I'm pretty sure we are the most selfish culture on the planet, or at least #2

So, what a day I had today. Just deplorable. I had two crassy experiences today that left me with a bad taste in my mouth so let me just go ahead and walk you through it.

So I'm at the bus stop this morning on my way downtown to the mental health facility to inquire with my doctor about a new medication I'm on for bi-polar disorder. Yes I am bi-polar. This does not make me automatically dumb or schizophrenic however but that is besides the point and this will come into play later on in the thread.

Anyway, while at the bus stop this old man falls over and smashes his head on concrete right in front of me. Poor guy, I overheard he was born in 1942, so the man is over 70 years old. Anyway the guy knocks himself out and is bleeding everywhere all over the place and essentially everyone just stands around looking at him. So I started doing what I assumed any typical human would do and called 911 and ran into a store as fast as possible and grabbed a large handful of paper towels and did what I could to help. Not that I even care to be a hero here because this is just basic stuff, nothing like saving a baby from a fire or anything just simple stuff.



So as you can see everyone just took off no big deal left the guy totally alone. Good thing I decided to wait until an ambulance came to the scene because the fire fighters couldn't find the guy and dispatch called me and asked me to go to them and wave them down.

What the hell, eyes closed or what.

Now... to finish off the story listen to this. I start a new medication about 6-8 weeks ago and at first everything was fine. All of a sudden about 2 weeks ago I begin experiencing multiple side affects, 10 lbs of weight gain, can't stay hydrated, experiencing mania (not working), and increased libido (not fun). So I go to the doctors office which is a healthcare facility in town and tell them I need to talk to someone about my medication and tell them whats going on. They don't let me see the doctor but I talk to a nurse. I tell her everything thats going on and tell her I'm experiencing a typical manic episode and she tells me that none of this is happening and that if I was experiencing mania I'd be hospitalized so I'm making it up in my head.

So I look at her funny and list the symptoms of mania I'm experiencing and she gives me a stone cold look at tells me nothing is wrong. So I stare at her for about 3-5 seconds and tell fine thats it and walk out of the building infuriated.

So the first thing that comes to my mind is, "How many other people has this happened too, obviously I'm not the first".

The second thing that comes to my mind is, "How many times are people trying to get help from alleged professionals before they commit suicide and or shoot a school up".

So what do you think ATS? Have we become so selfish as a culture that we just don't care at all about the human beings next to us? If thats the case how can we last as a nation?

Do you think some of the mass shootings that have happened have been a result of poor mental health treatment?

Is this whats happening to our veterans?

I believe that only god can help us and that we are far to lost as a species to help ourselves anymore.

a reply to: onequestion

Actually this sort of problem are more widespread in the Western World, not just America. Western society is some of the most shallow culture in the World.

a reply to: starwarsisreal

Man thats not good.

originally posted by: starwarsisreal
a reply to: onequestion

Actually this sort of problem is more widespread in the Western World, not just America. Western society is some of the most shallow culture in the World.

There are good people all over in every society..

But I can't believe people would walk right past a man in trouble.

Where's the Care? If it was me, I would hope someone would give me a hand.

I hear you

Some days it seems all the world is sleep walking and cares for no one but them self ...
Some are full of fear also and walk away from perceived problems

Yet take heart my friend ... many do care as did you for the unfortunate guy who stumbled

a reply to: KnightLight

Well its hard to make friends in the Western World, which is why in the West there are high rates of loneliness and depression. People like the poor guy in OP have issues simply because no one except the OP are willing to be friends

a reply to: onequestion

The mental health system is a complete disgrace where I live as well. It seems the only way you can get any kind of quality support, is if your standing in the middle of the street naked and screaming nonsense at people, or if you hurt yourself or somebody else.

Basically, if your a good non-violent person who can manage to hold on to your very sanity, then your completely on your own when it comes to mental illness.

They tell you you need medication to keep from harming yourself or others . They then give you medication that can cause you to harm yourself or others .




The whole thing just never made any sense to me ? When in fact your best bet would probably be talking it over with someone . I just happened to believe more in counseling than pharmacies.

