Are You Offended??? SO WHAT!!!

You know, I really LOVED this thread! I think I’m going to head to the bathroom, swash some cold water on my face, look in the mirror, and rethink tomorrow!

Thanks a bunch!

-Propulsion

Reminds me of a quote i find myself using as a mantra on almost a daily basis...


"HE WHO ANGERS YOU, CONTROLS YOU."


A simple truth that many will initially strongly disagree with. Then ultimately proves itself to be true via the ensuing (usually brief) argument.


then and then

WHAT AN OFFENSIVE POST!!!!!! HOW DARE YOU!!!

I really like this thread, it's something I've been thinking about recently since I'm reading a book titled "dissecting antismokers brains".

It's about understanding those people who find something to dislike, and then go about feeling as though they have some kind of God given, moral high-ground over the people doing the thing they don't like, and can talk to them and act towards them however they like.

In the UK as we approached the smoking ban in public places a poster was created with the title "are you a filthy chucker" imposed over a photo of cig but ends all over the floor.

Can you imagine the uproar if someone had created a poster of needles and syringes on the floor with the title "are you a filthy injector" or "are you a filthy junkie"?

Or "are you a dirty illegal immigrant"?

That would be seen as being unfair and somehow making "vulnerable people" into victims.

But because there was a government push to ban smoking in public places, it became okay to vilify and demonise people who are, to be fair, going about their lawful business - they aren't breaking any laws (ie cigarettes are legal, unlike drugs, etc), they have paid their taxes (lots of taxes) when they buy their cigarettes, etc.

I don't think it's just about narcissism.

In the smoking case it's about social engineering, and sadly there are people out there who then jump on the band wagon and feel they can either act like a victim, or feel self important by using it as a big stick to beat other people with.

It's kind of like calling someone a racist because they don't agree with you - it's a way of winning an argument by default without having to justify your position.

Anyway, one woman fitting this bill in the UK had a go at a smoker on a rail platform. She later claimed she only wanted to point out to the man that it's illegal to smoke in public places, but what she actually growled at him was:

"I don't like the smell of cancer!"

He was so pissed off at her attitude that he pushed her onto the tracks.

Let that be a lesson to the self rghteous self important self officious whingers who like to poke their noses into other peoples business.

reply to post by flashtrum


I totally agree with you. I am not very PC and often call people out when I think that they have put something forward that I disagree with.

By "being civil", I mean not using foul language, which when used often leads to both sides doubling down and closing their minds to the others sides point of view.

I'm a tough 'ol Dawg though and cannot think of a time in recent history when I was offended, by anything. But I know I have offended quite a few people and sometimes even did so, just to push their buttons.

reply to post by Hefficide


I agree people take words way to seriously. People get offended over everything nowadays. Its to the point where we can't call a blue book blue. Ease up people.

reply to post by ourtrustory


It doesn't help when society caters to those that become offended at the drop of a hat. We ban certain words from broadcast television and give press time to those who are offended when two women kiss. We teach people that it's normal to go out and force yourself upon one another and it gets to the point where someone thinks they should call the police when their local fast food restaurant won't sell them a southwestern bacon cheeseburger.

We don't always get our way and anymore a lot of people simply refuse to accept that the world does not revolve around them. We're all different, we all have different likes and dislikes and it is literally impossible for everyone to get their way all of the time, if you cannot resolve yourself to that fact then you're going to live a miserable life in my opinion.

Edit: As far as censorship is concerned, is that not equivalent to having the police called? You want to put something on TV, say one "wrong" word and get a solid punishment for it. What is this, we're literally going to punish people for offending someone that cannot resolve themselves to reality? Maybe it's best that we help those who live in surreality to see reality for what it really is rather than catering to their fantasies.

