Sadly, ignorance is not as funny as Calvin and Hobbes make it out to be. Lately it seems as if the ignorance and hate in the world is so prevalent that there is no getting away from it, not even here in blogland. Maybe I'm a Pollyanna. Maybe I think that deep down everyone means well. Is good inside. Can see the difference between right and wrong. But now I realize I'm wrong. The ignorance in this world is so prevalent, so hateful, that I actually feel the need to scrape myself off in the shower to wash away my disgust and disappointment. It saddens me that people can look at things in such a black and white manner, spout poison, and then claim it to be in the name of their religion or nationality.
At least I have Calvin and Hobbes.
18 comments:
Hmmm.
I was talking about this with a friend this weekend - how we sometimes feel we must be on Candid Camera, going through a "did that really just happen?" moment, because we very much believe at times that we're past all of this, that no one could possibly still be bigoted or biased or just a flat out idiot. I'm sorry you've been experiencing some of this too.
Scarlet. Amen sista.
Religious zealouts scare the bejesus (no pun) out of me. I was raised, baptised, confirmed Lutheran, went to a Lutheran University, and minored in Lutheran studies. Guess what? I'm an agnostic. The more I learned, the more I knew I didn't know.
What religion do I practice now? The religion of love (do I sound like Austin Powers?).
I think sometimes the worst things come out of ethnicity and religion. We've got to seek the high-water mark.
You ain't no thievin' Welshman, are you?
I know what you mean. I try to keep up with the news, but it leaves me so frustrated that I have to shut it off.
I've said it before, I've said it again: we should save all our virulent hatred for those freaks with third nipples.*
(*I am just kidding. Please don't write me mean letters.)
We have to stop looking for reasons to get mad at each other, or think badly of one another.
I had a massive discussion about this with my teen students this week. I was pretty shocked with their attitude and their ignorance. We looked at things going on in the world today ( it was triggered by Hugo Chaves comments at the end of the Latin American conference last week about the ex-primeminister of Spain and King Juan Carlos' reaction). It seems ignorance is endemic and has no boundaries of either race or religion nowadays. I fear mightily for the world of the future.
I've asked for The Complete Calvin and Hobbes hardcover box set for every holiday possible since it was published and no one will ever buy it for me! When I was a kid, I used to go to the library all the time. I would always get one normal piece of literature, and one Calvin and Hobbes collection for reading on the crapper. I also used to read that strip first on Sundays, the only days my parents got the paper. Very insightful stuff.
I agree. People are ignorant, but I can't always blame them. My brother once said something to me like, "Ignorant people know they're doing something wrong and do it anyway." I like that definition. If you don't really thing you're doing something wrong, then you're just dumb, or uninformed.
Why can't us ignorant people just live our lives without you "well informed" types always insulting us? Talk about hypocrisy.
You make me sick.
Now, look. You've hurt Nick's feelings.
there, there, Nick. I'll make the mean smart lady go away.
Have a Pop Tart.
Stop watching Dr. Phil when they do the episodes from the Dr. Phil house. It's always upsetting.
People are never what they seem. Nothing is ever black and white...except Calvin and Hobbes.
CP.
Is it okay to spew hateful things about someone if they really do suck?
I'm thinking of Jim Belushi in particular.
Kris - it's mind blowing at times. And sadly, everyone seems to be touched by it.
Leezer - there have been more wars and death throughout civilization in the name of religion than anything else. Makes you wonder.
Todd - you ain't one a dem hillbilly types are ya?
VG - it's even worse when it's actually someone you know.
Ubie - leave Nick alone! He can't help his deformity. He is not an animal!
Hyper - I fear it too. But I can at least say one thing that I did for the future - that I did my part to educate young minds to be open and tolerant.
Jacob - I love that definition, almost as much as I love my Calvin and Hobbes books.
Nick - animal.
Ubie - I hope that Pop Tart was for me.
Nance - oh I don't do Phil, it's too disheartening.
CP - I so wish I lived in the world of Calvin.
I think your perception is wrong, but it's easy to see why you feel that way (which is how I often feel). But I think it's really a variation of this Edmund Burke quote:
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
In this case, I don't think the world is largely ignorant. I think it's lazy and quiet. Ignorance is simply louder. It also seems to pay better. So it appears to dominate.
The truth is most people, who are not ignorant, find it easier to be quiet. And it's also easier to simply buy into an opinion than to actually think something through, trying to see it from all sides. This isn't ignorance. It's laziness. Only an idiot would think liberals are always right. Or that conservatives are always right. Or that the other guy is always wrong.
But it's sure easy to live that way.
Edmund Burke was a smack addict a philanderer*, I don't think we should listen to him when it comes to good men**.
*I have no idea if this is true or not.
**You certainly shouldn't listen to me either.
Hmmm. This describes one of our county commissioners.
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