Respect is a good thing.

I did a really dumb thing... (Sensitive subject, kinda) by Chase on 2009-04-12 04:47:00 UTC Reply

So I went on the rants and raves section of Craigslist.org....

It has to be worse than any badfic I've ever read, want to know why? They go on about politics. But no, not any normal and educated political debate or argument; half the posts are pictures of monkeys (with edited photos of our current President).

I understand the discontentment for the other side, really, I do. I get that had McCain been voted in there would most likely be similar posts to what is being done to Obama. What I don't understand is why there is no actual political argument, all the contents are just crude picture after crude picture. Based on his race no less, not on his actions so far as our President.

Maybe I'm just being hypocritical, since I would see pictures of Bush and find them funny. Yet, I didn't see such a racial comparison of him; most of the time they weren't even edited (the guy held an American Flag backwards, good for giggles).

This post isn't here to spark a debate. I don't mind that someone would dislike our current President. There has not been a time everyone was happy for the elect. I just wish, you know, that people could refrain from such a personal, offensive, and downright depraved exclamation of their dissatisfaction.

I'm not asking everyone love one another, but at least offer an amount of respect.... :(

Re: I did a really dumb thing... (Sensitive subject, kinda) by Paladin on 2009-04-12 23:16:00 UTC Reply

Sadly, this happens anytime anyone argues politics, or anything, really, on the internet. With complete anonymity and a captive audience, people will exhibit despicable behavior because they know they can get away with it. Of course, some people do it just to get attention (trolls) but some really are just that loony, and the internet gives them a voice.

My advice: Stay out of arguments in general on the internet. After all, we all know the aphorism: Arguing on the internet->Special Olympics, etc.

Re: I did a really dumb thing... (Sensitive subject, kinda) by Chase on 2009-04-12 23:53:00 UTC Reply

I never took part in the arguments, I don't think I could stand to watch my IQ literally drop down drastically.

In any argument I've ever had written out, though, I post once to say my piece then find better things to do.

Re: I did a really dumb thing... (Sensitive subject, kinda) by khajidu on 2009-04-12 16:03:00 UTC Reply

Well, you're right. These people are dumb. As I'm not American, I don't really care about what Obama does, I only know it can only be better than what Bush did. And maybe Obama does better because he's a Vulcan. Wait, you didn't know ? lol

Re: I did a really dumb thing... (Sensitive subject, kinda) by Chase on 2009-04-12 22:39:00 UTC Reply

The one argument I see more often than not since his election is, "Why isn't everything better?!"

He's been in office for 5 months maybe and everyone is looking to have this quick fix from the mess that Bush made in nearly a decade. Come on.

Re: I did a really dumb thing... (Sensitive subject, kinda) by khajidu on 2009-04-12 22:52:00 UTC Reply

I agree, all the more that the economic situation is a mess. No way things are going to improve in like 5 seconds. Even Vulcans can't do that.

Respect is a good thing. by Sedri on 2009-04-12 08:26:00 UTC Reply

He's not "my" president, and I couldn't care less about America or your politics, but I see where you're coming from; it's one thing to have a reasonable stance against something or someone, and quite another to mock it/them for no apparent reason. I have no fondness for America at all, but I don't mock you, and I certainly don't make nasty edited pictures. Do those people have nothing better to do with their time? *sigh*

Good thing is, we don't have to look at their silly pictures. :)

Re: Respect is a good thing. by Chase on 2009-04-12 09:30:00 UTC Reply

Yeah, you know I didn't know what to expect, or well, I didn't expect people to just be that... idiotic. And I was discussing this with Kgarrett earlier because it really does give an extremely unfavorable light in general in our country as a whole. Without getting into a whole, "not everyone is the stereotype their country presents," lengthy, insanely drawn out with way too many metaphors and well, you probably get it.

In short, our "15 minutes of fame" shows an appalling amount of short-sightedness, arrogance, and high doses of supreme stupidity.

We need a new PR.

I see a problem... by Crystal on 2009-04-12 16:58:00 UTC Reply

You want to see the best in the human race, unfortunatly the law of averages says that yes a lot of people really ARE that idiotic.
Respect IS good, sadly it also appears to be something our species as a whole is not too good at giving.
It might be time to start again, all the smart intelligent people can leave the planet on big spaceships and the morons can blow themselves to kingdom come. I suspect the eventual nuclear holocaust will have some really, really stuipd cause.

I admit I'm rather (very) cynical, but I've seen too many examples of human stupidity.

On the other hand scientists may one day isolate the bigot gene and we can engineer this nasty trait right out of the species!

Re: I see a problem... by khajidu on 2009-04-13 10:47:00 UTC Reply

When we leave, could we take the tall ships with us ? I don't want them to end in the holocaust.
Meh. by WikiMaster on 2009-04-13 05:56:00 UTC Reply

We persisit, and win a few CmoH's in the process. Besides, what about aliens?
Maybe we should re-evaluate our conditions of respect? (nm) by Sedri on 2009-04-13 00:01:00 UTC Reply
Re: I see a problem... by Pads on 2009-04-12 17:08:00 UTC Reply

Engineering out the bigot gene? If only it were that simple. Genetics doesn't actually work that way, which is probably a good thing, because I'm told eugenics is a bit of a murky path to tread. (Unless I'm in charge of who gets offed and who gets to breed, of course, but ymmv).

Not sure where I read it, probably Dawkins, but we're just great at respect and treating each other well, but only in small tribe-sized groups. Start dealing with groups as large as countries, and there are just too many people involved for the brain to recognise them all as real people. And respecting a faceless automaton is a bit tricky, really.

I'm a geneticist by training by Crystal on 2009-04-12 17:18:00 UTC Reply

So I know to well that alas the bigot gene is not going to be found. But it is nice to dream while I wait for the spaceships to come along!

Oh well. by Ugolino on 2009-04-12 20:18:00 UTC Reply

Rest secure in the knowledge that they're a "bunch of mindless jerks who'll be first against the wall when the revolutions comes". There's nothing a dose of Adams can't fix...