My brother was once forced to remove a desktop background he had on a work PC, it was a photograph of his then girlfriend. A co-worker of his felt that she had a likeness to his deceased daughter so he complained, not to my brother, but to management. Personally I feel that he's going to have to come to terms with his daughters death at some point and catering to his refusal to come to terms with it only hurts him and those around him. What's he going to do when he runs into a person on the street that bears a likeness, call the cops and make her get facial reconstruction surgery? In reality this guys daughter is dead and he refuses to live with that, he refuses to live in reality and management helped him to refuse reality.

reply to post by Hefficide


"Bacon is the secret to power." Obviously you are a dog person,lol.

As mighty members of intelligent society (ATS) we need to chose to not be a victim! It also scares me that especially women see nothing wrong in identifying with another woman's personality as to attempt identity theft of the soul. Example of immature and amoral behavior: To acquire a new boyfriend to steal act like the girlfriend. They walk like so and so talk like so and so, use the same expressions, mannerisms, tone of voice, laugh. You get the picture. Boundaries my friends, boundaries!!! We are all uniquely made and Separate!

I had a conversation on ATS with someone who mentioned that they felt that people around them had learned to sort of tap out energy from others. I agree, in going to the mall its not hard to become tired. I believe its possible to suck out power. Again, boundaries vs. give me your life in addition to mine. I want to live live live! And to heck with you!

We need to fight but we need to fight differently, smarter. We need to dead head something when we see it coming. Get off the couch and correct the child so to speak.

Lastly, obviously if all needs are met, some people tend to migrate to the left handed path. They choose evil instead of good. We fighters should face it, some folks have chosen to act the part of the devil and love it.

reply to post by Propulsion


Your humorous avatar is great. My favorite is the secret agent one. I love the secret agent theme. Way cool.
Not enough well intentioned humor to be had!

"Offense is taken, not given."

Not sure where I read or heard that some months ago, but it makes perfect sense to me.

Originally posted by BigBrotherDarkness
I am sorry to bring the Catsup/Ketchup thing back up; but I am a collector of useless information, there's more difference than just spelling. Catsup is typically sweeter in flavor, and Ketchup is salter. I know this because I can't stand the sweetness of some brands, and have been avoiding catsup at all costs for the last couple of years.

Southern homemade steak sauce is typically a mix of ketchup or catsup, mustard, and mayo...

Hopefully that clears somethings up.

Ok now I am really offended. My religion does not allow me to enjoy either Catsup or Ketchup. We're stuck with praising the glory of mustard.

And yes, you have made the world a better place

Epic thread, thank you. And very true.

Jut like this quote which opened my eyes a long time ago:

Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy # we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
Tyler Durden, Fight Club

Call it Ego, Narcassism(sp?) or what have you.

I call it "pet peeves" and everyone has em. It's human nature.

But I totally agree learning to not let "pet peeves" bother you is a HUGE step to becoming a more pleasant person to be around, and probably a more happy and healthy (less stress ect.) person altogether.

There's silly little things people do that drive me NUTS! But why, that's MY problem yea?

It's like the music analogy. Like say when I see a bunch of people listening and enjoying Dubstep I can't relate and yea it bothers me cause I don't get it, how can anyone like that? I've listened to it, and I've tried to like it, I just can't. But on the same note, I'm sure when they see me air drumming and headbanging to Slayer they look at me and say WTF? and get the same exact feelings.

It's about being tolerant of others, and being happy because THEY are happy. Instead of being annoyed at people enjoying Dubstep, I should be happy for them, that they are enjoying themselves, and vice -versa. Very hard thing to do, but this is definitely something I am gonna work on.

I mean as long as it's something that is not physically or mentally harming me or others we need to be more tolerant, and not get Offended so quickly by other peoples idea of what taste, sounds, looks, feels, or smells good.

Nice Thread. S+F.

Thanks for replying everyone and for bringing a lot of insight and personal experience to the thread!

( For the record - seeing popular opinion and wanting to serve it - look for my upcoming Ketchup mega thread in BTS one day soon! It will compliment my already legendary bacon thread! )

As a few folks have discussed... I'm not really saying that we're all narcissists on our own here. I'm saying that we're taught to behave as though we were. It's a deliberate conditioning. And, IMO, it's a deliberate case of divide and rule. Make us all little tin Gods - and we'll be unable to unite under a common banner - because we all already are serving under our own, private label banner.

