A Country of Hate
How did our country become so full of hatred for each other? It's not enough to simply disagree with someone--we have to call them horrible names and belittle their very existence! It's the worst in politics, but I've also noticed it elsewhere. I was reading an article about how Americans have body issues, and the comments below the article were appalling! People assume that overweight people are lazy, ugly, and worthless.
Just because someone doesn't think like you or look like you doesn't mean they don't count! I get this from my older brother all the time--I'm stupid if I don't share his opinion on something. It's ridiculous! I think the country would be in a much better place if more people just acknowledged, Yes, you think differently than I do. That's okay.
Thoughts?
(btw, here's the article in case anyone is interested: http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/overwei ght-overwrought-americans-8217-attitudes-towa rd-body-size-182200999.html )
It's not just America...I have said many times in real life, "why do people have to be so unnecessarily nasty"...The answer I've had more than once is "it's the human nature", I disagree!
We invented the internet.
Some people just don't hold back their opinions. It is quite annoying when you see so many people saying "im overweight from stress/genetics/etc etc". just own up!
Because our issues are emotional. Everything is personal. It's almost impossible to have a debate with someone without it becoming personal in some way. Most people have the opinions they do (about political issues, for instance) for a personal reason, so even though they are debating a concrete issue, they are debating from an emotional position.
It seems as if most of the population has lost the ability to reasonably debate an issue. Instead, we sink to name calling and condemnation of the other person.
I have a very live and let live attitude about most things. On rare occassion I may think a person's opinion is dumb but that doesn't mean the person is dumb.
Or in the words of one of my favorite college professors, "It's ok to disagree, but you do not have to be disagreeable in doing so."
I recently read a little article that mentioned how de Tocqueville said that as opposed to aristocracies where inequalities are everywhere, in democracies that make equality the highest social and political priority, even the slightest inequalities give offense. Therefore, the more equal a society becomes, the more glaring the smallest inequalities will appear. But since perfect equality is an impossibility, we ironically find ourselves perpetually offended even as we become more and more equal.
...also, what sully said about the internet.
Original Post by barbarjinx:
It seems as if most of the population has lost the ability to reasonably debate an issue. Instead, we sink to name calling and condemnation of the other person.
I have a very live and let live attitude about most things. On rare occassion I may think a person's opinion is dumb but that doesn't mean the person is dumb.
Or in the words of one of my favorite college professors, "It's ok to disagree, but you do not have to be disagreeable in doing so."
Well, I think part of it is due to the fact that more and more, we are living in a relativistic society, where the idea of an authority, especially a moral authority, is taboo, so you can no longer just quietly point out an objective truth and objective right and wrong. Everything is just seen as opinion. So we end up being a bunch of isolated individuals, all just trying to assert ourselves and shout our own subjective truth the loudest. This is exacerbated by a breakdown of the concept of living in community caused by things like our hypermobility, the way we educate/have been educated, and our gradual but widespread replacement of alot of our human contact with social technology.
You're more right than you realize. With the internet, we've taken the human element out of the picture. We can call anyone whatever we want, and no one will know. There's no accountability. It's too easy to call someone else a moron in a chat room than it is in person.
Original Post by barbarjinx:
It seems as if most of the population has lost the ability to reasonably debate an issue. Instead, we sink to name calling and condemnation of the other person.
I have a very live and let live attitude about most things. On rare occassion I may think a person's opinion is dumb but that doesn't mean the person is dumb.
Or in the words of one of my favorite college professors, "It's ok to disagree, but you do not have to be disagreeable in doing so."
This! (the whole thing, but I really like the quote)
And, I know there is no tone to the written word (theoretically...), but truly, if your usual tone is snark and sarcasm, then re-read comments with that in mind and ask yourself if the response is necessary. I delete more responses to threads (my own) than most people make -- because I inherited a sarcasm gene. Yes, people actually do still expect politeness, even from faceless internet persona.
