What's wrong with our society?

[JuanBolio]

Because it's wonderful fun, not to mention immensely self-validating, to be able to look down your nose at someone. Our version of a pecking order, without the need for physical pecking. Just as well really. We'd have splitting headaches otherwise.

No, its not really fun at all, unless you're a sadist who enjoys seeing people get emotionally devastated day by day. In fact there are few things I enjoy more than taking people who think they're high up on some kind of social hierarchy down a peg or two, by whatever means is most entertaining to me.

So you indulge in precisely the same exercise as every single other person on the planet. I didn't say we all agreed on the pecking order.

Point is, we relish in - to use your words - "taking people... down a peg or two...". You consider yourself superior to them. It's just that "society" (or some elements of it) happens to give them a higher position. That societal order doesn't make the slightest bit of difference to the emotional meaning to you, which is built purely on your internal conception of the pecking order.

But that's actually true for everyone, even if they have a higher percentage of agreement with the conventional list, because there IS no actual, agreed list. That's why everyone thinks they can win at this game. And why we all keep playing it, in our own way. It's one of the core drivers of human behaviour. Not the only one, of course, but a strong core one.

The difference being that I use it as a defensive measure as opposed to an offensive one - I don't do it unless that person has already acted in an arrogantly superior manner to someone else for no good reason. I don't do it to make myself feel superior as they do, but to rob them of that sense of superiority and humble them for all to see.

 

[Mistral]

There are many things wrong with society, one of which being the presence of this thread.

Does it then follow that the absence of this thread will make society less wrong? Please explain.

I believe the converse to be true(less so the Nike or the Reebok) as an open debate in any forum about the failings of our society and the potential means of correcting such weak points engenders a healthy social atmosphere. Better to question than to accept blindly, if you will. However, an open debate doesn't preclude the idea that poorly phrased or even ignorant viewpoints will be expressed. With the wheat comes the chaff. The key is to be willing to hold the discussion in the first place. IMO.

 

[RobertVA]

I would like to see fewer acronyms. Some are just obscure like BBW or the initials of some movie title or television program. Others are ambiguous like CD (would that be "Compact Disk" or "Certificate of Deposit"?).

To a great extent weight is a matter of choice, a long life eating little more than salad and fruit or a bit shorter life enjoying things like beef, cheese, bread and pasta. Some us would be miserable without the opportunity to eat the foods we enjoy. Most restaurant chains offer brochures and web pages listing the fat and carbohyrate content of their fare. Listing those on the menu is unnecessary clutter and harassment to the customers.

The same applies to people who use tobbaco. While measures to make sure they don't inflict the stench of their burning weed on others are reasonable, allow them to indulge themselves when the fumes can dissipate without annoying others.

And quit claiming you're saving lives. Everybody is going to die eventually. While there are ways to postpone death some techniques come at a cost. People deserve the choice between enjoying the indulgences that make life worth living and the option of depriving themselves only to suffer from a drawn out death with a debilitating affliction of advanced age like Alzheimers or advanced arthritis.

And quit worrying so much about saving trees. Just like corn or beans, trees are a crop. When many lumber companies harvest trees they plant more so they can come back in a couple of decades for more lumber. You would have a much better effect encouraging recycling programs so that waste products are re utilized instead of piling up in land fills. Don't forget that much of that wood is carbon that the trees sucked out of the atmosphere.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I would like to see fewer acronyms. Some are just obscure like BBW or the initials of some movie title or television program. Others are ambiguous like CD (would that be "Compact Disk" or "Certificate of Deposit"?).

Cluster of Differentiation.

 

[sidious618]

We do emphasize ridiculous standards of beauty but on the othe hand being huge is unhealthy as well.

 

[Cakes488]

^ I had to think about what you were referring to when you were talking about being huge there... ok I got it now.

 

[Capn Flukie]

I would like to see fewer acronyms. Some are just obscure like BBW or the initials of some movie title or television program. Others are ambiguous like CD (would that be "Compact Disk" or "Certificate of Deposit"?).

Cluster of Differentiation.

Crusher Disciple is my guess.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

WHo are you to tell me how big my house can be?

