Bryan W. Alaspa 1Society of victims
August 8th 2009 17:57
It is amusing to me to look at the current political culture and see people who are saying the exact same thing that the other side was saying when the other party was in charge, but acting as if it is a greater crime that it is happening to them. It just goes to show you that, whatever party is in charge, you don’t think the party you support is doing anything wrong. As soon as you are in minority again, well, then the other side is a bunch of crooks and they do nothing right, even if they are doing the exact same thing the previous party was doing.
These days it seems like conservatives are running around saying that they are being persecuted for saying anything critical of the current administration. What they seem to forget is that for eight years, anyone who dared criticize the previous administration was immediately labeled as “traitors” or “unpatriotic” or “against the troops.” Sure, maybe the liberals support the troops but just wish they were being used in a proper war, say, going after the actual terrorists who actually attacked out country rather than bungling around in a country that hadn’t done anything except some dubious connection to a ridiculous and hopeless plot against the first George Bush.
That aside, it seems that far too many people are walking around acting like they are victims. Of course, I do that too, so I am grouping myself in here as well. I am just saying, when did this culture of the victim thing start? I would like to say it happened when the towers fell, but I don’t think that’s true. It may have kicked into hyper-drive when everyone was suddenly convinced that a terrorist lurked behind every corner and was going to attack at any minute, but I think it was there long before.
Maybe it has to do with the way kids have been raised for some time now. Not to sound more like an old crank than I already do, but in my day the playgrounds my friends and I played in were made out of metal and cemented into the ground. The playground near the school where the house I grew up in is, had thin rubber mats between the monkey bars and swings. If you fell, these provided no padding.
When I grew up, you kept score at the little league games and you determined who a winner and who a loser was. This was considered important in teaching kids that they were not going to succeed all the time. This was to teach that, only by losing, do we look to improve ourselves.
When I was growing up, if you wore a bicycle helmet people made fun of you and wondered if you were spastic or something. I rode a bike for a long time, throughout high school, and I never wore or owned a helmet.
I think far too many people have grown up being told they are right no matter what. That they should believe they are right, even if they are only partially right, or maybe outright wrong. Rather than listening to other sides and then maybe admitting they are wrong, they cross their arms and assume they are right and then attack the people, like petulant, temper-tantrum-throwing children, who dare call them wrong. How can I be wrong? My mom told me my entire life that whatever I thought or did was right, even when I lost the big game.
Once again, I think people need to stop being so rigid, loosen their minds up. There are no absolutes. There are no absolute right or wrong people, for the most part, out there. Everything is a shade of gray. Let’s stop being color blind.
These days it seems like conservatives are running around saying that they are being persecuted for saying anything critical of the current administration. What they seem to forget is that for eight years, anyone who dared criticize the previous administration was immediately labeled as “traitors” or “unpatriotic” or “against the troops.” Sure, maybe the liberals support the troops but just wish they were being used in a proper war, say, going after the actual terrorists who actually attacked out country rather than bungling around in a country that hadn’t done anything except some dubious connection to a ridiculous and hopeless plot against the first George Bush.
That aside, it seems that far too many people are walking around acting like they are victims. Of course, I do that too, so I am grouping myself in here as well. I am just saying, when did this culture of the victim thing start? I would like to say it happened when the towers fell, but I don’t think that’s true. It may have kicked into hyper-drive when everyone was suddenly convinced that a terrorist lurked behind every corner and was going to attack at any minute, but I think it was there long before.
Maybe it has to do with the way kids have been raised for some time now. Not to sound more like an old crank than I already do, but in my day the playgrounds my friends and I played in were made out of metal and cemented into the ground. The playground near the school where the house I grew up in is, had thin rubber mats between the monkey bars and swings. If you fell, these provided no padding.
When I grew up, you kept score at the little league games and you determined who a winner and who a loser was. This was considered important in teaching kids that they were not going to succeed all the time. This was to teach that, only by losing, do we look to improve ourselves.
When I was growing up, if you wore a bicycle helmet people made fun of you and wondered if you were spastic or something. I rode a bike for a long time, throughout high school, and I never wore or owned a helmet.
I think far too many people have grown up being told they are right no matter what. That they should believe they are right, even if they are only partially right, or maybe outright wrong. Rather than listening to other sides and then maybe admitting they are wrong, they cross their arms and assume they are right and then attack the people, like petulant, temper-tantrum-throwing children, who dare call them wrong. How can I be wrong? My mom told me my entire life that whatever I thought or did was right, even when I lost the big game.
Once again, I think people need to stop being so rigid, loosen their minds up. There are no absolutes. There are no absolute right or wrong people, for the most part, out there. Everything is a shade of gray. Let’s stop being color blind.
| 30 |
| Vote |