To the OP. While some people can be selfish and afraid to help. Yes, afraid. I have seen acts of extreme selflessness.

The problem in cities is that people can become immune to people tripping over etc., and don't run to help because it could be another drunk. That's the afraid part. Sometimes it does take courage to help.

All credit to you, mind.

originally posted by: starwarsisreal
Western society is some of the most shallow culture in the World.

I think that's a very ignorant comment. I have lived in the Far East and I can tell you that people can be extraordinarily selfish and cruel to their fellow man. It's best not to make such blanket statements because it's not right.

Not really..philanthropy.com...

So sorry this happened to you, OP.

The person who is supposed to know all about medication, more than a doctor, is your pharmacist. Have you thought of discussing the effects with him/her?

I also would discuss the reception you got at the clinic with the clinic's supervisor. There is no need to feel dismissed and judged, and you have the right to find a helpful solution. Perhaps the pharmacist will give you helpful suggestions, or at least they should.

Wishing you all the best.

ETA: Oops! I was focusing on the problem and forgot to praise your selflessness in helping the senior in distress. Glad to know you were there!

What mental health system? Pill you up, keep you down. That's the system. I'm in this one-size-fits-all program for DWI, and we're all scumish sinners who don't know how to do anything, so need to have life changing experiences out of a 2nd grade reading level book as adults. Yea, that doesn't work with most of us. You got klepto's, sex-addicts, wife-beaters, cheaters, shooting in the vein, lost their teef, or just an unlucky fool who got caught after a few at the bar... all lumped into one. Now some of us need real individual attention, some of us are just shoulder shrugging and trying to do this ridiculousness in our super-busy sched. None of this works, but it's a pressure cooker boiling over. Ain't no pressure built like the guy who just can't get enough... and so the rest suffer, meh.

a reply to: paraphi

Well I will correct myself and say that the culture of Developed Nations (The West and the Far East) has aspects of superficiality.

a reply to: paraphi

I think that's a very ignorant comment. I have lived in the Far East and I can tell you that people can be extraordinarily selfish and cruel to their fellow man. It's best not to make such blanket statements because it's not right.

Ive only had the opportunity to experience western culture.

a reply to: onequestion

In the eyes of that nurse, you are a client, not a patient, and you are an unhappy client and that is bad for business. They are not there to help you, but they are sales agents who work for big pharmaceutical firms. We live in a world where the fetishism of merchandise and money has tainted everything.

Scratch a back, and have your back scratched, thing is who gonna start the scratching for that really bad itch in those hard to reach areas, like between the shoulder blades.

originally posted by: starwarsisreal
a reply to: paraphi

Well I will correct myself and say that the culture of Developed Nations (The West and the Far East) has aspects of superficiality.

You left out Russia in your condemning, so I'm assume that you know that the culture is every worse there than anywhere?
(Hey! just trying to help you work through your shift.)

a reply to: onequestion

onequestion,

I understand exactly where the points you are making are coming from, and I want to address them in a manner commensurate with their importance.

Let me begin by thanking you for being awake enough, not just to realise that someone needed help, but to actually provide it. This is, as you rightly point out, a basic responsibility that every human being has toward every other human being, and one which is not fulfilled as often as one would like in this apparently enlightened time in human history.

But as to your suggestion that the culture of which "we" are a part, being the most selfish on the planet, I disagree. You see, culture is about more than mere national identity, religious affiliation, or political leaning. Cultures exist WITHIN those concepts, many of them. And it is also true that one individual might be adherent to several cultures within their nation, and indeed within the world stage as well, without necessarily ever considering their membership of them, and what it means for them.

I am part of a different set of cultures, largely speaking, than the ones which my neighbour is a part of. Despite the fact that we are both "white", British males, we operate in entirely different social circles, aside from the fact that we live and work around the same area, and have local business contacts in common in some respects. However, he and I respond to stimuli rather differently, and have utterly different choices in friends and modes of behaviour. We think about entirely different things, and operate on entirely different levels in our daily lives, and in terms of the way our intellects operate.

