person? It's certainly possible. But does pretending that it's not true make me a better person? Quite the contrary. Being an ostrich doesn't make the bad things go away. Own up.
Today I read a comment from someone on an article on the Peter Watts beating. Their Q - How is this news? Yeah... I laughed out loud, I admit, mostly because I wanted to cry. How is it news that border guards are beating people up? Oh GOD. What to say to that? Just laugh, just laugh...
I don't know how anyone can claim whatever folly comes to man, he won't deserve it. While I've heard arguments that not ALL people are like that (i.e. awful/moronic/uneducated), as long as we live in a democratic society, we choose to accept the will of the common man over the will of the smart and educated (who are the VAST minority). Since that is the choice made, then how can we not accept responsibility for the stupid, ignorant, and small-minded choices society makes?
It's very convenient to always be able to say "Oh, *I* didn't do that." whenever some awful thing is done or decision is made. But by accepting and abiding by the rules that allow such decisions to be made, one is just as guilty. People need to accept the repercussions for their actions. Just because the DIRECT repercussions are not bad doesn't mean the ones two, three, ten steps along the line are also not bad. And if they are bad, then what you did had a bad effect. That doesn't mean you can't do it, it just means when you do it you must accept responsibility.
Example:
WalMart - wow, what fab prices. They employ sweatshops, they decimate small economies, they treat their vendors like shit, they treat their employees almost as poorly, they rule through fear, and they censor. But they're very convenient! So shop there, I'm not telling you not to. I'm just saying don't be a moron and pretend what you're doing has no bad effect. Of course it does. Just accept it and move on. Don't argue and say it's alright because X and Y. Sure, those reasons may be true. But that does not invalidate all the other bad things they are doing.
While I do not shop at WM because I cannot make myself comfortable with all they do, I do shop at other places that do bad things. I'm positive H&M uses sweatshops, how can they not? But I'm accepting that I'm supporting a negative thing when I go there. Does that make me a bad person? It's certainly possible. But does pretending that it's not true make me a better person? Quite the contrary. Being an ostrich doesn't make the bad things go away. Own up.