1 - Try being homeless for awhile, if you crawl your way back out of that
and you treat homeless people like shit afterwards then you’re just an asshole.
2 - Try hiking the entire Appalachian Trail - everyone is struggling and yet the majority
of other hikers share food and supplies and help boost morale and the people
in trail towns are generous and not assholes because they know what you are doing is
difficult.
3 - Try being in the military and being the lowest rank E-1 - there is comradery there amongst
the low rank enlisted. Everyone is suffering and yet regardless of race, class, religion, beliefs, everyone
has a “we’re all in this together” attitude and it’s easy to make friends if you wish.
4 - Finally, ask anyone who has ever worked in retail how they view retail workers now.
Assholes are just assholes. They stick out in society so it makes it seem like they are the majority.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass. Somewhere along the line, it became socially acceptable, then desirable, and finally glorified. We have lost the plot, by and large.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass while poor. You were always supposed to defer to your betters. The Kennedys got to be assholes. The Vanderbilts got to be assholes. The Pullmans got to be assholes. Their employees and staff were expected to be utterly docile and subservient.
But a century of rising middle class prosperity combined with a Randian self-centerism transformed generations of people into CEO wanna-bes. American libertarian ideology and the myth of the Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire has utterly obliterated class consciousness in the minds of the American working class. Millions upon millions of people have it embedded in their heads that they should be treated like aristocracy.
We have lost the plot, by and large.
We’ve bought into the propaganda of American Exceptionalism. Every American gets indoctrinated into the theory that they’re above average, that they’re Gifted And Talented, that they’re destined to become The President. There is no universal understanding of the human condition, just people who deserve to be under you and people who climbed above you unfairly.
I was in the military and my experience was wildly different. If you displayed anything other than hyper masculinity you were a little bitch that anyone could do anything to. Every single woman I served with was sexually assaulted and several of them raped. The rapists were never punished beyond a transfer to another duty station. People constantly stole from each other. Fuck the supposed comradery in the military.
That sounds shitty. I’m sorry your experience in the military was that way, but I wouldn’t paint the whole with a big brush like that. There are good people and bad people both in and out of the military.
Sorry, I mean the “collective we.” Of course individuals do build compassion, but look at the state of America and tell me that the collective we is different than I stated.
Did the first half of the trail in '22 and I can concur. I had to stop to make money, but it was so much fun and I miss it every day. I’ll be back out there again soon
Speak for yourself.
1 - Try being homeless for awhile, if you crawl your way back out of that
and you treat homeless people like shit afterwards then you’re just an asshole.
2 - Try hiking the entire Appalachian Trail - everyone is struggling and yet the majority
of other hikers share food and supplies and help boost morale and the people
in trail towns are generous and not assholes because they know what you are doing is
difficult.
3 - Try being in the military and being the lowest rank E-1 - there is comradery there amongst
the low rank enlisted. Everyone is suffering and yet regardless of race, class, religion, beliefs, everyone
has a “we’re all in this together” attitude and it’s easy to make friends if you wish.
4 - Finally, ask anyone who has ever worked in retail how they view retail workers now.
Assholes are just assholes. They stick out in society so it makes it seem like they are the majority.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass. Somewhere along the line, it became socially acceptable, then desirable, and finally glorified. We have lost the plot, by and large.
It used to be socially unacceptable to be a jackass while poor. You were always supposed to defer to your betters. The Kennedys got to be assholes. The Vanderbilts got to be assholes. The Pullmans got to be assholes. Their employees and staff were expected to be utterly docile and subservient.
But a century of rising middle class prosperity combined with a Randian self-centerism transformed generations of people into CEO wanna-bes. American libertarian ideology and the myth of the Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire has utterly obliterated class consciousness in the minds of the American working class. Millions upon millions of people have it embedded in their heads that they should be treated like aristocracy.
We’ve bought into the propaganda of American Exceptionalism. Every American gets indoctrinated into the theory that they’re above average, that they’re Gifted And Talented, that they’re destined to become The President. There is no universal understanding of the human condition, just people who deserve to be under you and people who climbed above you unfairly.
Being the loudest and screaming the most has always been a successful tactic.
I was in the military and my experience was wildly different. If you displayed anything other than hyper masculinity you were a little bitch that anyone could do anything to. Every single woman I served with was sexually assaulted and several of them raped. The rapists were never punished beyond a transfer to another duty station. People constantly stole from each other. Fuck the supposed comradery in the military.
That sounds shitty. I’m sorry your experience in the military was that way, but I wouldn’t paint the whole with a big brush like that. There are good people and bad people both in and out of the military.
Sorry, I mean the “collective we.” Of course individuals do build compassion, but look at the state of America and tell me that the collective we is different than I stated.
I’m sorry but it will forever be stamped into my brain
During the six days of absence, one of the excuses offered by Sanford’s spokesperson was that Sanford was hiking the Appalachian Trail. As a result, “hiking the Appalachian Trail” or “hiking the Appalachians” became a euphemism for a sexual scandal in American English
Did the first half of the trail in '22 and I can concur. I had to stop to make money, but it was so much fun and I miss it every day. I’ll be back out there again soon