I Despise Discrimination, But It’s Time To “Cancel” Blatant Stupidity
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good political debate, but not at the expense of respect.
A friend of mine admitted recently that he will no longer attend social events if some loud-mouthed fuckwit — with whom he has crossed paths before — is on the guest list.
I get it. I’m completely behind the idea of removing toxic people from my life. Although, that does gets more tricky in middle age, when many of us — myself included — start to like the sound of our own voice.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good political debate, but not at the expense of respect
And it’s not escaped my notice that political spats are more frequent between middle aged folks like myself, possibly for the following reasons:
1. For some reason, we seem to believe our age and experience gives us more credibility
2. There’s a definitive switch in the middle-aged brain towards intolerance
3. Our greater awareness of our impending mortality gives us a sense of urgency about imparting our newfound wisdom — even if it is a load of old bollocks.
4. And, finally, we become set in our ways and closed off to new ideas.
The biggest problem, however, is we stop listening to others
Countless times, I’ve had to listen to some idiot make sexist comments in front of me when they know my views about feminism. And when I dare to argue back, instead of pursuing a respectful discussion, they backtrack with platitudes like “I was only joking” or “I was having a laugh.”
Then there are our older generations who feel the need to justify their archaic — often racist and sexist — views about political correctness, or indeed any change to society from what they know and understand.
‘The world has gone mad,’ they say… as if greater compassion, equality, and progress in science are bad things
Our frustration with the world is mutual. I get as irritated as the next person when things don’t go my way. Thanks to menopause, I have an embarrassingly short fuse when it comes to people who walk slowly along footpaths, neighbours who fire up their leaf blowers before 8am on the weekend, and hospitality workers whose service is slow. And don’t get me started on people who refute scientific evidence.
But unlike my friend, rather than isolate myself from the rubbish that comes out of the mouths of sociopaths, I’ve chosen to do my best to educate them. Not in terms of their political persuasion — we live in a democracy, after all — but in terms of their compassion, listening skills, and basic manners.
I realise that sounds arrogant, but after years of countering stupid comments about the terror men feel about engaging with women since #metoo, the rights to women’s bodies, the difficulties around consent, and even why the mentally ill can’t just “pull themselves together”, I’m determined to help them see the light.
GRRR!!!!
Are these people threatened by equality, or just desperate to remain in their vacuum of privilege? Would one of them please educate me about a) the benefits of hating on people for no real other reason than their difference, and b) the ways equality and social inclusion actually affect their lives.
‘The world’s gone mad,’ they say, while the rich get richer, our environment continues to suffer at the hands of the wealthiest corporations, and the poor are still treated like second-class citizens.
There was a time when I believed everyone had a right to an opinion…
But not when it comes to the kind of ignorance and filth spread by religious nutters and conspiracy theorists about proven FACTS — like different gender identities, climate change, and life-saving vaccinations — which have the potential to harm others.
Personally, I have never condoned censorship or cancel culture — as long as targets like Chrissy Teigen show remorse for their past demeanours — because who hasn’t made a shitload of mistakes in my their youth? But, as per the message I saw on a poster recently, promoting safe practices in the face of Covid, WE’RE ONE DICKHEAD AWAY FROM DISASTER.
So, maybe there is a case for discrimination, when it comes to dickheads.
Originally published at http://mymidlifemayhemblog.com on July 1, 2021.