You know this has been brewing in me for a while now and I guess it’s just time to just let it all go. What the fuck is wrong with you people?!
What kind of petty ridiculous lives do we really lead that the most important part of our day is to find something unpleasant to say to someone. What the hell happen to being polite, kind and caring?
If you don’t like something then don’t read it. Making some ridiculously self-righteous comment about it doesn’t help anyone. If I am not interested in what you write I don’t read it and I don’t comment; the best criticism in the world as far as I am concerned.
The other problem with that is I also read a tremendous amount of things that I love and I just don’t comment so, it really isn’t about the commenting or not it’s about being a fucking twit about it.
I’ve been around here for a long time and have become very fond of so many of the people here and I think I have also found people who enjoy my company too but I have also seen so many assholes come and go here and then there are those that just never go. They stick around just to be mean and hateful. Man I don’t ever want to believe that my life could become such a miserable bucket of shit to the point that I just want to go and be mean to other people.
I’ve tried to approach this subject intelligently and rationally in the past but it’s not an intelligent or rational subject. The whole concept of bully, troll, fuckwit has just become something of a real epidemic anymore. We can be assholes to each other online and not see each other face to face.
See the problem dealing with this is that it brings up all kinds of emotions in all of us. We feel vulnerable, insecure and even frightened. We don’t want to be hurt. It brings out in the empathetic ones a real need to comfort and it brings out in the fuckwits their perfect intoxication and they can go ape shit happy on being mean.
There are so many beautiful and talented people out here and they spend every day working on showing a humorous side to life or rallying the group together or bringing joy to our lives even though you can tell that there are times when it is hard for them also. They don’t attack and they don’t hurt. They just keep trying.
Me, I can go from just blowing the truth out there like a bursting wound to just being a goofball to writing some fantasy which I haven’t done in a while. I just love to write. It really does satisfy so much in me.
I also love to read and there are so many wonderful writers out here, people who can bring a bright star to a day. There are so many brilliant artists residing on this little segment of the universe, not just writing, but music, art, video and more.
Nothing however irritates me more than mean people. We are surrounded by mean people anymore. Our government is full of mean people, our corporations are run by mean people and our lives are surrounded every day with mean people.
I say to the mean people, “Get over yourselves! You are no more important than anyone else. We are all the same and we are all in this together, so maybe you should start joining in and stop ganging up.”
See, here’s the problem with this subject. I said I was going to let it all go in the beginning and I’m not letting it all go because to let it all go would mean that I would have to become mean and I don’t want to do that.
Damnit people love and peace really are possible goals, so, it’s just a little rant piece or snit piece where I am voicing my frustration and hopefully it will allow others to feel safer at voicing their frustration. Who knows?
I wonder sometimes what it might be like to just turn around and walk away from this, to just leave all the weirdness and trolls and drama and complications behind. I don’t write here because I think some publisher will find me. I write here out of the comradeship that is with us, the connection that we have to each other, the understanding and the friendship.
I don’t think I am unique in the fact that I found myself here, like many of us for reasons of looking for a reason, a purpose, friends and support, and a vehicle that could be used creatively. This became a part of my life flow. This is a docking station where I can go to speak and listen.
So, to those who find pleasure in being mean I say, go somewhere else, or, just take a few seconds and think before you start typing out some bitter little sentence. You are really only hurting yourself when you do this. It shows us all how petty and foolish you really can be sometimes.
I’m an old hippy. I was born a hippy. Peace and love is what my DNA is. I believe in this with every fiber of my being and it’s hard sometimes because we all can just forget it so quickly, including myself.
It really is easy, just breath, just be, peace and love. WE are all connected.
cool peace
hippy mike
love
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Comments
~R~
The meanest of the bunch know full well that they are not more important. In my experience, the cruelest bastards typically feel extreme paranoia that the world thinks/knows they are Less Than everyone else. They are terrified that people can see through their act. The "Feeling Less Than" makes them want to convince people, and themselves, that they are "More Than".
BUT Their private battles on the inside are far uglier than the public ones they force in our faces on the outside. And if you are an old hippy as you say (ha, love it), well, you know the anonymity of cyberspace has provided a 'seemingly' safe haven for people to act out the worst sides of their personality any time of day.
Don't Feed The Trolls! We all know we should ignore the trolls. Starve them out and they'll move on. But instead we feed them, online and off.
I feed them. You feed them. Everyone I know has fed the trolls. It's a virtual soup kitchen! We gotta not feed them... They need to find their own nourishment. And truth is, many of them do, eventually.
OR WE'LL BOP YOU IN THE NOSES!!! :D
RATED!
Nasty pays off.
What you have to ask yourself is whether you are willing to sell your soul to get ahead.
For some,...yes.
For others.....no.
One person's "I'm just saying the way it is" is quite often another person's "damn that was mean, what a bitch"
but yeah, nicer is better. I'm learning that it's not always possible, but it's certainly easier all the way around.
Even so, the times where I feel I must respond to the kinds of things that do make my blood boil, and as much as I hold back from just letting the crap fly, I still feel bad about it later. I wish I could still believe that ignoring someone is the best method to take in those times.
Sadly, there are times where, if everyone with half or more of a brain could do just that, it would be the best method to take -- and clearly, this is not the general nature of the beast. The general nature of the beast is that lunatics, malcontents, power mongers, hateful spiteful people with an axe to grind just simply do not go away.