Who are you to say that BBWs are the way to go?

Live your life, and I'll live mine.

 

[Supreme Admiral]

WHo are you to tell me how big my house can be?

Who are you to say that BBWs are the way to go?

Live your life, and I'll live mine.

WHAT!?!?! (Shouting upsettingly)

 

[Gepard]

I just watched Se7en last night for the first time in years. This thread reminds me that, when I snap and kill everyone, Kevin Spacey's speech in the back of the cop car near the end of the film is exactly what I'll say to the authorities.

I mean, uh, if I snap and kill people. Yes. "If."

 

[RandyS]

What's wrong with society today? The same that was wrong yesterday, the same that will be wrong tomorrow. Boys will be boys, people will be people. Meh.

Exactly. Society was screwed up long before any of us got here and it will be screwed up long after we're all gone.

 

[Alpha Romeo]

WHo are you to tell me how big my house can be?

Who are you to say that BBWs are the way to go?

Live your life, and I'll live mine.

WHAT!?!?! (Shouting upsettingly)

Do you need me to send you a translation in ancient?

I say again: who are you to tell me how big my house can be?

 

[Supreme Admiral]

WHo are you to tell me how big my house can be?

Who are you to say that BBWs are the way to go?

Live your life, and I'll live mine.

WHAT!?!?! (Shouting upsettingly)

Do you need me to send you a translation in ancient?

I say again: who are you to tell me how big my house can be?

Excuse me, sir! I'm not here to tell you what to do! Sheesh!

 

[sidious618]

^ I had to think about what you were referring to when you were talking about being huge there... ok I got it now.

Now, now.

 

[freak]

To the OP: PREACH IT!!!

I definitely agree about society..I mean what's with the wealthier people and rubbing it in poor people's faces-typed people hmm?? Just because you've got money doesn't necessarily make you a god for Pete's sake! And I don't get others judging others' appearances either(although I find myself doing it sometimes!). On one side, I have no sympathy for obese people-they are the way they are cause they let themselves get that way by eating too many calories in one sitting. On the other side, I'm like: well, yes it's sad you have let yourself get this way..and you need to get healthier.
Society treats any person who isn't a size double zero as if they are plus=sized and inadequate human beings. What's wrong with being a size eight or ten?!?! No WONDER there are so many women nowadays with eating disorders..that's how they start. By ignorant people who judge them..why not like every living soul just for who they are? What's wrong with doing that?

 

[Kestra]

Eh, skinny people get judged too. No one's really safe from the masses.

Except me. Everyone loves me.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Eh, skinny people get judged too. No one's really safe from the masses.

Except me. Everyone loves me.

Burn in hell!!!!!

Actually, yes. Skinny people get judged too. I found out that if I am a shade over 115 lbs, I am a little bit...too chubby (as in I am I can't run around as much and I can't move around as fast or as limber as usual). I have to get my weight down to around there (I'm carrying like 3-5 extra pounds, which this month isn't going to help).

 

[RJDiogenes]

Eh, some people are better looking or more attractive than others, just like some people are better artists or athletes or singers. We can't all be perfect at everything.

 

[iguana_tonante]

What's wrong with society today? The same that was wrong yesterday, the same that will be wrong tomorrow. Boys will be boys, people will be people. Meh.

Exactly. Society was screwed up long before any of us got here and it will be screwed up long after we're all gone.

I guess I just don't like the squeaks of "what has society become today!" People has been saying that from ancient times. Cicero said it "O tempora o mores" (oh what times, what behaviours!) People need a better historical perspective.

 

[Jan]

I guess I just don't like the squeaks of "what has society become today!" People has been saying that from ancient times. Cicero said it "O tempora o mores" (oh what times, what behaviours!) People need a better historical perspective.

True enough. That doesn't mean that each generation isn't right, though.

If I were to point to one symptom of what's wrong, I'd point to simple thoughtlessness. If people would simply give some thought to how their words and actions affect others, I think the world would at least be a more pleasant place to occupy.

In other words, I wish the Golden Rule were in vogue again.

Jan