We're losing the ability to think in terms of common good and are all caught up on "Yeah, but what is in it for me?"

~Heff

reply to post by Hefficide


That was a nice wrap up, sorry if this ruins a neat closing.

But I read an article on Bloomberg today that fits pretty well here. How Voters Can Escape From Information Cocoons

In 2002, New York University political scientist Russell Hardin wrote a brilliant essay called “The Crippled Epistemology of Extremism.” Hardin contended that many extremists, including terrorists, are not stupid, insane or badly educated. The real problem is that their information comes from a sharply limited set of sources, all of which are supportive of their extremist beliefs. Many extremists listen only to one another. They live in self-reinforcing information cocoons. Their “crippled epistemology” can lead to utterly baseless, but firmly held, convictions (and sometimes even violence).

My co-authors and I assembled a number of people in Colorado into all-liberal groups and all-conservative groups. We asked the groups to discuss three issues: climate change, affirmative action and civil unions for same-sex couples.

It is not surprising that before discussions began, the liberal groups were, on all three issues, somewhat more liberal than the conservative groups. What is more striking, and more revealing about our current problems, is that after liberals spoke only with liberals, and conservatives only with conservatives, the divisions between the two groups grew dramatically.

The article talks about how people of a certain ideology sometimes tend to seek information and form relationships that confirm their beliefs with an effect of radicalization.


And a historical note...

The Anti-Federalists, opponents of the Constitution, urged that self-government required homogeneity and that diversity could create paralysis and chaos. By contrast, the defenders of the Constitution, above all Alexander Hamilton, thought that diversity could be a creative force and that “the jarring of parties” could be productive, because it would “promote deliberation.”

Bloomberg is a pretty good site for non partisan analysis. Sure, it's founder (Michael Bloomberg) is a media mogul and wealthy beyond comprehension, but give him some credit for getting elected as mayor of NYC as an independent. I could see him in a Ross Perot type run for president in 2016.

That's a little off topic, but to the point: it's always good to seek the opinion of your ideological opponent with an open mind.

reply to post by Hefficide


@OP Yep, he's definitely eating steak, he's a chef, and so are you.

Originally posted by zarp3333
Yea but I have a right to be offended. Some butt munch hacked my account again and the mods trashed my thread about getting hacked again! This makes three times in 14 months. I must be doing something right.

Hey mods you gonna trash this post too?

I guess sometimes we just have to learn to live with it, don't know what else to tell ya.

reply to post by Hefficide


Mass Delusion seems like a good answer to me. I get offended when people see themselves as superior to... Well... ANYTHING else, really. But I'm really upset when a person has viewpoints that make himself unequal to another, especially when it's based on skin/creed/sexuality/etc.

We're all just extra-brainy primates.

But some adults need fairy tales and mythology to get through their day-to-day. ( I guess? )

______________________________

o.p.

"To achieve world government, it is necessary to remove from the minds of men their individualism, loyalty to family traditions, and religious dogmas."

Narcissism is a delusional 'superiority' over others and could
indeed be used as a political tool. Scary !
To keep things tolerant globally we need to respect others
even if they are not like us, and stop conforming others to
our own likes.

I was visiting a friend in the hospital a while ago and
came across another patient who was being berated and
scorned for calling out for a nurse to assist.
The argument went like "why can't you be like the others
and just find the bathroom yourself !"
Turns out that the person berating him was clueless about
that the patient was totally blind.


Songwriters: ISLAM, YUSUF

All kinds of roses
All kinds of roses, grow in my garden,
All kinds of creatures
All kinds of creatures, run on my land,
All kinds of children
All kinds of children, play in my yard,
So many feelings, so many feelings, flow through my blood

All kinds of people
All kinds of people, make up my life,
All kinds of faces
All kinds of faces, show me their love,
All kinds of lanterns
All kinds of lanterns, light up the dark,
But there's only one God, only one God, has a place in my heart

All kinds of roses
All kinds of roses, grow in my garden

___________________________