It is a popular bumpersticker and well-spoken slogan, "Mean people su*k!!!!!"! The mean people of the world, however we choose to define them, are people that we are socially ENCOURAGED to think the very worst about!
This is a big divide in current US society. Some passionately argue that we need to create our messages to others to be as caring and as kind as absolutely possible. Others dismiss this as overly " touchy -feely". Their outlook is " Say whatever is needed to be said and say it so bluntly and directly that it CANNOT be misunderstood!" What about how people react to what they are told? " Their problem and not mine" is likely to be the response provided to that question.
I will generally fall in with many of my fellow conservatives in thinking that Conservatives are " Blunt, Take No prisoners and unsparingly direct when it comes to social issue. I then will also tend to fall in with berating the Liberals for being" Too soft, overly sensitive and coddling" in how they address America's most critical social issues!
Yet , Two issues of late 2010 do give me ample reasons to find a deeper truth here. Doctor Laura Schlessinger was roundly taken to the woodshed for using the "N" word on her show. She was on a call with a black women who was taking umbrage with the frequency of how often that word was spoken around her! Dr. Laura took the view that " If one group of people can say that word as often as they wish to, then it is a word available freely for everyone to use." Dr. Laura was taken to task for her insensitivity and her obtuseness. She was reminded that the history of the word simply made it unsuitable for white people to use in nearly any context!
It does seem that the historical considerations and the culturally wide-spread condemnation of the word made it more than an issue of political correctness. There were clearly set boundaries that were violated. Dr. Laura saw herself as a victim -as someone who was being censored in this case. It seems to me that Dr. :aura will tell people that certain things are as they are and it DOES NOT matter if that pleases us!", However, Dr.Laura seemed very irate and perturbed when she ran into an accepted limitation that she did not like!
The other issue which seemed to flip the script was the reaction to detailed airport searches that many of us took intense notice of last month.The reaction from the leadership of The TSA and from Home Land Security was " If you do not like it, Take the Bus, Train or Drive"!! In other words, They weren't going to let people's feelings dictate their policy.
Now, One response that was offered to counter these statements was , "You need to profile and target those most likely to commit acts of terrorism". There is a certain amount of validity to THIS argument. However, I also hear a protest of " Impose inconvience on others but not upon me" present in the raising of this argument.
Therefore, Is our reaction to meanness , in effect, tied to whether we are personally being affronted, mistreated and disregarded ? Is it easy to say that others are being "whiners and complainers" when they are not treated as they wish to be and difficult to accept the same arguments when we feel maltreated?
Perhaps, We need to figure out what is truly reasonable for all to live by rather than point fingers at people we disagree with!
- Johnny -
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