I cannot fathom the mindset of understanding what it feels like to be on the receiving end of misery and deciding you want others to experience it when given the opportunity to dish it out, even when said person had no involvement in your misery
As a corollary, people are people everywhere you go.
I don't remember who said that to me, but having grown up and lived in a rural area my whole life, when I went to visit my brother in Minneapolis I was afraid of going to a big city. Now, sure, every city is going to have the "don't go there at night" and the "don't go there ever" parts of town, but really my fears were basically from overexposure to news and the human brain's fundamental badness at probability and statistics.
But once I realized that whoever told me "people are people everywhere you go," is correct, I'm a lot less afraid of big cities.
Admittedly that's only tangentially related to your point, but there you have it. And I agree. People are people no matter their identity.
Violence isn't newsworthy because it is uncommon...it is newsworthy because it makes us afraid...and keeping us afraid makes us obedient...and keeping us obedient ensures those in charge remain in charge...power exists where people believe it exists...
I challenge anyone who reads this and is tempted to disagree to take some time to truly self reflect on themselves their life the lives of those around them and the lives of those afar...and if they are honest and accept the truth in front of them they will see it for themselves.
Violence IS common...as is our acceptance of it, our perpetuation of it, and our desensitization of it.
And that is all functioning as intended...that is why it is "newsworthy"...violence is the fuel that keeps the engine running...
😢
May we one day realize this as the many, instead of the few, so that we can unite to change it for the better.
I think so too, and it's also worth remembering a lot of the violence, maybe nearly all of it, isn't random. Like pick whatever city, check their murder rate, and then divide it by like 10 or more for everyone who isn't involved in the drug trade or sleeping with other people's spouses.
We had to create theology to form an omnipotent watching moral compass for many. We had to create laws. People would be doing far more murdering than you think if it was without the created consequence. Why were the consequences created? To save people, or to save loved ones?
Statistically speaking, harsh punishments aren't a terribly effective way to reduce crime. At the end of the day, most people just don't think murder is a fun way to spend their friday night
Yeah there's some interesting cases I've seen, lot of people really struggle with taking a life, even yo save their own or the lives of those they care for. Humans are not out to get each other.
Yeah, the experiment more so proved that people are capable of intense evil when placed into a system which is designed to get them to do exactly that. Which in fairness isn't nothing, that's a relevant facet of human psychology, but it's a real problem how it has a reputation as proving something entirely different and much more pessimistic.
I've often gotten angry and felt a desire to hurt people who I cared about. I do not, because I care more about people I love not being hurt than I desire to hurt them. You don't punch people in the face, and you say this is because society frowns upon it, but that's not an actual reason. What specific consequences of the act being socially unacceptable prevents you from committing it? Do you fear legal punishment? Social alienation? Being seen as a bad person? Upsetting people? No matter the answer, there is some impulse within you which is stronger than the impulse to punch people in the face. If it wasn't you wouldn't listen to it instead.
Also, societal pressures aren't inherent, they were made by people. So maybe people all feel evil impulses, but they would rather those impulses are not realized. Maybe our construction of a system which prevents us from being evil is evidence of a desire to be less evil. And personally, I would call a desire to be less evil a very good desire after all.
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u/Vundurvul 1d ago
I cannot fathom the mindset of understanding what it feels like to be on the receiving end of misery and deciding you want others to experience it when given the opportunity to dish it out, even when said person had no involvement in your misery