They continue to spew their hateful diatribe, infecting others with less desire to discern truth from lie, fact from fiction, reality from sordid fantasy and are sucked into the madness. The weaker minds out there are what the whole Political Process thrives upon in these times and, like you said, are politicians are mean people for the most part.
If we were all gifted with the ability to rationally see the world pretty much as it is, comprehend the nature of being a person and being filled with compassion for our fellow man, ignoring the idiots, the fear and hate mongers would be a breeze. As it is, we must -- those of us with the ability to see when mean people are being mean and hateful people are being hateful -- speak out with force.
This does not require us to spit invective, call names, disparage others' credibility or accreditation or make allusions to someone's mental competency, lineage, ethnicity or class, sex and gender as a reason to put someone down. That said, it is important to be clear, forceful and use the language necessary that makes the point that you seek to make.
One of the things I was trained to do, in the workforce, was to focus on the issue, the problem itself, not the person or the situation -- unless the situation is the problem, of course.
SO I hope that I haven't taken to being what might be seen as a "mean" person in anyone's eyes (even to the mean people, I would hope.) I am willing to be taken to task for it and I am willing to be shown when I have erred. I may not like it, though that doesn't mean I can blithely ignore my own faults and faux pas.
-r-
I think I have decided this is my favorite:
“it brings out in the fuckwits their perfect intoxication and they can go ape shit happy on being mean.”
Written in your inimitable style, old boy.
I , surprisingly enough, have never run into many meanies. The ones I have encountered, I’ve gone full-out fuck-em-up on their asses.
I hate being mean. Except to meanies. Then the blood roars red hot.
This sentiment that you have just expressed is exactly why there are so many more mediocre writers in this joint then there are good ones.
I don't know if you have aspirations to be published or if you already have been. You're certainly good enough when you are focused in your writing that someone might pay to read it, but if you haven't been published and you would like to be, you better grow a much thicker skin because the plugs in here that throw pot shots are nothing compared to the soul crushing words of a real critic...especially when you know they are right.
What happened to being polite? We tried it...look where the country is because of it. Now, it's BitchSlap Days and all next week they're 2-for-1.
I say this because I came here to write about surfing, and receive welcome critique from other writers, and peer review others, and debate art in what this is, a Salon.
However, Salon discussions have always included religion and politics, the two things Tutu said never to discuss over dinner, and, right after I got here the Prez was elected- you can imagine the joy here in the Islands at seeing our BLACK HAWAIIAN FEARLESS LEADER's inauguration: true joy.
Then, immediately the hate started. There can be no other honest description. Straight up hate from haters.
You are right, one does not have to read anything they don't want to. And resulting jumps in blood pressure back this up.
However, I was raised to NEVER stand down to a bully, ever. The number of trolls here who are passive aggressive seems to be 100%. Lets assume this site primarily focused on peer reviews of fiction, tales of travels, and so on as was intended. When trolls behave badly in this situation, I'd be certain to respond with wit and sarcasm, the tools of the trade.
But when they attacked Oahu, the Island which along with NYC made the ultimate sacrifice for this great Nation, implying the hospital our Queen built to protect us from the ravages of (inevitable) Western Disease, with a global campaign calling us frauds, conspirators and worse- well, lets just say it is quite instructive that was never once done in person, only by trolls online, and, sadly, in the employ of so called media corporations broadcasting their evil spew.
So, I love your work, and I will continue to read fine, and not so fine, work of others here who toil at the keyboard. I will protect honest and sensitive writers who are attacked by insecure and passive aggressive haters, and do so with etiquette- but, November 2012 is around the corner and this is a War we are in and make no such promises to any right wing authoritarians who frequent a Salon to spout their propaganda, ignorance, racism and hate.
I will keep reading your Love though, bruddah :)
Aloha Kakou
Words to live by.
:-) / R
I try to avoid commenting on political posts and stay away from rants. I agree that it is getting a bit out of control and I am glad that you posted this. It is carrying over into real life and I find myself saying the same thing, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all, please!"
I do like this piece, Mical, so there's that as well :-)
"Lack of manners."
Manners are old fashioned and passe.
Thanks for calling us out on them.
I hear your frustration, hippy friend, sometimes ya just gotta let it blow. Doesn't really accomplish anything, but then again, there's that thing about silence giving consent eh? So if ever once in awhile ya blow a gasket, at least readers know you're not consenting :).
Rated for ruffled feathers.
How do you know peace if you've never experienced chaos?
now - rated...
Rated.
It's a little like the classic "devil's triangle" where you have three choices but can only pick two (fast, cheap, good), except that with kind/true/helpful you can have all three if you reach for it. And you should.
They are cruel because they feel small in themselves. They live in a world that is mean and hateful and the best I can work up is usually pity I admit my humanity makes me slip but I try not to dwell on it.
Well said, and good timing. You answered your own question in your title: PEOPLE ARE FUCKED UP! Unfortunately the ones closest to them are sick of telling them so........
"Now I probably make "mean" comments because I do not know what constitutes mean in the minds of most OSers, but I suspect it's the lack of praise and agreement with the writing/ideas presented. That's a limited world view in my opinion, but then again, I'm not asking anyone to share it."
One can be constructive, and even helpful offering a diverse opinion without being mean. Mean people like to hang out with other mean people, so no worries Michael, you are in good company here.
Love and kisses for Eternity
GG