Lots of kids do stupid things.Some cut hair, some snort coke. Kids do stupid things when they're young.
Lots of kids do stupid things.
Most of them do not do mean and hurtful things.
Lots of kids do stupid things.
Most of them do not do mean and hurtful things.
Lots of kids do stupid things.
Most of them do not do mean and hurtful things.
I think almost everyone I knew in high school (myself include) have done mean and hurtful things as well as stupid. I know a guy who actually pushed someone with a broken arm off a bleacher when he was 13. The kid rebroke it, had to spend another 2 months in a cast, but never told on my buddy. We were drinking once and I brought it up. He told me he thinks about it at least once a month without fail and always feels like garbage about it.
Even an act you'd think only a sociopath capable of doing can still not necessarily reflect on who someone becomes.
Bottom line: if Mittens just owned the damn thing, I wouldn't care. It's this "I can't remember" crap that he seems to get afflicted with every time someone calls him on something that drives me nuts. You do something horrible to someone else, it stays with you, unless you're just a horrible person.
Well, he can't deny it happened, because so many of his classmates were there and they remember quite clearly. But the excuse that he simply has no recollection of the incident -- when he was the one cutting the other kid's hair-- is more than ludicrous.Bottom line: if Mittens just owned the damn thing, I wouldn't care. It's this "I can't remember" crap that he seems to get afflicted with every time someone calls him on something that drives me nuts. You do something horrible to someone else, it stays with you, unless you're just a horrible person.
Well, he can't deny it happened, because so many of his classmates were there and they remember quite clearly. But the excuse that he simply has no recollection of the incident -- when he was the one cutting the other kid's hair-- is more than ludicrous.
Bottom line: if Mittens just owned the damn thing, I wouldn't care. It's this "I can't remember" crap that he seems to get afflicted with every time someone calls him on something that drives me nuts. You do something horrible to someone else, it stays with you, unless you're just a horrible person.
This incident, while not central, does contribute to the image of rich-entitled-in-crowd-out-of-touch-dude that seems to hang around his head like an aura. It's not entirely inconsequential to the issue of just what is Mitt Romney about these days. His response is unhelpful, to say the least.
caw
The thing that worries me most about Romney's response may have to do with the fact that some elements of the Republican party are pushing laws in states in give a right to bully. More precisely, the bills give a religious exemption to bullying.
Romney may actually be worried that if he says it was a terrible thing to do (rather than 'pranks and hijinks') that he'll turn off some of the party base.
I guess what I'm trying to ask is - when did empathy become a dirty word?
It's not a dirty word, but to a macho mindset empathy is a feminine characteristic. Actually, it doesn't seem to be just a macho mindset. It's part of a general stereotype of femininity. It's actually sitting there on the Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femininity
I think there is a teaching away from empathy for boys being brought up macho. This inevitably idolizes the people who naturally lack empathy: narcissists, bullies etc.
In short: Empathy = Cooties.
Ha! I see.
So perhaps this cultural movement is an exaggerated response (i.e. embracing sociopathy) to what many see as the "feminization" of culture, where everyone is forced to behave as a civilized human being, where clocking someone is no longer seen as an acceptable route to solving one's problems?
Or is it a reaction to the (not quite) equalization of the power of the sexes?
Or can you even separate the two?
I guess what I'm wondering is: does this come from a loss of masculine identity/narrative, because people are confused where they fit in the grand scheme and this is their reaction? Or does it come from misogyny, because male is less and less synonymous with power?
Sorry for the derail, once again.
A lot of anti-gay prejudice by men is, I think, fear of being seen as having feminine characteristics.
I think that's because the younger the kiddos, the less sex is ascribed to their identities; they don't have as many issues with it as the older folks who may feel their gender has been robbed from them over the course of their lifetimes. Perhaps.It does seem to be dying out in the younger generation in my limited experience. Of course, that may be where I'm living and what kids I'm seeing.