textualdeviance: (mistakes)
[personal profile] textualdeviance
How/when did our culture decide that being mean was cool?

I feel like there's this entire generation of kids who grew up with the idea that you either bully or get bullied and now we have this vicious circle of everyone afraid to be nice to other people because they're afraid they'll be the next victim for the marauding hordes. It's kill or be killed. The best defense is a good offense. Strike first.

Defending onself is one thing, but meanness for its own sake, or the sake of amusement, especially when directed at people who have equal or lesser power than you do, is reprehensible.

I wish everyone would make the choice to have the courage to just stop. Stop bullying, stop making fun of other people who are different, stop hurting other people for sport. I don't care if you think they're silly, I don't care if you think they're pathetic. None of us is in a position to piss on other people's weaknesses or differences. Even if someone else is doing it, that doesn't give you the right to do it, too.

I want it to stop. I want meanness to stop being recreational.
Date: 2003-09-05 10:27 pm (UTC)

From: [identity profile] foxykc.livejournal.com
The trouble is that the people doing the bullying have suffered a major disconnect from humanity somewhere along the way. Ignored by parents, their child minder is the TV set or a gameboy or a computer and they band together like African wild dogs. Safety in numbers.

Being civil means laying yourself open and being vulnerable. A defensive organism strikes first at a perceived threat. And threats come in all forms, especially from peopel who are "different" because they challange fondly held beliefs and they're outside the comfort zone.

The real target is not the intended target. The real target is internal. Fear causes people to do any number of unreasonable things.

And when you don't feel like a person, it's damned difficult to treat other people as if they had humanity either.

Sometimes these people grow up and realize what they've done. And sometimes they just grow into mean adults.

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