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Why is there so much intolerance

Discussion in 'General Support and Advice' started by Shasta, Nov 11, 2016.

  1. Shasta

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    People are mean to each other. I have had people treat me differently because I make less money then them. I have been discriminated against because I'm disabled. I had therapist force to come out to my crush in the past. This doesn't apply just to me but everyone. People are killing each other just because of their political views or sexuality.
     
  2. Argentwing

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    There are very many schools of answers to that, from religious, to psychological, to cultural.

    I think it's a holdover from our prehistoric past. It was advantageous to form tight-knit tribes suspicious of outsiders because they could sabotage the group. And on the other side of the coin, you want to spread your genes and way of life as far and wide as you can, which occasionally meant forcing it on different groups.

    What really opened the can of worms, as I see it at least, was probably when moral superiority came into it. When one group believes theirs is the sole "right" way to be, they feel justified in doing otherwise unthinkable acts to non-adherents in the name of truth from a higher source than themselves. It lets them cast off the blame to "the way it should be" and frees them from internal conflict about doing bad things.

    This isn't necessarily just a lash against religion. People believe their economic views are correct because they perceive them to have worked in the past. Business owners favor Reaganomics because that group directly benefits from deregulation. Rank-and-file workers, however, might not see those gains, so tend to resent the doctrine and go for a more liberal fiscal policy. From the perspective of each, they choose which way benefits their own group. From then it's just a matter of weighing the needs of the many versus the needs of the fewer, and who deserves it more. :/

    Social views are largely the same. People discriminate against the disabled because they themselves are healthy, so what's your problem? They don't stop and think that it was not personal failings that led to your disability. Or with homosexuality-- they themselves think gay feelings are revolting, but since you like it, clearly you are a revolting person.

    Talking about important issues has a way of bringing out the worst in people because those with the views, at least temporarily, are reduced to those views. Someone is no longer a mother who does everything for her child, she's "a redneck." Someone else is no longer a college graduate trying to get over the death of a friend, they're "a Muslim."

    That's why "treat others how you'd like to be treated" is still important. Nobody's situation is as simple as it appears or as you'd like it to be. I struggle with this myself all the time. But if you put respect first, you'll hardly run afoul of your own sense of right.
     
  3. YuriBunny

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    Amazing post! :eusa_clap