The above is Latin for "mean people suck." I have always liked this bumper sticker since the first time I saw it on a car.
I was fairly well isolated as a kid. I was an only child, both parents worked, and two thousand miles from my extended family. Consequently, I was spent a lot of my time alone with instructions to stay in the house, or apartment, until my parents got home.
I was comfortable being alone, and frankly, in a group of people, I was still alone. I think because of that personality, I was able to spend time watching people and evaluating people.
I was always surprised on how insensitive people could be, and then learned how mean people could be to weaker people.
I am now 67 years old and amazed that people now are meaner and more insensitive. It is a moral liberal society, more open society, more permissive society, and more technically advanced society. But it really it is a meaner society, and a society which uses technology to be mean and bully the weaker and more sensitive people.
Why is it so? It is a society with less ethics, less religious thought, and less respect for people in general.
I am depressed over children committing suicide, and particularly the suicide rate of gay teenagers. I realize some of it has to do with discovery of self, and coming to terms with self, but more of it is the pleasure people get from tormenting the more vulnerable.
Maybe it is because of technology. People spend less time face to face, and more time using technology to communicate. Hence, the abuser is more distant from the victim.
What ever it is, it is a sad state of affairs for society.
I was fairly well isolated as a kid. I was an only child, both parents worked, and two thousand miles from my extended family. Consequently, I was spent a lot of my time alone with instructions to stay in the house, or apartment, until my parents got home.
I was comfortable being alone, and frankly, in a group of people, I was still alone. I think because of that personality, I was able to spend time watching people and evaluating people.
I was always surprised on how insensitive people could be, and then learned how mean people could be to weaker people.
I am now 67 years old and amazed that people now are meaner and more insensitive. It is a moral liberal society, more open society, more permissive society, and more technically advanced society. But it really it is a meaner society, and a society which uses technology to be mean and bully the weaker and more sensitive people.
Why is it so? It is a society with less ethics, less religious thought, and less respect for people in general.
I am depressed over children committing suicide, and particularly the suicide rate of gay teenagers. I realize some of it has to do with discovery of self, and coming to terms with self, but more of it is the pleasure people get from tormenting the more vulnerable.
Maybe it is because of technology. People spend less time face to face, and more time using technology to communicate. Hence, the abuser is more distant from the victim.
What ever it is, it is a sad state of affairs for society.
Hey... just stopped in to read. Good posts. I don't know too much about what happened over at NPR with Juan, but it sounded a bit more like he over-stepped some journalistic boundries. I don't know what creedo they hold to, not being a journalist and all... anyway.
ReplyDeleteAs for a meaner society. I don't see it getting meaner as a whole. I see the mean people - people naturally prone to being mean - lashing out more quicky and violently. But I see the nice people, the helpful people, being more ready to lend a hand than ever. I suppose the indifferent people are even a bit more indifferent these days.
I don't know if it's a sad state of affairs for society... but it certainly isn't our state of affairs anymore.