I’ve
read some pretty mean comments on social media recently. Insulting words
lashing out, sometimes with no obvious reason for the inflammatory temper
tantrums. Suddenly, a conversational steam turns ugly. I sit dumbfounded as I
read through cruel, malicious responses from people I thought to be reasonable—and
nice.
Most
of the time, I try to understand both sides of the issue. If I weigh in (many
times I bite my tongue and keep away from my keyboard), I attempt to find
factual support for the issue at hand. Sometimes I balance myself onto a middle
ground. Occasionally, I respond with well thought out deliberation.
Fortunately, I have a blog wherein I can pull together longer reflections.
In
my dream-state last night, I mulled through this-n-that in an effort to distill
recent events into some kind of cohesive theory that applies to a bigger
picture, and I tossed-n-turned myself into a dichotomy of wants versus needs.
Many
people state belief systems as though they are needs. They need to
follow their religious doctrines. They need
to spank their children—and everyone else’s, too. They need to defund programs like education and welfare. They need to take care of their own—even if
that means making decisions that harm others. They need to own guns. They need to
stop abortion. They need to
segregate themselves way from minorities. They need to prepare for Armageddon.
Whenever these people speak out, they truly feel
that these things are essential requirements for their safety and happiness—for
their duty to family, or church, or country. Their insistence that things are needs lends a level of urgency and unreasonable
panic to their daily lives. When they feel that these needs are threatened, they respond with illogical anger and boiling
hostility. They view their world as always threatened by someone else
encroaching upon or diminishing their basic needs and rights. It must be rough living with so much distress and
disharmony.
I
wish I could wave a magic wand over these people and shift their mindset to the
fact that all of these things are wants,
and not needs, because the urgency and fear shifts dramatically with this
worldview.
Copyright 2018 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman
I've been pondering this since that dumpster fire yesterday. I am assuming you are referring to vitriolic FB thread.
ReplyDeleteI think there is a large element of fear mixed in with the "needs."
Fear of losing the life they know. Fear of not knowing how to adjust to the life that now is.
Like scared animals that snarl and bite,frightened humans now growl and bully.
A terrified dog will snap at his owner. A fearful human will lash out at a friend.
I'm afraid the difference in this case is that the dog can be calmed.
Yes. I couldn't believe how condescending and then outright nasty the comments turned, and so quickly. Just wanted you to know that it bothered me. Sometimes the only way I can work things out is by writing.
ReplyDelete