I am APPALLED.
GoddessofSnowandIce
Sea Gull
Joined: 19 Jul 2006
Age: 43
Gender: Female
Posts: 209
Location: Antarctica (frequently seen around Lansdale, PA)
I know that this person has a right to free speech, but so do I. And I say that whoever wrote this deserves to die.
The irony in your statement is immense. You are using abusive language towards someone who advocates "abusive" language.
I understand fully that you probably have a lot of pain and emotion that drives your statement. I'm sure all of us in this forum have been subjected to more unnecessary cruelty than most as children growing up, and even as adults. It hurts. What you are missing through your understandable anger is the point the author was trying to make.
I actually posted a topic on this a day before you did. Read my responses there (only to save me typing). Perhaps you'll see things from a different point of view, even if you still end up disagreeing.
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt85152.html
_________________
"If there's one thing in my life that these years have taught it's that you can always see it coming, but you can never stop it." ~Cowboy Junkies
Seriously, why would you want someone to die for saying, in effect, "Eh, teasing's not so bad." You must have been really seriously teased, with bullets and electrodes, to be that vindictive.
Speaking of which, I'll have to try electrodes.
If I wanted to, I could make fun of your beard. It looks fake.
Okay people. We all have different opinions, but it doesn't mean that *any* of us need to get Nasty.
I think the OP was off mark. I think the original article wasn't as and as portrayed, and wishing harm or death on the author was unnecessary.
I know what the person is trying to say. That being said, comparing satire - that is, people in less powerful positions poking fun at the rich and powerful - to someone putting a crab in another person's shorts, I think the example was, is wrongheaded. The first is not going to significantly damage the person at the end of the lampooning under most circumstances (and when it does, there's a good chance that they've done a fair amount of the damage to themselves), and could even do some social good by pointing out problems. Putting a live and possibly irate animal in one's clothes will do them harm, and serves no purpose other than to be malicious and laugh at someone else's pain.
There are other, better, kinder ways of communicating and establishing hierarchies than putting others down in order to bring oneself up. As I see it, you make fun of and therefore hurt people you don't like, and you respect and are only nice to people you do like unless they are causing you harm and you need them to stop. If other people have mutual agreements with their friends about what level of teasing is acceptable amongst them and no one crosses the line, that's fine with me. However, someone who does not appreciate being hurt has the right to ask to be kept out of it unless they've put themselves in a position where they have invited such attention (as is the case for public figures). It's all about consent - just as some people have lower tolerance for physical contact than others and should be able to ask others not to playfully punch, slap or shove them and have that respected, others perceive teasing as being no different from bullying, and this should be observed by others if stated.