Looking back at over 64 years of life, one of the little things that I have noticed is that some interactions never change. For some unknown reason there seems to be this incessant human need for one person or another to be an asshole.
Listen, we have all dealt with bullies, pernicious malevolent trolls who have decided to get their jollies by making your life miserable, unless of course you were the bully (but that is a topic for a different day). Remember that psychology movement from about a decade ago that said we were supposed to feel bad for the bully, because they themselves were probably bullied at home or dealing with some psychological or societal issue. Well, having been bullied myself, as both a child and an adult (frenemies and bosses), and having had children bullied, I so don’t care the reason that a bully is a bully.
Fine go get them fixed. If they need psychological help get them help. If they are abused at home, get the state to intervene. But quite frankly I am sick and tired of this progressive crap that we need to feel bad for those who make our lives miserable. So not going to happen. Fuck them. I despise people who think they can ruin someone else’s day or life, and think they are terrific for it.
I think most people agree with me. Otherwise every progressive DA in the country that was up for reelection would not have had their asses handed to them in this last election. I honestly think people have had enough. And if the Left hasn’t gotten the message yet they will over the coming years as more and more people move to places in this country that value law and order.
The problem that you have is that in order for society to function effectively there needs to be an agreed upon set of rules. Originally we can look back on the Ten Commandments. Of course they were, in historical context, preceded by Hammurabi’s Code, but as far as western civilization was concerned everything is based generally on those commandments that a nomadic tribe of hebrew slaves had developed upon being freed from Egyptian slavery.
And yes I know the holiday of Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah/Ten Commandments at Sinai, but let’s say for the sake of argument, that instead of an omnipotent being in the shape of a burning bush, it was the leaders of this disparate burdened abused people who realized what they needed in order to make the diverse sections of their flock function so that they simply stayed alive. Just saying. You can disagree all you want about the progenitor of the laws, but they worked for quite along time didn’t they? I mean technically they still do. It’s why people get so upset when certain of them are violated.
I mean we don’t have to believe in hashem in order to do good. Most people by the way do believe in an omnipotent being, that God gene is a real thing among humans. But what we do understand is that in order to have a healthy function society we need to not steal/lie/covet/be hurtful and care for one another. And taking a day of rest is essential to being human.
(As Ahad Ha’am said, “More than the Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews.”)
And even though society marched on toward different societal formations and governing laws, in the end no matter what form of government was chosen, the basic underpinning of law was the same. These 10 commandments came into play in one way or the other.
And unfortunately, of course along came the trolls.
The interesting thing about these societal ogres (well unless you are Shrek, Shrek and Fiona are cute ogres) is that they know also what makes society function. They know it’s not them. So the question becomes why do they do it? For a little glory? To make more money than the next guy? To make themselves feel selfrighteous? Or to simply wait for others reactions because they get their jollies? Are they trolls or bullies or iconoclasts?
It’s not that the iconoclast, in developing a new mode of economics, wouldn’t be happy to beat you up and steal your lunch money (in a way that is exactly what happens when society develops a new socioeconomic way of thinking and so many get left behind.) It truly is as if you get mugged by reality. It’s as if there are no guardrails, no society opprobrium to those who turn the world upside down.
(There is that old acknowledgment, that at times technology outpasses human society’s maturity level and that is when the technology becomes dangerous. Sort of like the discussion we are having right now about AI.)
Honestly, we do love the person that thinks outside the box. This is what moves our society forward. These thinkers are those that solve medical mysteries and help society thrive. They push us forward and change dynamics. How many more lives are saved today because there are iconoclasts that thought outside the box in medicine and technology? (Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, SpaceX, Tesla, Intel….) Having been saved by targeted breast cancer treatment that didn’t exist when I was young, I am forever grateful for iconoclasts.
On the other hand, bullies do not think outside the box. Their goal is to flaunt a person’s weakness in order to make themselves the center of attention. The best part is when they are caught that they somehow become the victim. They are just defending themselves from their victim, they tell the powers that be. Nothing is ever their fault. Bullies are themselves sociopaths, sometime supported by a much more sociopathic more powerful protector.
In other words, bullies are just mean.
I am not sure when we started making excuses for people who are simply mean. Mean at heart. Mean in spirit. Mean in the way they approach the world. Bullies are mean. Full stop.
I have so had enough of mean.
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This post is so relevant, I enjoyed reading it and could relate.