We are as separate from one another, as it is possible to be, without being physically removed from one another, and so it is not accurate to say that we are of the same culture broadly speaking, despite our proximity to one another. Culture is a tricky thing, therefore. One must learn, before considering whether a culture is selfish or worthy of any other title, whether coveted, or shameful in its aspect, which exact culture one means. For example, I am a citizen of the United Kingdom, and that is part of what is broadly described as the Western Developed bloc of nations, inclusive of most of Europe, the United States of America and Canada to name but a small few.

If you asked me, however, what culture I belong to, I would say that I am a human being, a Christian, and a metalhead, in various different orders depending on how drunk I happen to be, but none the less, I would get to my nationality last, despite being proud to be British.

The reason for that, is that the cultures I subscribe to by choice, are the ones which teach one the most about me as a person. I choose to recognise my humanity above many other things, because that binds me to my fellow human beings, and although I have no choice about which species I entered into at birth, being conscious of my place within the great whirl of human history means that I am obligated in a way that those who ignore this facet of existence might find alien to them.

I choose to follow the teachings of Christ where I can, because I believe that done right, adherence to the philosophy taught by him is beneficial to the individual, and to the wider community as a whole. Note, I did clarify DONE RIGHT! There have been many cultures which have failed to recognise the danger inherent in handing over spiritual validation to a human controlled entity, like a priest for example. I am NOT a part of such a culture. My faith is between myself and my God, and may God help anyone who seeks to interfere between us.

I am a metalhead. I like my music to be loud, violent, chaotic, anarchic, and frenzied in its pace. I like it like that for many reasons, the energy in the sound being one of them, but by no means the only thing I like about it. There are many things about metal which appeal to me, and they are too numerous to go into without creating thread drift.

These are all cultures of which I am a part. They are not all of the cultures of which I am a part however, and the Venn diagram which describes my life in cultures, would probably resemble a Spirograph created in a fit of the most severe hallucinatory episode imaginable. And in that way I am far from unique. Most people on this planet are part of a number of cultures, not just one. It is the subcultural interactions which human beings harbour, which affect their capacity for things like compassion, empathy, and courage.

Choosing which subcultures one involves oneself with, and making sure that one is in more control of those effects, rather than being controlled by the culture itself, these are crucial elements to this whole question. If one chooses to remain in cultures which appease fear, fear of failure, fear of others, fear of being attacked for doing the right thing, then one will automatically start to adopt those things for oneself, unless one is conscious of them, and acts against them.

The awareness of ones cultural position is important, and once again there are some who are, and others who are not culturally aware of themselves, and the distinction between these positions actually highlights yet ANOTHER cultural divide which transcends things like geographical location, religious conviction, or political spectrum placement. You and I have a culture alike, that we are the ones who act, rather than cowering behind our assumptions and fears. We probably have a few cultures which differ as well. This website is another culture that we share alike, that we all share alike, and within even this website, there are subcultures and side projects and mindsets which are variously shared and shunned by all of us, depending on our construction.

The real question is, what is happening to people now, that was not before, which is making them so much less likely to be aware of their cultural existence, or making them more likely to choose a conscious path of non-involvement. The answers to those questions are many and various, and revolve around the artificial alteration in the value people place upon the wider, over arching culture of nationality, by governments, corporations, and lobby blocs. These institutions realise that by making certain aspects of the meta culture that is nationality seem less than desirable, they can divide the people against themselves which has the inevitable effect of making them easier to control.

There are a great many factors which play into all of this, but culture is a subject which is often discussed in a rather depth free manner, which frankly seems to me like a great shame, because a better understanding of the realities of culture, the substrata which cannot be overlooked where matters like this are concerned, would lead to a better and more broad understanding of what it means to be a human being, and that would be beneficial for all the human race, the only culture of which all human beings are a part by birth.

no offense but I find the fact that you actually took a pic of this guy and then used it in this post......

very serendipitous to your OP.....

In a word, no.

There's acts of kindness and generosity and heroism on a daily basis. Just like there are acts of selfishness on a daily basis. Stop seeing what you want to see and see what is.

Side note: the hell are you taking the dude's picture for? Seriously?