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Jul. 13th, 2003 10:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kayreLately I've noticed something that disturbs me. Some people whom I like and care about are showing that the way they treat others is entirely dependent on whether they like or agree with those others. If they disagree about something they consider important, or if they have a fight, there's apparently no longer any reason to bother being polite. I've seen people who were friends a few hours earlier mock one another, slam one another public posts, gloat about the other's unhappiness or frustration. I've seen people talk about those whose politics or religion are different in the rudest and crudest possible terms, sometimes up to wishing those people would suffer violence and indicating they would take pleasure if that happened.
To me it all sounds about as mature as a three year old insisting that "he hit me first, so I get to hit back." I've always felt that the kind of behavior I'm talking about makes one no better than the original offender; is that thinking obsolete now? I don't advocate being a doormat, but I also don't think name-calling and celebration of the suffering of others, even enemies, are responses to be proud of.
To me it all sounds about as mature as a three year old insisting that "he hit me first, so I get to hit back." I've always felt that the kind of behavior I'm talking about makes one no better than the original offender; is that thinking obsolete now? I don't advocate being a doormat, but I also don't think name-calling and celebration of the suffering of others, even enemies, are responses to be proud of.
