Coughing Down The Cycle
May. 15th, 2003 04:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebe
Hey there, all...
Why is it so hard for people to respect other people? Not to force my beliefs on anyone, but I really do think everyone deserves a certain basic level of respect. Even if they aren't respect-worthy now, you never know what's going on with them sometimes. Most people are 'stupid' or angry or wigged out or what-have-you because they don't know any better, or a steady pattern of something or other negative have just...turned them that way. In most cases, I don't think that speaks of what that person is underneath all the bs, or the potential of what that fellow *could* be.
Lately, I feel the atmosphere around me (on a local, national and even international level) has turned to one of general scorn. Don't agree with me? You're stupid! Into stuff I don't care about? Don't shove it in my face by talking about it! Know something I don't? Well, you're making it up! So forth and so on. Am I guilty of the same thing? Quite probably, but I'd also like to think that I tend to give people enough respect not to openly mock their beliefs.
There are quite a few things that are very important to me and I just don't trust anyone to talk about them. There's a rabid dismissiveness floating around about things you can't see, or more likely any *different* brand on what can't be seen, and it's really disheartening. I don't expect anyone to agree with anything I say, after all, and it is their right. :) There's quite enough room for differences of opinion. But if I can't trust you to respect what's important to me, how can I trust you to respect anything else?
People do things disrespectfully all the time. *I* do things disrespectfully, too. I really don't like that I do them, and well, you know, it's one of those things I'm working on. It just feels like I can be truly open with very few people, and every so often that circle shrinks a little bit more.
Why is it so hard for people to respect other people? Not to force my beliefs on anyone, but I really do think everyone deserves a certain basic level of respect. Even if they aren't respect-worthy now, you never know what's going on with them sometimes. Most people are 'stupid' or angry or wigged out or what-have-you because they don't know any better, or a steady pattern of something or other negative have just...turned them that way. In most cases, I don't think that speaks of what that person is underneath all the bs, or the potential of what that fellow *could* be.
Lately, I feel the atmosphere around me (on a local, national and even international level) has turned to one of general scorn. Don't agree with me? You're stupid! Into stuff I don't care about? Don't shove it in my face by talking about it! Know something I don't? Well, you're making it up! So forth and so on. Am I guilty of the same thing? Quite probably, but I'd also like to think that I tend to give people enough respect not to openly mock their beliefs.
There are quite a few things that are very important to me and I just don't trust anyone to talk about them. There's a rabid dismissiveness floating around about things you can't see, or more likely any *different* brand on what can't be seen, and it's really disheartening. I don't expect anyone to agree with anything I say, after all, and it is their right. :) There's quite enough room for differences of opinion. But if I can't trust you to respect what's important to me, how can I trust you to respect anything else?
People do things disrespectfully all the time. *I* do things disrespectfully, too. I really don't like that I do them, and well, you know, it's one of those things I'm working on. It just feels like I can be truly open with very few people, and every so often that circle shrinks a little bit more.
